The tour operator Pegas Touristik, after the successful launch of Nordwind Airlines charter program to the Thai Surat Thani airport on February 14, plans to start flights from Khabarovsk. Earlier, in December, the flight program was started from Novosibirsk (December 27), Krasnoyarsk and Moscow (December 28).
“The program to Samui through Surat Thani is planned till October 20, 2020, but it will be extended and the resort will work as a year-round one. The flights are well loaded. The sales depth is very high and demand is active,” says the CEO of the operator Anna Podgornaya.
Prior to the December flights, the tours to Samui were combined with Bangkok or Phuket, sometimes with overnight stays or connections. Now, tourists, when flying through Surat Thani, from the airport immediately go to Samui - by bus to the pier, then by ferry. As a result, the road to the hotel takes about three hours.
“Big airplanes cannot land on Koh Samui. The airport does not allow this, but Surat Thani and the ferry remove the problem. Demand for this island and neighboring Phangan has always been high. Now the way to Samui has become easier,” continues Ms. Podgornaya.
In early December, the loading of hotels on Samui reached 50-60%. The peak of the season is the second half of December and will last until April inclusive. This period we expected an increase in tourist flow from Russia to the island. According to the Thai office of Pegas Touristik, in connection with new charter flights, tourist flow from Russia to Samui will increase several times. In this case, the island will become popular as such well-developed resorts of Thailand - Pattaya, Phuket and Bangkok.
At the end of last year, travel agents from the regions complained that Thailand began to lose positions against Chinese Hainan. So, Pegas Touristik was forced to adjust the program to Thailand from Belgorod and Orenburg.
According to Igor Trishkin, the head of Pegasus Samara, last year was marked by an increase in consumer demand for the low price segment, which explains the interest of tourists in Hainan.
