PHUKET: The return of tourists is reviving the local economy, generating income and reducing unemployment on the island province, according to local authorities.
Phuket governor Narong Wunciew said on Wednesday that in the 304 days to April 30 since Phuket started welcoming visitors via the sandbox scheme last July 1 the province had received 503,468 visitors.
Foreign visitors stayed eight nights and spent 55,000 baht each on average. In total they had spent about 28.19 billion baht and caused 66.82 billion baht to be circulated in the provincial economy, he said.
Asst Prof Chayanon Phucharoen, deputy dean of Prince of Songkla University faculty of hospitality and tourism, said the unemployment rate of Phuket was 11% with about 40,000 quasi-jobless people in the second quarter of last year.
In the third quarter the unemployment rate remained high at 11% and the number of quasi-jobless rose to about 45,000. In the fourth quarter last year the unemployment rate dropped to 6% and the number of quasi-jobless people fell to about 25,000, he said.
Tourists had returned and income was increasingly being distributed to the grassroots, as vendors received more orders from hotels, he said.
