layoffs in Phuket - tourism not so hot now
none
CONCERNS are growing for the jobs of Phuket workers at resorts and in
ancillary industries as revenue from tourism continues to run at well
below normal levels.
Bhuritt Maswongssa, Marketing Officer of the Thai Hotels Association
(Southern Chapter) says that occupancy rates are at 60 percent for
November-December on Phuket.
''This is well below the 80 percent that could be expected in a normal
high season, and the room rates are also substantially discounted,''
he said.
''Inevitably, this means problems for resorts and their staff early in
the new year.''
Discount packages meant that people who normally paid for five-star or
four-star accommodation were enjoying the same facilities at two-and-a-
half star to three-star prices, he said.
This is turn puts pressure on three-star resorts.
Khun Bhuritt warned that lay-offs were likely. This would be the
second high season in a row where owners were unable to gain
sufficient income to sustain all their staff through the coming low
season.
He said it was time for attempts to be made to seek alternative
models. For example, although dynamic pricing has become popular, some
resorts might find it more productive to charge the same set room rate
all year long.
Different approaches would be required for long-term survival.
''The social consequences of an extended period of downturn will also
bring problems for Phuket,'' Khun Bhuritt said. ''Crime could become
more of an issue.''
Concessions have already been made at many resorts to cope with lower
tourism figures that followed the record 2007-2008 high season. The
invasion of Phuket airport by political protesters in August 2008
signalled a dramatic decline in tourist numbers.
While that decline appears to have finally levelled off, it has come
at a high cost. Discounting has restored the numbers, but at vastly
reduced levels of revenue.
And restoring rates to 2007 levels, as resort managers will tell you,
is extremely difficult given the ''cannibal'' effect on Phuket and the
customers' wide range of choices at other destinations suffering
similar setbacks.
Many resort management teams have so far tried to keep all staff by
imposing reduced working hours.
While hotels on Phuket have traditionally retained large numbers of
staff, some operators more recently have opted to employ fewer people
but at higher rates of pay . . . and expectations of more intense
workloads.
The concept of smaller numbers of fulltime staff, with a larger pool
of seasonal or casual workers, is also being looked at closely.
Resorts that have a special relationship within local communities will
not find enforced change easy. Inevitably, there is a flow-on effect.
Tourism's associated industries, restaurants, entertainment, tours and
diving, are also feeling the crunch because the tourists who are
coming do not have large amounts to spend.
Even if all the rules are followed and special allowances are made for
sacked workers, the process is invariably traumatic.
Phuket, it seems, can expect a tearful new year.
__________________
Magnus
wrote:
I'm very surprised coz the Gross SS squealed here from his Bangkok
dock that "times were getting better".
Would the hero of the SCT Nazis have been wrong?
...once again?
:-)
Mort
Krypsis
>
> :-)
> Mort
Well, the Bangkok Docks aren't exactly in the middle of any tourist
precinct so it's not surprising that GSS is "out of the loop", so to
speak. You must also remember that GSS "only" inhabits the expat
enclaves and is far too timid to venture into the real Thai society,
hence his inability to speak Thai after all these years in Thailand. But
then, we have only his word for it that he has even spent much time in
Thailand at all and, since he is constantly lying, his word doesn't
amount to much.
Krypsis