Artist, architect and icon of design to a million hoteliers across the world, Bill Bensley was the big top speaker at last night’s Thailand Tourism Forum (TTF) 2020, event. Hosted on the fourth floor of the InterContinental Bangkok, the event … Continue reading
Bill Barnett from c9Hotelworks, crunches the numbers and reports on some challenges for Thailand’s largest island and most popular tourist destination, outside of Bangkok. Robust passenger arrivals in the second half of 2019 highlighted by growth in Indian tourists helped … Continue reading
Once again Russia became the first non-Asia tourist market to record 1mn visits to Thailand. Australia, the US and European countries are yet to make it. According to the latest statistics released by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MoTS), … Continue reading
Thailand is gearing up to welcome more Vietnamese visitors, with a number of airlines increasing direct flights between both countries and adding some new routes too. The Tourism Authority of Thailand says the additional routes should help boost the number … Continue reading
For many Indian tourists, the popular resort island of Phuket has recently become more attractive than ever before. Within four to five hours, they can now fly to the ‘Pearl of the Andaman Sea’ directly from India, without a stopover … Continue reading
As the tourist demographic matures and evolves, so does the airline mix landing in Phuket. Now Phuket’s direct international airlift is set to increase again with non-stop flights from Taipei, Taiwan on Eva Air. The island’s airline traffic is already … Continue reading
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is delighted to report that the Royal Thai Government has once again approved an extension of the visa-on-arrival fee waiver for citizens of 20 nations for another six months, from 1 November 2019 until … Continue reading
In 2018, international tourist arrival traffic grew by 6% to reach a total of 1.4 billion world tourists, according to research by UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. And there’s a lot more to come with international travel predicted to increase by … Continue reading
Take a walk around the markets of Pratunam in downtown Bangkok and you’ll soon discover there’s a new type of tourist in town. For years, Thailand’s tourism scene was dominated by Chinese visitors, with 10.5 million in 2018 alone, accounting … Continue reading
Asia’s largest travel and tourism sustainability event, was held in Phuket on Monday (Sept 23), as Southeast Asia’s hospitality industry came together in a spirit of collaboration to tackle the critical environmental issues facing resort destinations across the region. A … Continue reading
The soaring number of Indian visitors to Phuket for the first seven months of 2019 has propelled Indian tourists into the Top 5 arrivals for the first time. Arrivals from India from January – July, compared to the same period … Continue reading
In May this year, it was reported that the Thai authorities were closing Maya Bay on the island of Phi Phi until 2021. You may know this island as ‘The Beach’ – the famous Leonardo Di Caprio film that hit … Continue reading
Thailand must invest in a central strategy to make its travel and tourism infrastructure smarter if it is going to continue to grow tourism revenue in the next decade, according to a new report released today by travel technology company … Continue reading
The Chinese State Council’s “Healthy China 2030” initiative was established as a national strategy in 2016, with a goal of “enabling everyone to be involved in health, share health, and be responsible for health.” The promotion of a healthy diet, … Continue reading
Phuket readies to host PHIST 2019 in the fight against environmental degradation in Southeast Asia’s idyllic island destinations. PHIST (Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism) 2019 is a free-to-attend one-day conference that takes place on Thursday, September 23, 2019 at … Continue reading
One of Asia’s leading resort destinations Phuket looks set to weather a perfect storm as soaring hotel supply is forecasted to be challenged by declining tourism demand. New research from consulting group C9 Hotelworks in their Phuket Hotel Market Update … Continue reading
Following the release of the Phuket Hotel Market Update Mid-Year Edition by hospitality consultancy C9 Hotelworks yesterday (July 14), the consultancy’s founder and Managing Director Bill Barnett has posted his review of what the data and report means for the … Continue reading
Thai AirAsia will add a new international service from Phuket to Guiyang, China, effective 6 July. The new flight using an A320 will serve the Phuket – Guiyang route three times weekly on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday according to Airlineroute … Continue reading
Expedia Group, the world’s travel platform released its latest hotel demand trends to Thailand.[1] Thai accommodation partners are enjoying steady growth as evidenced by Expedia Group’s data, which showed the overall inbound demand to Thailand has increased by 10% Year-on-Year … Continue reading
While staying at our Absolute Resorts & Hotels in Phuket, you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to innovative dining concepts to suit all appetites. Whether it’s stellar Thai food, Italian classics or a variety of fresh and … Continue reading
At Absolute World, we live and breathe travel and we endeavor to deliver you the greatest vacation possible through a variety of curated local experiences as well as memorable stays at our outstanding home resorts and partner resorts worldwide. Many … Continue reading
If you are planning to go Phuket then this GoAir offer might be a better option for you. The company is also providing cashback offer of up to Rs 250 using Paytm. New Delhi Airline companies are offering discounts on … Continue reading
C9 Hotelworks is forecasting a slowdown in the double-digit growth rates Phuket has witnessed in recent years, and India’s rising importance against China as a “mass travel machine”. While airport arrivals grew 8% year-on-year, the gains posted were at their … Continue reading
by Bill Barnett Moving through high season in 2019, hoteliers are starting to look for strategies for the rest of the year in order to not be reliant only on volatile mass markets. The following is C9 Hotelworks read on key trends … Continue reading
Despite registering a record high 9 million passenger arrivals at the island’s gateway international airport in 2018, performance data is indicating that a slowdown in its double-digit growth rates over the past few years is on the horizon for Thailand’s … Continue reading
The Phuket Hotels Association (PHA) will host its 2019 benefit gala (PHAB) on May 3 to raise funds for more than 10 fully-paid hospitality scholarships and traineeships for local residents. The PHAB 003 James Bond-themed “Shaken Not Stirred” event will … Continue reading
Alipay, in collaboration with US polling company Nielsen, has discovered that Chinese tourists from second-tier cities have become the new engine driving the Chinese outbound tourism market, as part of their study dubbed, ‘Perspective merchant and consumers: from 2018 trends … Continue reading
The best part of being on holiday can often be the food. It’s always fun to sample the local cuisine of the destination you are visiting, and it’s equally as interesting to dine at a fancy restaurant or two. Staying … Continue reading
Thailand will be the most popular foreign destination for Russian travellers this New Year festive season, the Russian Association of Tour Operators (ATOR) has revealed. Russian’s own Sochi is the most popular domestic destination. Thailand’s beaches and Sochi’s ski resorts … Continue reading
by Bill Barnett This week netizens have been captivated over a photo in the blogosphere proclaiming that “Phuket high-season was dead as a dodo.” Excuse me as I digress for just a minute on the subject of dodo’s, which is … Continue reading
The fourth edition of the Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous is set to take place in Phuket January 10-13 at Royal Phuket Marina. Targeting yachting enthusiasts and lifestyle-seekers from all over the region, the Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous has … Continue reading
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) ushered a move to gather the yacht industry in one major event in Thailand and demonstrate united support for the government’s yacht tourism initiative. Andy Treadwell, CEO of Verventia Pte Ltd, owners of the … Continue reading
Year-end parties for those visiting Thailand got a little more exciting with the news that tourists from 21 countries, including India, are exempt from paying fees to obtain visa on arrival for two months, December and January. To boost tourist arrivals, the … Continue reading
A new Absolute Twin Sands Resort & Spa has also opened the opportunity for 180° Wellness to usher in a variety of new therapies, treatments and guest practitioners in our wonderful new wellness space to ensure 180º Wellness grows as … Continue reading
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is working together with local stakeholders and tourists on Ko Samui to eliminate the use of single-use plastics and encourage all to reduce waste, reuse and recycle to help protect the island’s ecosystem. Local … Continue reading
As the soft opening of the highly anticipated third phase of our flagship resort Absolute Twin Sands Resort & Spa gets underway, it’s all hands on deck across Absolute Resorts to ensure all finishing touches are perfectly in place to … Continue reading
Is the kitchen table set to compete with our first highly-rated restaurant Blue Mango for TripAdvisor award-winning status? It certainly looks this way as we welcomed our first guests to great praise and many return bookings already. Our lagoon-side Bistro, … Continue reading
The recent launch of the first-ever direct flights from India to Phuket is only the beginning, says GoAir’s Managing Director Jeh Wadia. The airline has placed an order for 164 planes and have taken delivery so far of 41. “Our … Continue reading
GoAir is making Phuket their Thailand hub. GoAir- the fastest growing airline in the world made history on 11 October, 2018, when it commenced its inaugural International operations with its first non-domestic flight between Delhi (DEL), Mumbai and Phuket (HKT). The flight also marked the first-ever direct … Continue reading
Phuket Airport lies on the island of the same name in Southern Thailand, and its serves a market which greeted 8.4 million incoming tourists in 2017, up 11.3% versus 2016. This was mainly driven by a 20% surge in Mainland … Continue reading