PHUKET — On July 24, around 3:00 p.m., the luxury cruise ship Genting Dream, measuring 335 meters in length, docked at Phuket Deep Sea Port for the first time this year, carrying 3,700 tourists on the Singapore-Phuket route. This is expected to stimulate the tourism economy and boost confidence in Phuket Province.
Genting Dream, a Bahamas-flagged cruise ship on the Singapore-Phuket route, is 335 meters long and has a gross tonnage of 150,695 tons. It docked at Phuket Deep Sea Port for the first time in 2024 to promote goodwill and stimulate Phuket’s tourism economy.
Adul Chuthong, Deputy Governor of Phuket, along with Nachapong Pranit, Director of the Phuket Regional Harbor Office, and other relevant agencies welcomed the tourists arriving on this ship.
The Deputy Governor of Phuket stated that after dredging and expanding the waterway, larger cruise ships will be able to dock in Phuket more frequently, bringing more tourists by sea in addition to those arriving by air and land.
Currently, about 50,000-60,000 tourists arrive daily through the airport. The occupancy rate of tourists may increase to 100,000-200,000 per day, benefiting both the public and private sectors of the tourism industry and increasing revenue.
Nachapong Pranit, Director of the Phuket Regional Harbor Office, said that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of large cruise ships visiting Phuket has increased. In the past month, about 7-8 large cruise ships docked in Phuket.
Since January, the number has tripled to 14-17 ships per month, which is a very positive trend for the large cruise ship tourist market in Phuket. The Genting Dream’s first docking at Phuket Deep Sea Port demonstrates that large cruise ships can now access the port directly, increasing convenience for tourists who previously had to anchor offshore and use smaller boats to reach the island.
Genting Dream is scheduled to dock in Phuket twice a month until 2026. Meanwhile, the Marine Department has plans to develop this port into a hub for large cruise ships in the Andaman Sea, or a “Marina Hub,” catering to tourists who prefer to travel to Phuket on large cruise ships.
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