The Travel Industry Podcast for ASEAN and Beyond...

Will history record that August 2021 was the month when travel returned to government agendas? It was certainly an eventful month in South East Asia as governments recognised that COVID-19 will be endemic, and that they must plan accordingly. Accelerating vaccination rollouts remains a priority, and a big challenge - especially for countries with large populations, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. This week, Gary and Hannah review the 6 top talking points in travel and tourism during August, and bring each one right up to date.

After successfully managing the pandemic in 2020, the Delta variant has hit Cambodia harder than expected this year. That said, one of the region’s most concerted vaccination programmes offers hope for rebuilding both tourism and the economy. In the penultimate edition of our 10-part ‘2020: The Year So Far in ASEAN’ series, Gary and Hannah welcome Jacques Guichandut, Managing Director of All Dreams Cambodia, which is a B2B tour operator based in Phnom Penh.

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago, and counts the planet’s fourth largest population. It is also South East Asia’s largest country and its biggest economy. The size, scale and diversity of the nation have been decisive factors for its long struggle to contain COVID-19, and the immense logistical challenges of inoculating its people. That said, significant progress is being made, and although the reopening of Bali to international travellers has faded from view for now, a cautious optimism exists for the future.

From 4.3 billion down to 0 - and an array of figures in between. On this special extra edition in the “2021: The Year So Far in ASEAN” series, Gary and Hannah crunch the year’s distressing travel numbers. We created a list of 2021 statistics that, taken together, sum up what has been another very difficult year so far in South East Asia. En route, we assess the current vaccine rollout figures, the staggering drop in ASEAN’s air travel capacity, and chart the slide in Thailand’s visitor arrivals projections.