High prices and poor quality of services disappoint tourists in Phuket

Airfare surge

The island of Phuket has seen a veritable flood of tourists recently after the gradual lifting of restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. This has led to a surge in demand for airfare from Bangkok to Phuket and for hotel rooms on the island itself. As a result, prices for both have skyrocketed to well above pre-pandemic levels.

Thai citizens traveling within the country have been particularly hard hit. The cost of airfare from Bangkok to Phuket rose to 14,000 baht 2-3 days before departure. Even when buying airline tickets in advance, several weeks before the trip, the price is about 5,000 baht one-way.

Foreign travelers are much less sensitive to the surge in airfare and hotel prices, as they tend to buy travel packages in advance at fixed prices. However, domestic travelers and business travelers from Thailand are forced to overpay for flights to Phuket by times.

Low quality services at inflated prices

In addition to the greatly increased airfares, one of Phuket's main problems in recent times has been the apparent mismatch between the price and quality of the island's tourism and related services.

Many local hotels, taking advantage of the sharply increased demand, have raised their prices by 3-4 times compared to the usual tourist season. However, the quality of their services often remained the same or even deteriorated due to the huge influx of tourists, with which the local infrastructure can not cope.

Phuket Island's transportation infrastructure is also unable to cope with such an influx of guests. Constant traffic jams and transportation inconveniences seriously spoil the impression of tourists from their vacation on the island.

Prospects and ways to solve the problems

To maintain its position as a popular international resort, Phuket needs to urgently address the problems with infrastructure and unreasonable overpricing of services.

It is important to establish strict control and regulation of pricing of local hotels, as well as to introduce regulation of domestic airfares by major airlines.

The island also vitally needs large-scale investments in the development of the road network, airport and public transportation system. This will make it possible to receive a much larger number of tourists without reducing the quality of their rest and comfort.

A balanced approach that takes into account the interests of both tourists and local tourism businesses is critical to Phuket's future as a popular international resort. Its competitiveness in the global market of tourist destinations in the post-pandemic period directly depends on it.