In 2023, Russians lead in tourist flow on the Thai island of Phuket

Russian tourists in the first half of 2023 became the leaders in the tourist flow to Phuket. Since January 1, almost 450 thousand Russians have visited the Thai island, said Nantida Atiset, Vice President for International Marketing of Phuket Tourism Association.

“From January to July, 447 000 Russian tourists arrived in Phuket. About 20% more will be added to this figure when we receive data on transit tourists from Bangkok airport. By the end of the year, we expect to accept 800 000 tourists from Russia. The Russians occupy the first place in Phuket in terms of tourist flow among all countries," she told.

According to a representative of Phuket's tourist industry, India and China follow Russia in terms of the number of tourists. The Chinese market has not yet returned pre-pandemic volumes and recovered only by 30%.

As per experts, 70% of tourists fly directly to Phuket from Russia, 30% fly via Bangkok. Aeroflot has the largest volume of traffic, which accounts for a share of 30% of direct passenger traffic. The second and third places are occupied by charter airlines Azur air and Pegas Fly.

The representative of Phuket tourism industry stressed that the volume of Russian tourist flow in the first half of 2023 exceeded the pre-pandemic 2019 figures by 10%.