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However, he pointed out, “But we in the marine industry have had to deal with three provinces telling us what we can and can’t do. Mr Stenning noted that the hotel industry has had the COE (Certificate of Entry) to deal with, which has had enough problems already well reported. “We shouldn’t go just chasing numbers from the internationals flights, but chasing numbers from the domestic flights as well,” he added. We as a marine tourism business are finding that domestic travellers are more likely to come out in the low season, so that might be a reverse way for us in the marine industry to survive as we move forward. “We can soften out that curve between the high and low season by using the domestic market. “We can’t throw that to the wayside once the international market returns. “All that work that Phuket has done to make Phuket more accessible to the Bangkok market, I think that Phuket needs to do that moving forward,” Mr Stenning noted. “We have been nearly full, out every day, but not Sandbox customers,” he said. While pre-COVID “almost 90%” of his customer base were international tourists, throughout the pandemic the target market shifted to domestic visitors. “Phuket’s marine industry needs to learn that we need a strong domestic base in tourism,” Mr Stenning said. “We actually grew during the past 18 months,” he said. Mr Stenning pointed out that 5 Star Marine made a big decision to maintain operations throughout the pandemic.
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Mr Stenning delivered three key points: a need to focus more on domestic travellers as a survival and growth strategy shifting away from over-reliance on international visitors a need for clear coordinated rules for conducting tours to neighbouring provinces Phang Nga and Krabi and a clear shift away from the volume of mass tourism of the past. Shaun Stenning, CEO of 5 Star Marine, delivered the message while speaking as one of the panel of industry experts at the Joint Chambers Phuket Business Briefing “What’s Ahead - Phuket’s Plan for Kickstarting the Economy”, led by the Australian Chamber of Commerce, held at Boat Lagoon Marina on Wednesday night (Oct 20).