Phuket News / Island’s Latest Updates

Two giant shopping complexes, Central Festival Phuket and Jungceylon, are adjusting their marketing strategies to cope with a steep drop in tourists visiting Phuket after recent political turmoil. Both Central Festival Phuket, operated by Central Retail Corporation (CRC), and Jungceylon, owned by Phuket Square Co, reported a drop of between 10% and 20 % in foreign tourists visiting their shopping malls.

Thanapon Tangkananan, CRC’s vice-president for business development, said its complex saw a 15% decline in foreign tourists following recent unrest. Normally, about 30,000 shoppers visit the store on weekdays and up to 60,000 each day on weekends. Of the total, 30-40% are foreign - half being expatriates living in Phuket and half tourists.

”All tourism-related businesses are being hurt, including hotels, restaurants, entertainment, and even drivers of service vehicles,” he said. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the unrest has severely affected the tourism sector and resulted in a 20-30% decline in tourist arrivals, particularly from China, South Korea and Japan, which are especially sensitive to the political situation. If the political conflict continues, the TAT expects the impact to be more severe.

To offset the decline in foreign tourists, Mr Thanapon said CRC would adjust its marketing and promotional campaigns to attract more Thais and expats and to increase their average spending and frequency of visits. Central Festival Phuket is staging a fourth-anniversary campaign this month and next, expected to generate sales growth between 10% and 15%.

Prawit Janyasittikul, CEO of Phuket Square Co, Jungceylon’s operator, said the number of foreign tourists at the complex had fallen by 10-15%, particularly since Phuket International Airport was closed last week. ”The drop in foreign tourists is less than we expected. With our experience in the past, I believe foreign tourists are worried about violence rather than political turmoil,” he said. He added that the company expects Phuket’s retail outlook to turn around after the Chinese Phuket festival from Sept 29 to Oct 8. However, the company plans to spend 25 million baht on marketing and promotions during September to December to attract more shoppers, both locals and foreign tourists. During this period, the company will increase its marketing events by a half to 30.

In addition, more tenants are to open outlets in Jungceylon, including 7-Eleven, Let’s Relax Spa and Sound Club, which is managed by Bedsupper Club on Bangkok’s Sukhumvit road. The company has also opened a 300-square-metre shooting range inside its complex.”We are eyeing more Russian tourists, which are a promising target group. They have high purchasing power with spending per bill at 3,000 baht,” Mr Prawit said. Currently, he said Jungceylon has total sales space of 75,000 square meters and an occupancy rate of 90%.