BY THE NUMBERS Chiang Mai Vs Phuket

While in some quarters the great debate over volume tourism rages, one statistic we recently came over validated the difference between Chiang Mai and Phuket hotels.
According to global firm STR for the first half of 2011 (January to June) Chiang Mai hotels had an average occupancy of 49.81% and average rate of THB2,669.51.
Viewing this against Phuket which ran 71.29% occupancy and an ADR of THB4,294.60, you can see the cracks appear.
Two leading factors remain direct international flight and the fact that the key driver of Thailand tourism outside of Bangkok remains beach destinions.
For now Chiang Mai has its work cut out to revitalize the brand and reinvigorate demand generators.