Phuket's future 'hinges on renewed direct flights'
The Laguna Phuket Sheraton has asked Thai Airways International to restore direct flights to the island to pre-tsunami levels, as the hotel says it lost 15 per cent of its visitors last year as a result of reduced air traffic.
Kylie Brajak, marketing director for the hotel, said the drop in visitors was caused mainly by the elimination of flights from Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia, which are three major regional sources of visitors to the island.She said this was hurting the hotel most acutely this month, when the majority of visitors are usually from Asia and Australia. Brajak said tourists from South Korea and Hong Kong considered Phuket a favourite weekend destination, while Australians enjoyed the island's low cost of living. She said the reduction in direct flights had forced visitors to spend more time travelling, with trips taking four hours longer from Hong Kong and six hours longer from Australia after changing planes in Bangkok. Jan Kirstein, general manager of the 3,000-rai, five-hotel Laguna Phuket complex, which includes the Sheraton, said the issue had been discussed THAI several times, without a resolution. He said Phuket's future as a regional tourist magnet depended on the airline. Currently, the Sheraton is relying mainly on European visitors, who were the major holiday-makers during the first quarter of this year. The major corporate customers are Russian, German, Australian, Singaporean and Thai, and the hotel expects to hold 70 business events this year. Laguna Phuket consists of five hotels - Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket, Banyan Tree Phuket, Dusit Laguna Phuket, Laguna Beach Resort and Allamanda Laguna Phuket. Kirstein said the hotel complex would achieve 80-per-cent occupancy during the next two weeks, adding that the Sheraton would open 420 more rooms this year. Nitida Asawanipont, The Nation
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