{"id":2786,"date":"2021-08-03T01:04:48","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T01:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelcommunication.net\/?p=28193"},"modified":"2021-08-03T01:04:48","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T01:04:48","slug":"phuket-sandbox-a-model-for-asia-pacific-reopening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/global-travel-news\/phuket-sandbox-a-model-for-asia-pacific-reopening\/","title":{"rendered":"Phuket Sandbox a Model for Asia-Pacific Reopening"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Phuket<\/a> <\/div>\n

Phuket, Thailand, August 3, 2021 \/ TRAVELINDEX \/ Tourism leaders at Phuket Sandbox Summit urge European governments to recognise Phuket\u2019s status as a safe haven for international travellers. As Bangkok grapples with rising numbers of Covid infections, leading tourism voice KP Ho, Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Group, has told European envoys, airlines, senior officials and business leaders, that for Phuket Sandbox to succeed it is imperative for Phuket to be given \u201cgreen\u201d destination status.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Discover gastronomy destination Phuket and the Asia\u2019s Best Fine Dining Restaurants at Top25Restaurants.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking at the Phuket Sandbox Summit held at Laguna Phuket, KP Ho called on policy-makers in Europe and around the world to support Phuket as a separate \u201cgreen\u201d zone.<\/p>\n

Phuket has the potential to lead the global tourism recovery, as the historic Phuket Sandbox initiative sets the standard for other destinations to follow, he said. But, to succeed, governments need to recognise it as a safe, self-enclosed destination, rather than combining its travel status with the rest of Thailand.<\/p>\n

KP Ho\u2019s position was supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) at the Phuket Sandbox Summit. Deputy Governor for International Marketing Europe, Africa, Middle East and the Americans, Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, said: \u201cWe are trying to propose Phuket to the UK government to be on the green list of destinations, even though Thailand is on the amber list. We are optimistic about Phuket Sandbox. Phuket is safe and we will never compromise anyone\u2019s safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

He confirmed there were almost 300,000 rooms booked until the end of August in SHA Plus hotels, with nearly 13,000 arrivals and 124 flights after 28 days, with many more scheduled. Top markets are the US, UK, Israel, Germany, France, the UAE and Switzerland with an average length of stay 11 days.<\/p>\n

As anxiety grows across Southeast Asia\u2019s key travel destinations struggling with infection numbers, the Phuket Sandbox model is rapidly becoming the standard bearer of hope for the tourism industry.<\/p>\n

Launched on 1st July 2021, the Sandbox enables fully-vaccinated international visitors to fly directly to the destination and stay on the island quarantine-free. Hotels need to ensure at least 70% of their staff have received vaccines \u2013 the same inoculation rate as Phuket\u2019s population, creating herd immunity against Covid-19. While the high level of protection doesn\u2019t prevent people from catching Covid-19, it does significantly reduce the likelihood of serious infection and hospitalization.<\/p>\n

\u201cInfections and re-infections are not what really count; it\u2019s hospitalisation rates and ICU rates that count. The Thai government have to emphasise those new numbers and shift the narrative towards \u2018how many people are really getting sick?\u2019, not \u2018are the numbers going up?\u2019,\u201d added Mr Ho.<\/p>\n

By reporting this new data, he said, it should be possible for Phuket to be set apart from the rest of Thailand and placed on the \u2018safe list\u2019 of destinations to visit. This is not without precedent; the UK government for example, has put the island of Madeira on its green list, while the rest of Portugal remains on the amber list. The same rule applies to Denmark and the Faroe Islands.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s really important is that EU countries \u2013 the national governments, spurred on by travel agents, the media and other people \u2013 recognise that it\u2019s necessary to disengage the perception of Phuket from the rest of Thailand. It should be a situation where Thailand could be a red alert zone but Phuket could be a green zone,\u201d said Mr Ho. It could be possible to create a series of Sandboxes in other destinations, such as Koh Samui (which recently launched Samui Plus), Bali and Phu Quoc. As long as that Sandbox is well-organised, as it is in Phuket, it should be separated from the rest of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vice Governor of Phuket, Mr Piyapong Choowong, added: \u201cI would like to confirm we support Phuket Sandbox. We are making sure people on the island and all visitors are safe so we can run the Sandbox smoothly and continue to welcome more tourists to Phuket.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Discover gastronomy destination Phuket and the Asia\u2019s Best Fine Dining Restaurants at Top25Restaurants.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Presenting the most up-to-date data, C9 Hotelworks Managing Director, Bill Barnett, added: \u201cThere is a lot at stake but what is clear is that Phuket Sandbox is alive and well, and it\u2019s working.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Phuket Sandbox Summit was held at Laguna Phuket, attended by:<\/p>\n

\u2013 Phuket Vice Governor, Piyapong Choowong
\n\u2013 Tourism Authority of Thailand Deputy Governor, Siripakorn Chaewsamoot
\n\u2013 Banyan Tree Group Executive Chairman, KP Ho
\n\u2013 Laguna Phuket Managing Director, Ravi Chandran
\n\u2013 Phuket City Development CEO, Nipon Aekwanich
\n\u2013 British Honorary Consul, Martin Carpenter
\n\u2013 Honorary Consul of Germany, Anette Jiminez H\u00f6chstetter
\n\u2013 Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, Seven Smulders
\n\u2013 S Hotels and Resorts Senior Vice President Operations, Stefano Alberto Ruzza
\n\u2013 Dusit Hotels and Resorts Vice President Sales, Prachoom Tantiprasertsuk
\n\u2013 Singapore Airlines Station Manager Phuket, Louis Tan
\n\u2013 Emirates Airlines Airport Services Manager, Thanakorn Srihamart
\n\u2013 Qatar Airways Airport Services Manager, Warunee Saiboonjun<\/p>\n

About Laguna Phuket<\/strong>
\nLaguna Phuket resort is home to 7 deluxe hotels; Angsana Laguna Phuket, Angsana Villas Resort Phuket, Banyan Tree Phuket, Cassia Phuket, Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket, Laguna Holiday Club Phuket Resort and SAii Laguna Phuket \u2013 all sharing 1,000 acres of tropical parkland along a 3-kilometre stretch of the pristine Bangtao Beach. Facilities and services include 18-hole award winning golf course, world-renowned spas, shopping village, tour operators and MICE-certified event and facilitator teams. With inter-resort transportation allowing guests to travel anywhere within minutes via shuttle bus or ferry.<\/p>\n

First published at TravelCommunication.net<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Phuket, Thailand, August 3, 2021 \/ TRAVELINDEX \/ Tourism leaders at Phuket Sandbox Summit urge European governments to recognise Phuket\u2019s status as a safe haven for international travellers. As Bangkok grapples with rising numbers of Covid infections, leading tourism voice KP Ho, Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Group, has told European envoys, airlines, senior officials …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4134,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[806,807,178,88,52,106,43,808,809,37,75,678,612,750,679,60,557,45,46,44,48,59,525,47],"class_list":["post-2786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-travel-news","tag-banyan-tree","tag-banyan-tree-hotels","tag-bernard-metzger","tag-covid-19","tag-featured","tag-forums-meetings","tag-global-travel-news","tag-kp-ho","tag-laguna-hotels","tag-news","tag-phuket","tag-phuket-reopening","tag-phuket-sandbox","tag-tat_org","tag-tatnews","tag-thailand","tag-top25restaurants-com","tag-travel-communication","tag-travel-index","tag-travel-news-hub","tag-unwtp-news","tag-updates","tag-visitphuket-org","tag-wttc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}