Fleeing Bali to LOS ?

[sayjann]

from yesterday's Phuket Gazette.

 

Bali’s loss is Phuket’s gain

 

PHUKET: Bali’s loss has been Phuket’s gain, it seems, with hotel bookings on the island soaring as holidaymakers and conference

organizers switch following the Kuta bombing.

 

A prime indicator is the Phuket.Com hotel booking website, which has seen a huge surge in bookings over the past few days.

 

Neil Cumming, the company’s CEO, told the Gazette, “The big change for us has been in bookings for Christmas and New Year. They’ve

suddenly taken off in a big way. This week has been bigger than any other week in our history.

 

“I do think it’s been influenced [by Bali]. People are still thinking they’ll go away at Christmas, and they’re looking for an

alternative, so, yes, I do think it’s been a windfall.”

 

He said there had been very few cancellations of bookings for Phuket. “Almost none. We’ve been watching very closely to see if

[bali] would have a big influence. Nobody’s panicked, I think. [Those who booked Phuket] are holding their existing reservations.

Those who were going to go to Bali seem to be looking for somewhere else.

 

“Our system was almost overloaded on Tuesday, there were so many people looking for rooms available, and that resulted in a surge in

bookings, too.”

 

Hotels confirm the surge, not only in individual bookings but also in conference and seminar booking.

 

Wichit Kietchat, Reservations Officer of Novotel Phuket Resort said, “Before the bomb our occupancy rate was about 80% but afterward

it rose almost immediately to 100%. As I understand it, people switched their destination from Bali to Phuket.”

 

Anothai Manpolsri, Reservations Manager of the Phuket Acadia Beach Resort said that already one conference organized from Britain

had been moved from Bali to Phuket, and more were coming.

 

“Since October 20 there has been a rise in the number of conferences booked in our hotel.

 

“I also had a call from an agent that an African seminar group will be here around the end of November and a Scandinavian one around

Christmas wants to switch from Bali but can’t find a hotel because they are all full.

 

“As for individual guests, bookings, especially from Australia, have increased. It’s as if the high season is starting earlier than

it did last year. Our forward bookings for November are already 87%, which is higher than in previous years,” K. Anothai said.

 

The Laguna complex, too is reporting gains since the Kuta bombing. Surat Teerapharppongpan, Reservations Officer at the Dusit Laguna

Resort Hotel, reports that the hotel is almost full at the moment.

 

“Many guests have moved from Bali to hotels here. A lot of them are Australians. Right now we are nearly full and we will be right

up to Christmas.”

 

What happens further down the line, however, is an open question. The current surge in bookings on Phuket.Com consists to a large

extent of people who have already decided to go on holiday, and who are therefore switching their destination to Phuket.

 

Mr Cumming told the Gazette, “I’ve got bookings as far forward as August but not enough to show a trend. But we handle Internet

bookings, which are usually fairly short-term.”

 

Brought to you by:

The Phuket Gazette

19:04 local time (GMT +7)

 

[pattaya127]

I am moving the thread to regional sanook; even though we are talking about going to LOS. I just think its interest lays in that section as a few posters might find more countries than just LOS are welcoming Bali ex-tourists

[adikgede]

Bali tourism took a 50% hit after 911. Have a look at this article:

 

http://www.saag.org/papers6/paper533.html

 

Pay special attention to the number of santri/mujahadin from LOS. If the article has a grain of truth to it, it makes you wonder why Thai militans have been so quite.

 

AG

[Guest]

Pay special attention to the number of santri/mujahadin from LOS. If the article has a grain of truth to it, it makes you wonder why Thai militans have been so quite.

 

Waiting for the word. I have no doubt in my mind that Thailand is going to have an incident.

[jp1]

I have no doubt in my mind that Thailand is going to have an incident.

 

this crossed also my mind. Anything is possible but still hope nothing happens.

[Belem]

I used to love Phuket before it got expensive and deteriorated into a family resort.

[Guest lazyphil]

<<I used to love Phuket before it got expensive and deteriorated into a family resort>>

 

Do you have issues with families??

 

If so, why?

 

[Belem]

After '98, Phuket started to cater more to families and package tourists. Expensive international style resorts were built and a lot of the hotels started to initiate a no overnight guest policy or charge extra for an overnight guest. There used to be a lot of bars in Kata and Karon Beach, but now there are but a few bars with skeleton staffs. Also, there aren't as many beer bars in Patong as there used to be, and I don't think there are but a few A Go-Go's left. Phuket is the crown jewel of Thai tourism, and the TAT markets this destination heavily to families. I used to prefer Phuket to Pattaya because it was more laid back, had much better beaches and scenery, yet still had enough girls to go around. I don't have anything against families, but if I wanted to visit a family destination, I could stay home and go to Florida to witness couples and families on a holiday. I travel the long distance to Thailand because it caters to the single male traveller.

[Guest lazyphil]

I always thought Phuket/Patong has a good balance for everyone, oh well.

 

[nkped]

"I have no doubt in my mind that Thailand is going to have an incident."

Don't want to stereotype Thai Muslims, but it is cause for concern if some are still violent militants. Know the language, have valid identity documents, and able to blend into the majority population if they are sophisticated in the way of the predominant culture. After all, there are some reports that some of the 9/11 hijackers visited a titty bar a few days before. Still, I haven't cancelled my reservations for next month.