The island, along with the rest of Thailand, is heading for another long holiday weekend at the end of this week, with most businesses closed from Friday (May 1) to Tuesday (May 5).

May 5 celebrates the anniversary of the coronation of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 1950.

His Majesty is the longest-reigning living monarch in the world, and the 24th longest-reigning monarch ever.

This Friday (May 1) is Labour Day. Thailand follows many countries in the world in marking May 1 as a holiday.

Originally a traditional European spring rite it was chosen for International Workers’ Day by the Second Socialist International in 1889 to commemorate labour riots in Chicago three years earlier.

During the riots a bomb was thrown at police, who opened fire. Four protesters were killed, along with seven police officers.

To make for a long holiday for people in Thailand, the cabinet in January approved May 4 as an extra public holiday to allow for a long weekend break from May 1 to May 5.

Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said at that time that the government hopes that the extra holiday on May 4 will stimulate travel and spending, and boost the local tourism industry by 10 per cent.

It’s a long haul from the United States, but you’ll find the journey is worth it the minute you land. The exhilarating sights and sounds of Bangkok, the perfectly turquoise Andaman Sea, the romantic resorts of Koh Samui, the unique cuisine of Chiang Mai … we could go on forever.

Want to plan the perfect Thailand vacation? Surprisingly, you don’t have to spend a lot on your flights! Here are some tips from the expert team at Hopper to get your search started.

Fly into Bangkok

Bangkok’s international airport, Suvarnabhumi, is the cheapest airport in Thailand to fly into. On average, Hopper found it’s about $200 cheaper to fly into Bangkok than it is to fly into Phuket! So make Bangkok your first stop, spend a few nights in the bustling capital, and then make your way around Thailand via cheap flights on Nok Air or Air Asia.

Depart and Return on Tuesday

Our research showed that fliers can save an average of $115 by departing for and returning from Thailand on a Tuesday. Monday and Wednesday departures also offer good value, but whatever you do, don’t leave on Saturday! You’ll pay about $80 more for the privilege.

Look International

Delta Air Lines offer the cheapest average flights to Thailand from the United States, costing around $1,052. However, don’t rule out the international lines. China Eastern Airlines, Air China, and Cathay Pacific all offer great-value flights for $1,200 or less. We found flights from New York City (JFK) to Bangkok for as little as $739 on China Eastern and from Boston to Bangkok for $844 on Air China!

Stick to Spring and September

Summer is expensive in Thailand, with prices peaking in mid-July around the $1400 mark (ouch). Instead, avoid the crush and travel in late April, the beginning of May, and late September, when prices drop to $844 or less.

Watch Flights

Booking travel shouldn’t be about guess work, and the best way to find the cheapest flights is to monitor prices. Luckily, with the Hopper app, it doesn’t have to be a major time suck! Simply set up a fare alert from your departure airport to Thailand. We’ll watch that flight for you and notify you when prices drop. That way, you’ll never again overpay for airfare.

The island’s reputation for attracting luxury tourists with its azure seas, coral sand coves and boutique resorts is being transformed by recent demographic shifts which are seeing wealthy visitors to Phuket spending more time away from the beach in pursuit of retail therapy.

Shopping is becoming the main activity for luxury travellers coming to Phuket from within the region. The fact that two multi-billion-baht retail developments are due to open by the end of next year are testament to the “new rule book” which has emerged for the island’s tourism industry over the past few years, says Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks.

“Phuket is not about the beach anymore,” he says. “The trend which we identified in our research in 2013, where more middle-class Asians are looking to spend their time away from the beach and in luxury malls, continues.

“Phuket will become known as a luxury retail destination as the demographics continue to change and shopping emerges as the key driver of tourism. It will no longer be about the legacy tourist market from Europe.”

Nicki von Bueren, chief operating officer of Lotus Arts de Vivre, which has a boutique at Amanpuri, says the island’s luxury resorts, yachting facilities and increased flight connectivity help bring more luxury visitors to the island, many of whom now spend more time shopping.

“In recent years Lotus Arts de Vivre has seen a steady development in both the increase in the number of clients coming to our boutique on the island and in their diversity,” he says. “We have always welcomed a large number of wealthy visitors from Europe, the United States, Hong Kong and Singapore. They are now being joined by an increasing number of luxury travellers from India and mainland China.”

Statistics provide further evidence of the scale of the shift in tourism activities. Research by C9 Hotelworks shows that shopping is the second-largest expenditure after accommodation for international visitors to Phuket. Retail accounts for about one quarter of their total spending, with three out of every four tourists spending time in a mall during their stay.

This trend is expected to grow with next year’s launch of two projects from Thailand’s leading retailers. The Mall Group is constructing Blu Pearl Plaza, a 20bn-baht retail and lifestyle center in central Kathu which will feature a waterpark, resort and an 8,000-seat conference and exhibition center.

Meanwhile, Central Retail Corporation is investing more than 10bn baht to expand its footprint on the island with the development of a new 300,000-square-meter center, which the retailer says will be the largest in Southern Thailand. Located opposite Central Festival Phuket, the complex will offer luxury retail outlets, global fashion brands, a new dining concept for the island, entertainment facilities and a large-scale convention hall.

When the project was announced, Tos Chirativat, CEO of the corporation, said: “The new era Central Festival Phuket, which will have a major launch at the end of 2016 with a grand opening budget of over one billion baht, will help make Phuket a world-class city for luxury travellers. Phuket will never be the same again.”

Changes are also taking place at the other end of the business spectrum. Rose Maitland Smith is pioneering high-end retail in Phuket’s Old Town with her Old Town Gallery, which opened six months ago. The business, which is located in a renovated Sino-Portuguese shophouse on Thalang Road, sells European antiques, contemporary furniture and home decor, as well as paintings and sculptures produced by local artists.

“People are genuinely surprised when they see the gallery,” she says. “We’re surrounded by shops selling roti and t-shirts. The first response when people walk through the door is, ‘Wow’.”

Ms Smith says she doesn’t sell products at ‘crazy prices’, with artwork priced from about 30,000 to 80,000 baht and furniture ranging from 9,000 to 120,000 baht. Nevertheless, the business is
targeting tourists in the higher-spending segments, with customers coming from Europe, as well as designers looking to decorate the interiors of homes and villas.

“We’re currently the only people doing this in Phuket’s Old Town, but the response from customers show there’s clearly a demand,” she says.

Jules Kay is a marketing consultant, editor and content curator with 15 years’ experience working in the Southeast Asian luxury property, lifestyle and tourism sectors. His latest project is Montazure, an exclusive mixed-use residential resort development on Kamala Beach.

This article first appeared in the April 11-17 issue of the hard-copy Phuket Gazette newspaper. Digital subscribers may download the full newspaper, this week and every week, by clicking here. – See more at: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-business/Phuket8217s-new-tourism-rule-book-0145Out-the/57878#sthash.8duvORI0.dpuf

From the beginning of the year until now, Phuket has seen an increase of 7.69 per cent in tourist arrivals compared to the same period last year. The figures were revealed today (April 16) by Governor Nisit Jansomwong.

“Since January there have been around 4.05 million tourists who have visited Phuket compared to 3.76 million last year,” said Gov Nisit.

“Most of them have been Chinese, whilst other large numbers have come from Australia, Malaysia and Scandinavian countries.

“Along with Songkran, which attracts many visitors to Phuket every year, Phuket Bike Week has also brought many visitors to the island. Hotels and businesses in Patong have seen better business because of this event,” he said.

However, the governor said that the increase in tourist numbers cannot guarantee that overall income to the island will increase, as due to the world economic crisis tourists will possibly spend less whilst visiting.

“We are still lucky that we have domestic tourists visiting Phuket. We can see that a large number of Thai people from other provinces came to Phuket during Songkran,” he said.

He added that he believes business operators in Phuket have put a lot of effort in building up the strength of Phuket̕s tourism.

“I can see that Phuket̕s tourism business operators always create activities or events such as the Bike Week that attract people. This is along with many others events that happen almost daily to drive our tourism forward.”

When asked about the effect on Phuket after the car bomb at the Central Festival shopping mall in Koh Samui last on Friday (April 10), Gov Nisit expressed his confidence that Phuket has very strict security measures in place. He has also urged the government and private sector to monitor their areas of responsibility.

“Crowded places like the airport, bus terminals, piers, markets and malls always have strict security measures in place. Provincial volunteers are also sent to these areas to give support.

“Important places like government buildings and the Ta Chat Chai check point are also well guarded,” he stressed.

Major airlines are fast running out of seats while hotel rooms at key destinations are expected to be fully booked up next week as Asian tourists flock here to celebrate Songkran.

Ittirit Kinglake, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, said yesterday that this year’s festival would generate tourism revenue of more than Bt44 billion, of which Bt42 billion would be from the domestic market.

About 400,000 Chinese are coming, judging from the shortage of seats on airlines operating in and out of China as well as charter flights.

From Shanghai alone, more than 150 chartered flights are preparing to carry 26,000 tourists to Thailand during the holiday.

“Chinese tourists love to visit Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Samui. This huge market results in the overall hotel business at major destinations almost hitting full capacity,” he said.

Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive officer of Thai AirAsia, said the airline’s average load factor during the festival should pass 90 per cent.

The low-cost carrier is seeing a flood of reservations from Hong Kong and Singapore. In the domestic market, second-tier cities like Chiang Rai, Nan and Loei are becoming popular destinations.

Thai Airways International is set to lay on more than 30 flights to Chiang Mai, Phuket and Krabi to serve extra demand from 10,000 passengers during the festival.

Juthaporn Rerngronasa, acting governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand and deputy governor for international marketing for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Americas, said 2.6 million tourists are expected to celebrate Songkran in Thailand this year.

Sharp rise in revenue

This includes 470,000 foreign visitors arriving from April11-15, up 39 per cent from last |year.

TAT also estimates revenue to surge 52 per cent to Bt7.5 billion from average spending of Bt15,960 per person per trip, which will be an increase of 10 per cent.

On the domestic front, TAT expects Thais to make 2.16 million trips, up 8 per cent, during the festival and help boost the economy by Bt7.01 billion, up 6 per cent.

THE TRADITIONAL Thai New Year Festival is expected to draw 500,000 foreign tourists and generate income of Bt14.5 billion. Meanwhile, 2 million local residents are expected to travel within the country during the three-day Songkran Festival.

Minister of Tourism and Sports Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul yesterday said that international arrivals to Thailand during April 1-4 were 337,490, up 37.8 per cent from the same period last year.

She said that 500,000 foreign tourists would travel into the Kingdom during Songkran. Meanwhile, about 2 million locals are expected to travel within the country during the annual holiday. Kobkarn said hotels in major tourist destinations such as Phuket, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, and Samui would run at 78 per cent average occupancy, a 6.2-per-cent growth from the same time last year.

Hotels in Phuket will be operating at the highest rate of 87 per cent occupancy while business at hotels in Bangkok will grow by 12.2 per cent. The capital alone is expected to receive about 2.5 million visitors.

According to Kobkarn, the Thai government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia in a bid to revive the number of tourists from Russia. Last year, the number of Russians travelling to Thailand was 1.6 million, dropping more than 5 per cent year on year.

Travel and hotel operators involved with Russian markets said that it was very hard to restore business from Russia this year due to its economic slowdown. However, Juthaporn Rengronasa, deputy governor and acting governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said that the recent lifting of martial law would have a positive result in terms of foreigners visiting Thailand during Songkran.

She said that although Japan and South Korea are banning Thai chartered flights, it should not affect overall foreign tourist arrivals into the Kingdom. “Despite Japan and South Korea’s ban on chartered flights from Thailand, the effect of the ban will be more apparent on outbound flights from Thailand to the two countries whereas tourists from Japan and South Korea will still be able to enter Thailand via scheduled flights,” she said. TAT is confident that Thailand will have roughly 500,000 visitors during Songkran and about Bt14.5 billion in revenue is expected to be generated.

According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, as many as 400,000 Chinese tourists are coming to Thailand during the Songkran long holidays from April 11th – 15th.

Ms. Srisuda Wanapinyosak, the TAT’s executive director for East Asia, said Thailand continues to draw attention from Chinese travelers even after the Chinese New Year’s period, which saw approximately 500,000 Chinese visiting the Kingdom.

She indicated that the number of flights booked to Thailand has already covered 95-110% of seat capacities, particularly on the Shanghai-Thailand route which sees 156 chartered flights accommodating 26,000 passengers in total.

Favorite destinations among the Chinese are Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Samui, and Phuket.

Meanwhile, Thai-Chinese Tourism Alliance Association (TCTA) Honorary President Wichit Prakobkosol said he anticipated a large number of Chinese travelers to visit Thailand, continuing the momentum from the Chinese New Year holiday in February.

At the same time, TAT Deputy Director on Domestic Marketing Anuphab Theerarat speculated that during the upcoming holiday, tourism would generate 14.5 billion baht in revenue, a growth of 26%. Out of that number, seven billion baht would come from domestic market and the remaining sum from foreigners.

Mr. Anuphab projected that the Songkran holiday season would see a total of 2.6 million visitors, of whom 2.15 million will be locals, an increase of 8%, and the remainder of 470,000 will be foreigners representing an increase of 39% from last year.

Aeroflot on 29 March will move to its summer flight schedule, which will be valid through 24 October 2015. This summer Aeroflot will fly to 123 destinations in 52 countries. The airline will fly to 70 destinations outside Russia, including 47 cities in Europe, 13 in Asia, five in Americas and five in the Middle East and Africa.

The schedule continues to position Aeroflot as the top choice for travellers to Russia, offering more flights from more destinations. The timetable will also continue to expand Aeroflot’s international transit traffic offering, as passengers recognise the convenience of travel between European destinations and Asia via Aeroflot’s world-class Moscow hub.

Aeroflot’s domestic offering will also remain robust under the new timetable, including travel to 43 Russian destinations. The frequency of the company’s flights to St. Petersburg has been increased to 199 flights per week, or 17 flights per day. The growing trend of domestic tourism in Russia, including increased demand for popular resort destinations, has been factored into the new schedule. The frequency of flights to Crimea and the Krasnodar Region has been increased. Aeroflot standalone will carry out up to 63 flights to Crimea or 9 flights per day.

The traditional summer routes to Heraklion and Split will remain a part of the schedule. Three weekly flights to Phuket, which had historically been a winter route, have also been added.

Aeroflot’s network will be strengthened by 102 routes operated by Aeroflot Group subsidiaries. Aeroflot Group subsidiaries include Rossiya, the leading airline operating from Russia’s second-largest city St. Petersburg; Far East regional airline Aurora; southern Russia regional airline Donavia; charter operator Orenair; and low-cost carrier Pobeda.

An additional 130 routes will be carried out on the basis of code-sharing agreements with airline partners. Altogether including code shares Aeroflot will fly 355 routes to over 65 countries.