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

As we accelerate towards the mid-point of 2026, the warning signs continuing showing up. On our Start the Weekend show, Gary and Hannah discuss new data analysis about the impacts of airline cuts in South East Asia - and what this might mean through October and beyond. And, then… El Niño is coming! The UN Meteorological Office has issued new details about the warming sea temperatures and shifting air currents we can expect from June onwards.

So, the fifth month of 2026 is complete - and it was another one dominated by the impacts of the US/Israel war in Iran/Lebanon. This week, Gary and Hannah recap May’s top 8 travel takeaways from across ASEAN and beyond with stopovers in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia, plus China, India and the UK. En route, we discuss flight route cuts across South East Asia, China, Japan and South Korea, and look at whether plans for an ASEAN reserve stockpile of crude oil would ease future jet fuel shocks.

Even if 75% of what Vietnam is planning comes together, it won’t just become the second-biggest economy in South East Asia but one of the Top 20 worldwide. Vietnam has set an official target of 50 million annual arrivals by 2030, while also making a pledge that tourism strategy will target high-spending visitors. Meanwhile, it welcomed more than 2 million inbound visitors in each of the first four months of 2026 for the first time.

“There’s a significant amount of downplaying the risk level to the public, but those striking disembarkation scenes with hazmat suits and water showers on the MV Hondius cruise ship tell us how seriously the WHO is taking this outbreak.” Zoonotic viruses are back in the headlines six-and-a-half-years after Covid was identified in China. So too are terms like “Contact Tracing,” “Mask Wearing” and “Breaking the Chains of Transmission”. Gary and Hannah kickstart the week by taking a closer look at the unresolved questions and issues around the Hantavirus outbreak.