Phuket Gets Boost From Russian Travelers
Skift Take
- Malaysia reopened its borders nearly a year ago and finally its hotel industry is getting back to pre-pandemic occupancy levels.
- The resort island of Phuket in Thailand has seen a surge of Russian travelers in the high season. That adds to a jump in regional visitation from India, Malaysia and Singapore.
- Reuters published an article on how the belief that airline stocks and online travel agencies would be the best Chinese travel reopening play was wrong.
Malaysia reopened its borders nearly a year ago and finally its hotel industry is getting back to pre-pandemic occupancy levels. The Malaysian Association of Hotels said the country recovered well in 2022 with the occupancy rate going from 36% to 54%. In 2019, the rate was around 60%, according to Tourism Malaysia data. The average room rate jumped 38% last year to reach US$74.
The resort island of Phuket in Thailand has seen a surge of Russian travelers in the high season. That adds to a jump in regional visitation from India, Malaysia and Singapore. C9 Hotelworks’ Phuket Hotel Market Update 2023 said market wide occupancy last year rose to 48%. It was a low of 8% in 2021. 1Q23 has seen the influx of Russian travelers and the expectations are that the third and fourth quarter of 2023 will benefit from the return of Chinese travelers.
Reuters published an article on how the belief that airline stocks and online travel agencie
