PHUKET: The government's Phuket Sandbox scheme, which is aimed at revitalising the economy and tourism, has generated about 43 billion baht in revenue since its launch on July 1 last year.
The island province had seen growth in tourist arrivals. On Monday, it had 3,350 tourist arrivals from 24 flights operated by 18 airlines, Tourism Authority of Thailand Phuket Office director Nanthasiri Ronnasiri said on Tuesday.
Last month, 86,282 tourists arrived in Phuket. It had received 61,202 tourists so far this month, Ms Nanthasiri said.
There were about 70,000 rooms available in Phuket, with an average of eight nights per person, she said.
Since the launch of the scheme, there had been 331,365 tourist arrivals in Phuket. Their average spending was 55,000 baht per head per trip, or 7,000 baht a day per person, she said.
Phuket earned 18.32 billion baht from tourism, and a total of 43.52 billion baht had been put in circulation, she said.
The TAT, Phuket Office, had organised tourism campaigns and conducted roadshows in different provinces. It had joined hands with the private sector and other agencies to hold the Thailand Travel Mart+2022 Phuket fair, which will take place between June 8 and 10.
Ms Nanthasiri said there will also be more campaigns to attract Thai tourists.
Currently, the hotel occupancy rate in Phuket was about 35% to 50%. It was expected to reach 60% to 70% during this year's Songkran festival, said the tourism official.
Ms Panatchakorn Jaiyen, vice president of Phuket Tourist Association, said the "Phuket Ded Tang Koh" tourism promotion scheme was launched in all regions and was well received by Thai tourists.
