Hotels and other tourist-oriented businesses in Samui are sending their staff to language schools to study Chinese. The move is in anticipation of a continued surge in Chinese arrivals. Chinese tourists brought in by chartered flights are slowly replacing the European tourists on the island whose numbers have dwindled since the start of the global economic recession late last year.

Tourist arrivals on the island, local tourism officials said, went up 10-20 percent on the third quarter of this year, in part due to the increased tourist traffic from China.

As operators of a number of small and medium-sized hotels see the high potential in boosting the business from the increasing number of Chinese tourists visiting to Koh Samui in the future, the big change to prepare for the this prospect has been implemented now.

Top hotels in Samui, such as  Kandaburi, Bandara and Nora Beach Resort, have reportedly enrolled their staff in Chinese courses in the belief that Chinese tourists will soon constitute a big chunk of the island’s guests.

Apart from Chinese, another languages which hotels are setting their sights on  for their employees is Arabic. Hotel operators expect more tourists from the Middle East in the coming months.

Seni Phuwasetthawon, president of the Samui Tourism Association, said that China’s Southern Airlines recently opened direct flights to Suratthani from the Chinese provinces of Chengdu and Guangzhou.

He added that there are even plans to open direct flights to Samui from southern cities in China to make it more convenient for Chinese tourists. -- CA