The Travel Industry Podcast for ASEAN and Asia Pacific...

Well, we’ve completed the first quarter of 2024 – where did that go? March was another frenetic month, with plenty of travel and tourism news, statistics, announcements and pronouncements. So where is South East Asia at exactly 2 years after the region began to reopen after the pandemic? Gary and Hannah discuss March’s Top 8 talking points, with stop-offs in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and China. En route, we analyse potential legislative shifts for Marriage Equality and Casino Gaming in Thailand, Singapore’s World’s Best MICE City campaign and Vietnam’s Q1 arrivals surpassing the same 2019 period.

Welcome to our new monthly mini-roundup of the key moments from The South East Asia Travel Show’s recent editions. The March rewind features red-hot talking points including ASEAN’s domestic and international flight recovery, Indonesia’s most popular outbound destinations, the opportunities for adventure travel in Laos and China’s remarkable inbound tourism policy shift. We also discuss Thailand’s Prime Minister becoming the nation’s pre-eminent tourism salesman, and the passing on of travel costs to tourists and travellers around the region.

Indonesia is by some margin the largest country, with the largest population and largest economy, in South East Asia. It also counts a fascinating interplay between inbound and outbound travel and a vast domestic travel and tourism sector. This week, Gary and Hannah welcome back Pauline Suharno, President of ASTINDO, the Indonesian Travel Agents Association, to discuss the overall recovery in 2023, and the outlook for 2024. En route, we discuss the hot destinations for outbound tourists, the continued high cost of domestic air tickets and new travel packages for passengers jumping aboard the Whoosh high-speed rail.

Indonesia is by some margin the largest country, with the largest population and largest economy, in South East Asia. It also counts a fascinating interplay between inbound and outbound travel and a vast domestic travel and tourism sector. This week, Gary and Hannah welcome back Pauline Suharno, President of ASTINDO, the Indonesian Travel Agents Association, to discuss the overall recovery in 2023, and the outlook for 2024. En route, we discuss the hot destinations for outbound tourists, the continued high cost of domestic air tickets and new travel packages for passengers jumping aboard the Whoosh high-speed rail.