PHUKET: LOT Polish Airlines launched a direct route from Warsaw to Phuket on Monday as it anticipates an uptick in visitors to the resort island from Eastern Europe.
The Polish national airline's inaugural flight to Phuket International Airport took off on Monday afternoon with 252 passengers on board.
Nanthasiri Ronnasiri, director of the Tourism Authority Office in Phuket, said on Tuesday the flight will operate until March, taking off every 12 days.
Passengers will visit various sites on the island and other provinces in the Andaman region, she added.
The new Poland flight is a joint effort between the office and LOT targeting Eastern European tourists, Ms Nanthasiri said. It is the fruit of a tourism strategy launched by the Tourism Authority of Thailand in Prague that aimed to promote the kingdom as a top tourist destination among people in Eastern Europe.
"Polish tourists have become a new marketing target for the island," she said.
The report by the office shows most visitors learn about the country through travel agencies and social media.
Beaches, local food and other cultural aspects are their main interests when visiting the island, said the director.
Tourists who depart from any of Poland's main cities -- Warsaw, Gdansk, Krakow and Katowice -- typically stay on the island for at least two weeks.
Their age ranges mostly from 18 to 34 years old, the report said.
"We hope that Polish tourists are going to become one of the island's main targets for tourism by 2023," said Ms Nanthasiri.
