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

How will tourism research and graduate education adapt and diversify post-COVID? This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the outlook for travel and tourism across South East Asia from an academic perspective with Prof. Joseph Cheer of the Center for Tourism Research at Wakayama University in Japan, and Dr. Mary Mostafanezhad, Associate Professor at University of Hawaii at Manoa. The broad-ranging interview discusses how travel may look in the early recovery phases, the challenges of educating a new generation of tourism professionals in uncertain economic times and whether the travel and hospitality sectors will continue to engage with universities in future.

How will governments use COVID-19 vaccine programmes to revitalise travel and tourism? This week, Gary and Hannah debate the latest tourism reopening proposals in South East Asia and beyond. These include moves to welcome vaccinated travellers in Thailand, Bali’s ‘COVID-free Corridor’, and the likely reboot of the Singapore-Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble. We also discuss a proposed ‘Calibrated’ reopening in India, the ‘Bio Bubble’ tourism initiative in Sri Lanka and ‘Vaccine-to-Go’ travel in Cuba – and their relevance to South East Asian markets.