Phuket, Thailand. Credit: 123rf
HOTELS in Phuket are taking precautionary measures as the smoke haze, which has plagued the South-east Asian nations of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia for more than a month now, creeps over Southern Thailand.
Thailand’s government had earlier declared the air quality in Phuket and in the Southern areas as “unhealthy”, and urges the sick, elderly and children to stay indoors.
Hotels in Phuket are now facing issues with cancelled or redirected flights due to visibility problems. “At the moment, very few guests at AccorHotels have highlighted or shared negative feedback about the haze. The largest impact on our guests has been in the form of flight delays,” said Ianic Menard, vice president of sales, marketing & distribution at AccorHotels, Upper South-east Asia.
“Domestic flights are either diverted back to Bangkok or are hovering above Phuket for up to an hour before being able to land. Fortunately, while it has been a disruption, it has not really had an impact on occupancy in our case,” said Robin Lee, general manager of Wyndham Sea Pearl Resort Phuket.
Other hotels have responded by providing face masks while keeping abreast of developments. “Luckily, we are positioned far from the main haze area, however, we did provide masks for our hotel guests and staff just in case,” Sebastian Tronchet, general manager at Grand Mercure Phuket Patong told TTG Asia e-Daily.
Lee added: “We are continually keeping guests informed, monitoring if the haze reaches a critical level, and warning those with respiratory disorders, cold, flu or heart conditions to remain inside and drink lots of water.”
