Phuket hotels ready for influx after airport upgrade

Phuket hotels ready for influx after airport upgrade

Upgrades at Phuket's airport and an increase in direct international flights are set to further stimulate growth of the island's tourism industry.

Pobchai Jivavisitnon, the owner and managing director of Novotel Phuket Resort and Novotel Phuket Vintage Park, said the renovation of old terminals at Phuket airport will accommodate an influx of arrivals at the luxury tourism destination.

Airports of Thailand (AoT) reported that passenger traffic at Phuket airport leapt 19.6% year-on-year to 11.3 million in the first nine months of 2016.

Mr Pobchai said greater coverage by international airlines such as Malaysia-based Malindo Air, which offers direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket.

The relaunch of Moscow flights and new Frankfurt services via Phuket will also contribute to boosting international arrivals and generate massive revenue for local hotels and tour agencies.

"These developments will widely benefit every stakeholder in Phuket, including my two hotels in Patong district," he said.

In addition, the addition of more international direct flights and improvements from airport renovations will also indirectly support the government's policy to push Phuket to be a destination for meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions (Mice) in Thailand.

Novotel Phuket Resort and Novotel Phuket Vintage Park can support more than 300 Mice visitors at a time, thanks to quality facilities for meeting and exhibition visitors.

Mr Pobchai said his two resorts will be under renovation in 2017, with a budget of 110 million baht.

Up to 100 million baht has been slated for the renovation of the four-star Novotel Phuket Resort.

The remaining 10 million baht will be used to improve resort rooms at the Novotel Phuket Resort Park.

"After the renovation, we expect our two hotels will see 7-8% increase in revenue growth," Mr Pobchai said.

He said half of total revenue generated from the two hotels is expected to come from hotel services next year, with the other half from food and drinks, compared with the current contribution 65% and 45% respectively.

Novotel Phuket Resort and Novotel Phuket Resort Park operate under a terms of a management contract with AccorHotels Asia Pacific, the largest hotel group in Asia-Pacific.

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