Ep 1: The 2019 South East Asia Travel Year in Review

The symbiosis of food and tourism is not a new topic, but the contexts are changing. Across ASEAN and Asia Pacific, fast-moving trends in food tourism are driven by social media videos and tasting tests and a raft of culinary awards, guides, ratings and reviews. Beyond changing traveller appetites, vital issues - such as climate impact, resource allocation, automated farming techniques, and fair pricing for food producers - are gaining urgency.

So, we’ve passed a significant threshold. The first half of 2024 is completed – and an unseemly scramble will now occur to try and match – or get very close to – 2019 travel metrics across the region. In this context of competition, it’s time to round up the top 8 travel talking points from June – and what an action-packed month it proved to be. This week, Gary and Hannah travel around ASEAN, with stopovers in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Laos and Myanmar, plus China and – better believe it – Kenya.