Phuket Hotels Association is joining hands with Bangkok-based global hospitality branding agency QUO to roll out an aspirational relaunch campaign aimed at restoring the island's tourism industry and expedite the recovery process for the destination.

A fully integrated industry recovery campaign, the Imagine Phuket project seeks to make travelers worldwide yearn for Phuket by focusing on the "sights, sounds, feelings, tastes and emotions" associated with the popular Thai destination.

The campaign aims to give hotels a coordinated marketing platform to reach the international market, and each property will be given the creative resources to personalize videos, images, and logos with their own branding, creating bespoke versions of the campaign’s message.

The branding campaign seeks to be the first small step toward reviving travel to Phuket, and follows the earlier Covid-Ready Certification scheme that Phuket Hotels Association has rolled out among its 70-plus members.

"As the biggest resort destination in Asia the hotels felt it important to lead from the front and provide inspiration to those who are sitting at home dreaming of their next holiday. We wanted to keep [the campaign] simple and unbranded, with the focus on people, food, wellness, culture and nature," Anthony Lark, president of Phuket Hotels Association said.

He added: "The challenges are that we have an airport open only to domestic travel, and [arrivals] are a tiny fraction of the numbers we would like to see, as even Thai residents are staying closer to home."

Largely reliant on the international market, Phuket welcomed over 10 million arrivals last year. But it has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, and hotels have struggled to reopen.

The Covid-19 crisis had already cost the island over 120 billion baht (US$3.9 million) in lost income, with losses expected to reach 280 billion baht by the end of the year if the current situation persists, Phuket Chamber of Commerce President Thanusak Phungdet said.