Thailand’s cabinet on Tuesday approved a measure to waive for two months fees paid by visitors for visas on arrival, in a bid to boost a lucrative industry hit by a drop in visitors from China, its biggest market.

The fee of 2,000 baht ($60) will be waived between Dec. 1 and Jan. 31 for travellers from 21 countries, including China, Taiwan, India and Saudi Arabia, government spokesman Puttiphong Punnakan told reporters.

The scheme is expected to increase tourist numbers by at least 30 percent during the period, he said.

In September, overall tourist arrivals rose just 2.1 percent from a year earlier, but arrivals from China fell almost 15 percent following a boat accident in July, which killed 47 Chinese tourists, making it Thailand’s worst tourist-related disaster in years. Last year, Chinese visitors made up nearly a third of the record 35.38 million arrivals in Thailand.

Tourism receipts account for about 12 percent of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, making it one of the most important drivers of its growth.

The tourism ministry has forecast 37.5 million foreign tourists this year, up about 6 percent.

A new Absolute Twin Sands Resort & Spa has also opened the opportunity for 180° Wellness to usher in a variety of new therapies, treatments and guest practitioners in our wonderful new wellness space to ensure 180º Wellness grows as one of Thailand’s foremost wellness destinations.

Months of planning and design and we are almost ready to roll out three new phases: the Yoga Studio, our temperature controlled Yoga Studio has been fully tested and approved by a selected team of local Yogi’s, invited to trial the space. The new space has been designed not only to host a range of hot yoga classes, but to create the perfect backdrop for group meditation, sound therapy, breathing workshops and utterly relaxing candlelit yoga classes. The purpose of a temperate controlled yoga studio is to create the perfect yoga environment and ensure that students are neither too hot nor too cold, and by turning up the heat, you reap the benefits, allowing enhanced muscle relaxation to ease deeper into each pose. Hot Yoga generates deep detoxification and cleansing and reduces injury due to greater flexibility. There is truly no other style of yoga that addresses the overall health of the body in such a comprehensive way.

If you prefer to exercise outdoors, our new Crossfit-style gym space ‘The Strength Garden’ opens later this year. This is 180º Wellness does Crossfit and for those of you who are new to Crossfit, The Strength Garden will offer program that focuses on varied, high-intensity, functional movement that is sure to whip you into shape in no time at all. Phuket’s tropical climate pairs well with those who enjoy exercising outdoors, and The Strength Garden provides an excellent opportunity within the resort grounds to take your fitness to the next level.

For those who like to hit an air-conditioned indoor gym, your workout schedule won’t be interrupted while you holiday at Absolute Twin Sands Resort & Spa. Our third and final phase will include a brand new indoor gym with state of the art equipment, refuel station and even recharging rest points for your phones for that all-important gym-selfie! Personal training sessions can also be arranged around your holiday schedule.

Holidays are for pampering and our new 180° Wellness Spa will offer an enhanced selection of massage, face and body treatments, intended to relax and rejuvenate. Give our therapists your body for an hour, and we promise to give you back your mind!

Our 180° Wellness Spa will an extensive Facials menu from non-invasive natural collagen-boosting and draining for an enhanced glow and tightening, to more invasive treatments by visiting practitioners to seriously tackle those signs of ageing. We will continue to offer a wide variety of massage, of courses including our famous Thai Massage, adapted from our countries’ ancient method of aligning and balancing the energies of the body. A 180º Wellness Thai Massage is a must while staying with us in Phuket. If you are looking for a way to truly relax after a long flight, why not choose from a selection of Body Treatments? It seems many guests are partial to our Rejuvenate Salt Scrub, which includes Thai Sea Salts to remove dead skin cells and reveal a new skin, perfect for a good tanning base, these are blended with aromatic oils to purify and cleanse the mind. This Body Treatment is absolutely divine and one of many treatments available during your stay with us at Absolute Twin Sands Resort & Spa.

For those checking into Absolute Twin Sands Resort & Spa for the first time, 180° Wellness offers an amazing choice of programs that provide the perfect reset, allowing you a 180° turn towards energy, vitality, calm and happiness. If you want to relax, unwind, clear your head and treat your body well, we cannot wait to welcome you here to our beautiful resort and wellness center on the beautiful island of Phuket, Thailand.

To discuss a wellness treatment or program ahead of your stay with us, our wonderful 180º Wellness Team look forward to hearing from you, simply drop them a line at be-well@180wellness.asia

Looking for a unique adventure tour while staying at one of our Absolute Resorts & Hotels in Phuket? Why not a try a sup tour (that’s stand up paddle board)? Beginners to experienced paddlers are welcome for half day, full day or even overnight tours!

Paddle Phuket is the latest exciting watersport to reach the shores of Phuket. An enjoyable activity, SUP boarding has been growing in popularity all over the world. It’s a great way to get and stay fit, while enjoying the natural beauty that surrounds Phuket. Spend a day exploring crystal clear turquoise water, coral reefs, multiple outlying islands, lush jungles and mangrove forests. If you are looking for an off the beaten path adventure during your Absolute holiday in Phuket, a SUP tour is definitely it!

The tours are facilitated by a husband and wife duo who have many years of experience in the tourism and diving industry in Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga, Khao Sok and Khao Lak. The couple have been on many stand up paddle board adventures around Phuket and are looking forward to sharing them with you during your holiday.

It’s no secret that Phuket is a popular tourist destination that caters to a wide variety of travellers year after year. A SUP tour is also an excellent way to avoid the crowds and see the best that the island has to offer. It is also an eco-friendly activity that gets you out amongst nature with minimal impact. A SUP tour allows you to enjoy Phuket’s turquoise waters and warm temperatures or even watch a breathtaking sunset from a new vantage point. This tour is a truly memorable experience and a lovely way to spend a day exploring Phuket.

A SUP tour offers something for everyone. The diversity of Phuket means there is a SUP destination for everyone. Challenge yourself by heading out and around one of the numerous islands surrounding Phuket. Perhaps opt for a more relaxing option and stick to the calm waters of the local river. Find a coral reef and enjoy the large variety of fish species and coral from your board, or jump in for some snorkeling and cool down on the way.

A day out on a SUP tour gives visitors to Phuket the chance to meet some friendly locals and enjoy a different culture in some of Phuket’s quieter, hidden neighborhoods. Plus, discovering Phuket this way is a wonderful opportunity to really appreciate the island’s natural beauty, the beaches and ocean this island is world-renowned for. Paddle Phuket organises the entire tour for you.
Alternatively, if you are feeling a bit adventurous, you may rent a single board and paddle around at your own leisure. The tour organization also has a wide range of inflatable SUP boards, which makes it easy to travel around to a variety of locations throughout the day.

Interested in booking a Stand Up Paddle Board adventure of your own on your next holiday?

For more information, contact Paddle Phuket directly at paddlephuket@gmail.com or find them on Facebook @paddlephuket.

Is the kitchen table set to compete with our first highly-rated restaurant Blue Mango for TripAdvisor award-winning status? It certainly looks this way as we welcomed our first guests to great praise and many return bookings already.

Our lagoon-side Bistro, Rotisserie & Pizzeria, The Kitchen Table, has been leaving mouths watering since we opened earlier this month. Offering a fantastic breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner menu in a more relaxed bistro style, The Kitchen Table is the perfect foodie destination for lazy poolside sundowner dinners, afternoon teas, poolside BBQs and all day favourites, a takeaway menu is also available for you to enjoy in the privacy of your own suite.

The Kitchen Table allows for sociable and casual dining, large sharing tables encourage diners to interact over a wonderful meal, families can sit down together on private tables and order a variety of dishes to share from a menu of fresh, healthy ingredients from an International all-day menu with simple Thai Bowls, Rotisserie and Pizza Oven appealing to all palates with deli and coffee counter.

Fresh and healthy ingredients are at the heart of The Kitchen Table’s menu, as well as a great selection of all day bakery items and of course fantastic coffee and juices. The salad menu alone is enough to make even the fussiest eater’s mouth water. Guests will be able to choose from classic favourites such as Greek and Caesar Salad, as well as sample a delicious, light Salmon Salad. Healthy extras such as quinoa and boiled egg are also on offer for the more health conscious.

If it’s a burger you’re craving after working up an appetite in the pool, The Kitchen Table aims to please. Burgers are piled high on traditional or charcoal buns and offer up 150g of Australian grass fed Aberdeen Angus beef with all the trimmings. A vegetarian option is also available for our more health-conscious guests.

One of The Kitchen Table highlights is the extensive pizza menu. Our brick pizza oven is already enticing our hungry guests with its incredible aroma. 16 different pizza varieties feature on the menu, and we can’t think of anything better than spending an afternoon sampling delicious pizza whilst popping in and out of a paradise pool, can you?

Specialities from the grill and rotisserie chicken round out the fresh and abundant menu from The Kitchen Table. We are so excited to reveal our fantastic deli-style bistro at Absolute Twin Sands Resort & Spa and invite you to join us in sharing one of Phuket’s phenomenal sunsets whilst sampling this new and exciting menu.

See you soon

With some of Phuket’s biggest hospitality players in attendance, the very first Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism Forum 2018 (PHIST), one of Thailand’s most popular destinations, set its stall for the future prosperity by signing the “Phuket Pledge”.

The pledge is a commitment by participants to reducing, reusing and recycling single-use plastic in Phuket with the aim to eradicate it in all hotels and resorts, as well as agreeing to set up a community project aimed at educating the island’s youth on critical problems surrounding plastic usage on the island.

The PHIST event — organised by Phuket Hotels Association and supported by the Thai Ministry of Sports & Tourism — was led by C9 Hotelworks’ MD Bill Barnett and Greenview CEO Eric Ricaurte and saw more than over 550 delegates from countries including Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Hong Kong gathered at the JW Marriott Mai Khao in Phuket to debate key issues.

Bernhard Bohnenberger, president of Six Senses Hotels Resorts and Spas, discussing the ambitions of PHIST said: “Plastic reduction has been at the core of our company sustainability efforts for over a decade. The industry is finally waking up to this issue, but we need coordination and action to make a tangible change and see results. This is what we hope PHIST will go a long way to achieving.”

“We need to fight for Phuket. It is as simple as that.”

Thoughts echoed by Anthony Lark, Phuket Hotel Association president and managing director of Trisara, who said: “We need to fight for Phuket. It is as simple as that. And we can’t do it alone. We need to do it together. We have worked to build an inclusive coalition of public and private sector tourism groups who understand the critical need to act and think long term.

We hope the Phuket Pledge will be a start and ultimately become a model for us and other islands regionally to come together for the sake of sustainable island tourism in Asia.”

Along with Ministry of Sports and Tourism events partners included the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT); Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau; Thai Hotel Association, Central Phuket; BMW, Blue Tree Phuket;  C9 Hotelworks; Greenview; AmCham; QUO and Delivering Asia Communications.

At the inaugural Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism Forum 2018 (PHIST), hotels and tourism groups pledged to establish a model for the sustainable development of Asian islands, with the focus currently on plastic usage and its purported detriments.

The pledge commits stakeholders to reducing, reusing and recycling single-use plastic in Phuket, with the goal of eventually eradicating them in all hotels, as well as to undertaking a youth community education programme to raise grassroots awareness of the problems surrounding plastic usage.

PHIST gathered over 550 delegates from countries including Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Hong Kong at the JW Marriott Mai Khao in Phuket to debate key issues.

At the Green Groove area, regional suppliers headlined an exhibition of Asia’s cutting-edge producers and inventors of sustainable products for the hospitality and tourism industries.

“We need to fight for Phuket. It is as simple as that. And we can’t do it alone. We need to do it together,” said Phuket Hotel Association president and managing director of Trisara, Anthony Lark.

“We have worked to build an inclusive coalition of public and private sector tourism groups who understand the critical need to act and think long term. We hope the Phuket Pledge will be a start and ultimately become a model for us and other islands regionally to come together for the sake of sustainable island tourism in Asia,” he added.

PHIST was opened by the deputy governor of Phuket, Prakob Wongmaneerung, and featured experts in their respective fields, focusing on marine and coastal tourism, sustainability, youth education and community tourism.

The event was co-organised by Phuket Hotels Association, C9 Hotelworks led by managing director Bill Barnett and Greenview CEO Eric Ricaurte, with support from tourism bodies including the Ministry of Sports and Tourism.