A very LONG weekend indeed, 6 days from this Friday (the King’s Birthday) until next Wednesday (the end of Buddhist Lent).
The Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand is hopeful that the upcoming long weekend will bring over 2 billion baht in revenue to the island. The Bangkok Post reports that TAT Phuket director is expecting more than 234,000 people to visit the province.
Lertchai Wangtrakuldee says the official projection is for 234,035 visitors between Friday and Sunday, generating revenue of 2.2 billion baht. Lertchai says the island can offer 1,890 hotels, with a total of 101,556 rooms between them. Occupancy currently stands at just under 66%, with an average stay of 1.7 days per person (many pre-2019 hotels remain closed, skewing the local TAT’s statistics).
Monday, July 31 has been declared a ‘special government holiday’, in a bid to stimulate tourism and boost the economy. This equates to a 6-day holiday period running from Friday July 28 to Wednesday August 2.
Friday is also the birthday of His Majesty, the King, while August 1 is Asana Bucha Day. August 2 sees the start of Buddhist Lent. All those days are already government holidays, meaning the addition of Monday into the mix gives government workers a 6-day weekend.
Alcohol sales will be banned on the two Buddhist holidays on Tuesday and Wednesday.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
