High costs could affect Phuket

Maitree Narukatpichai, president of Phuket Tourist Association, forecast that average hotel occupancy in Phuket in the coming high season from November to April would be 70% this compared with 75% in the 2006-07 high season.

Phuket has a total of 50,000 hotel rooms, up from 40,000 three years ago when many properties were still rebuilding after the 2004 tsunami.

The association projected tourism revenue in Phuket this year would amount to between 94 billion and 95 billion baht.

The hotel occupancy rate in May and June, the trough of the low season, was only 10-15% compared with 50% in the same period last year. The low rate was attributed mainly to high oil prices and the resulting surge in airfares.

Air tickets normally account for about 60-70% of the total expense of visitors.

Phuket has long been popular with Europeans, who are now facing fuel surcharges in the hundreds of dollars on top of the cost of their long-haul air tickets.

However, Mr Maitree said it would be too early to project the precise hotel occupancy rate in the high season, as most of the bookings would be concluded in August.

Should bookings decline, he said local hoteliers may need to design special tourism package to attract the visitors.