Phuket eyes sports tourism niche
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is stepping up its pursuit of niche markets, such as sports and wellness tourism.
"Sports tourism is already growing with the Phuket Triathlon, Quicksilver Surf Competition and next May we will host an event under the International Triathlon Union," said TAT’s Phuket office director, Chanchai Duangjit.
Chanchai said mainstream tourism on the island was at the saturation point. "The way forward is to concentrate on niche markets and high spend visitors," he said.
"Phuket must move on from mass tourism to become a destination that relies on various upmarket niches such as sports tourism, but it is also important to promote the island as a gateway to other Andaman Sea coast destinations," he added.
The Absolute Phuket ITU LD World Series Triathlon will take place over the weekend of May 4-5, 2013, and consist of three disciplines – a swim, bike and run.
There will be a number of distances and race formats including a ‘sprint’, ‘Olympic Distance’, ‘team relay’, ‘celebrity relay’ and ‘ITU Kids’ divisions.
The courses will take in much of the island’s southwest coast, with the open water swimming off Patong, the bike course heading south through Karon to the hills around Kata, and the running leg back at the beachfront in Patong.
Ian Jarrett
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