Krabi poised to become one of Thailand's hottest destinations

This seaside town in southern Thailand has seen an explosion in tourism recently, and airlines are taking note.

Listed among the New York Times' "52 Places to Go in 2014," the coastal town has been flooded with visitors lately, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

The TAT Krabi Office notes that hotel occupancy rates in the area have averaged 95 percent so far during the current season, and that reservations over the coming months offer a promising outlook.

Picking up on growing demand, a number of airlines have expanded their offering of connections to and from Krabi. In November, Air Asia established a direct connection from Singapore and increased the number of daily flights between Bangkok and Krabi to eight.

As of January 1, Thai low-cost carrier Nok Air began offering two flights per day between the Thai capital and Krabi. On February 3, Malaysia Airlines will continue the trend, launching four weekly flights between Kuala Lumpur and Krabi.

2013 was a record year for tourism in Thailand overall. The country saw 26.7 million visitors, representing a 20 percent increase over the previous year. Chinese tourists were the primary contributors to this increase (4.7 million tourists, +68.8%), followed by Malaysians (2.99 million, +17.3%), and Russians (+1.73 million, +32%).

This year, Thailand hopes to break yet another record by attracting over 28 million visitors.