Over 50,000 Russian tourists have visited Phuket in the past month

This past month, 55,097 Russian tourists visited the island province, constituting the region’s largest tourist group ever. Seats on chartered aircraft to Phuket and Pattaya are being filled by Russian tourists. Aeroflot has stated that they would increase the frequency of direct flights to Phuket. This announcement comes less than two weeks after the triumphal return of Russian airlines to the island. The flagship airline of Russia announced on November 12 that the number of weekly flights flying from Russia to Phuket would increase by 14. According to Phuket Immigration, Indian tourists formed the second-highest group of visitors to Phuket last month. They numbered 26,525 in total. At 13,868, the number of visitors from Australia was the third highest. At 12,340, the number of tourists from the United Kingdom was the fourth largest. Germany ranked fifth with 11,097 tourists from that country. Prior to the spread of the Covid-19 virus, China was Phuket’s most profitable tourist destination. Nanthasiri Ronnasiri, the director of the Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), told The Phuket Express, “From the beginning of the year to the end of October, Phuket generated more than 119 billion baht. Even excluding the Chinese, this number indicates that Phuket’s tourism business has expanded by 80 percent.

The recent flood of Russian tourists in Thailand has completely surprised the country’s tourism authorities. According to the head of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, despite the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian tourism sector has returned much more swiftly than anticipated (ATTA). During the month of December in particular, Koh Samui predicts an increase in the number of Russian tourists. Prior to the Covidian-19 outbreak and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Koh Samui’s reliance on tourists from Russia was a key contributor to the economy of the island. A week ago, the deputy governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) predicted that the number of Russian tourists visiting Thailand in 2019 will exceed one million. The number of international tourists who visited Thailand had already surpassed seven million as of October 26. Thus, Thailand is on track to fulfill the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) target range of seven to ten million visitors for 2022. In November, over 50,000 Russian tourists visited Phuket, indicating that this island is growing increasingly popular among Russian tourists.