Spikes in bookings from all markets and across demographics, says Anthony Lark – except for Asia
IMAGINE being the first foreign visitor to walk off the plane at Phuket International Airport on July 1. Imagine the warm embrace that the locals would give you if they could. In any case, the “sawasdee” greeting is the most hygienic of welcomes – from a distance, two hands clasped, head bowed in gratitude.
Anthony Lark, president of Phuket Hotels Association, believes that’s the overwhelming feeling that will greet the first foreign visitors to return to the island he’s called home for 33 years. “I remember the 2004 tsunami when tourists disappeared from December to February, and then tourists started trickling back from May and the welcome they got. This will be 10x that. There will be overwhelming gratitude. The Thai spirit will be back in full force.”
Asked to comment on the speculation in the media on whether Phuket would really reopen by July 1, given the new wave of infections in Thailand, Lark said, “This is happening. We are reopening. I’ve never seen such a broad-based swelling of positive community spirit between boats, golf clubs, restaurants, airport, government, medical, pitching in to help, particularly the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Phuket Tourist Association.”
A meeting on Tuesday night between all relevant bodies including the TAT and medical institutions laid out plans for the Phuket Sandbox Programme – the island will welcome vaccinated foreign tourists without the need to undergo the 14-day quarantine from July 1, 2021.
“One criteria was that Phuket people had to be agree to be vaccinated, at least 70% of them. At least 60% are now vaccinated and the number is increasing everyday,” said Lark. “100% of hotel staff have been vaccinated.”
For travellers who arrive, stay and leave from Phuket, they need a vaccination certificate and do one test on the fifth day and the second on the 10th. If they wish to travel to another province in Thailand, they have to stay 14 days in Phuket. “This will drop away soon when other provinces are vaccinated,” said Lark.
Since the letter signed by the TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn to announce the reopening was issued, Lark said, “We have seen a spike in bookings and incredible demand from all places – Israel, Dubai, Middle east, UK, almost all of Europe, Scandinavia, US – but not from the Asian markets like Singapore, Hong Kong or China.”
“It is a mixed bag of demographics, families, couples, Europeans who haven’t come to South-east Asia for 18 months. We are seeing longer stays, people renting apartments to work and sit it out. I won’t be surprised if next year, we have Europeans taking apartments and sitting out the winter in Europe.”
There have been criticisms of “elitism” from certain quarters, who say only the rich can afford this kind of travel. “There will always be criticisms like these but if you look at the price of travel now – air fares, documentation, vaccination, health insurance – you got to spend a lot of money now to spend on holidays so it’s only people with higher incomes who can afford it.”
Having said that, hotels are giving out discounts freely. “All of the general managers and owners understand it will be a very competitive market. The hotels will be lucky to run 20-30% from July-September. Right now, it’s sub 10%. This is a business not driven by rate, but cash flow. It’s all about volume. Because of that, hotels are offering incredible deals.”
The TAT has set a target of three million foreign tourists this year, lower than the four million projected in April. Most of the three million arrivals are expected in the final quarter, with spending estimated at between 240 billion baht to 300 billion baht, Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, deputy governor of the TAT, told Reuters.
Phuket’s travel trade is fully aware of the need to do this right. At stake are the livelihoods of a local population highly dependent on tourism, as well as the reopening of other provinces – if the Phuket pilot works, Thailand will reopen nine other provinces in October.
Said Lark, “We have thousands and thousands of kids unemployed, there’s been catastrophic devastation, 80% of people on this island depend on tourism. When we lost international travel, it was bad enough. But now with the Bangkok outbreak, we also lost that. Now there’s no one, only locals who live here.”
“If they manage the sandbox well, people will take notice of it and places like Singapore and Hong Kong will consider allowing their vaccinated residents to travel to Phuket.”
On the one hand, for a resident like him – Lark arrived in Phuket in 1988 to open the Amanpuri – “it’s been magnificent, being the only person on the beach. On the other hand, there are lots of charities, lots of us supplying care packs and basic food to families in dire straits.”
Nature has also been at its most magnificent without tourism. “Reef sharks have returned to Phi Phi, we saw sea otters on the beach in Naithon, we have sea turtles laying their eggs – it’s more of less like when I saw Phuket 33 years ago, a simple, uncrowded place,” said Lark.
The critical question is, now that you know, how do you balance tourism with nature in a destination like Phuket which had become over-developed and polluted, so much so that islands had to be shut down to allow them to heal.
Said Lark, “If I had a magic wand, I would create a moratorium on building new hotels in Phuket. We already have enough hotels, enough infrastructure. Some of the new developments here – their only reason is to make money. There is no story, no purpose other than poor profit.”
“Now that we can see a way out, what can we learn from this? That our hotels have to be more sustainable – and not just in the obvious bits like no plastic water bottles – but in the way we treat our marine environment, manage our waste, the amount of cars on the road. When tourism disappeared, everyone’s lives went into neutral. Hopes and dreams were dashed. Restaurants were shut which meant they weren’t buying fish from the fishermen so over-fishing stopped. There is new raised awareness about sustainability and protection of the marine environment.
“Once the island opens, we have a responsibility to turn our attention towards protection from the next disaster which will no doubt come.”
• Anthony Lark will be speaking at the WiT Travel Roadshow, Episode 4, June 26, 6pm-8.30pm Singapore time (GMT+8). Sign up here.
• Featured image credit: thanasus/Getty Images
