Ep 119: Is South East Asia Ready to Reboot Travel in the Year of the Tiger?

Listen to this episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Podbean

View All Episodes

About This Episode

28 Jan 2022 • 30m25s

South East Asia is preparing for its third successive Lunar New Year holiday – aka Chinese New Year and Tet in Vietnam – to be impacted by the pandemic. Although this year will focus on domestic travel across the region, there is a growing sense that governments are readying to reopen their borders. Quite how quickly that will happen, or at what scale, is still hard to predict - but positivity is in the air.

Today, Gary and Hannah tour vicariously around South East Asia to check out what is and isn’t happening in travel and tourism… and which countries are setting out their next moves. Is the Philippines poised to reopen? Will Singapore scale up its VTLs, and will the borders be open for the return of the Formula 1 Grand Prix? Is Vietnam edging towards welcoming back inbound travellers? Can we expect a similar announcement from Malaysia?

What’s the latest on Thailand’s revival of its ‘Test & Go’ visitor entry scheme? And is Bali concentrating exclusively on hosting the G20 summit?

Let’s hope these hopeful vibes bring positive actions for the region’s travel and tourism landscape in the Year of the Tiger.

Show Notes

Ep 55: Is it Time to Rethink Chinese New Year Tourism Marketing?

« Next Episode Ep 120: Two Years of Travel Disruption, Part I: 15 Temporary & Permanent Changes in Travel Previous Episode » Ep 118: 22 for 2022: A Wishlist for Travel & Tourism in ASEAN - Part II

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play

16 Feb 2026 • 16m13s

Ep 286: Lunar New Year Segues into Ramadan, Thailand's Koh Samui Bridge & ASEAN Airlines Take Off for Europe: Start the Week with The South East Asia Travel Show

Where will Chinese tourists head for the longest Spring Festival holiday in history? How will regional travel hold up for the Lunar New Year break? And will the close proximity of the LNY and the Eid holiday seasons influence travel patterns in parts of South East Asia? On our fast-paced Start The Week show, Gary and Hannah stop over in,Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, China, Bahrain, London & Amsterdam in search of the answers to travel’s big questions.

Play

9 Feb 2026 • 16m46s

Ep 285: Vietnam's New January Inbound Record, AirFish in Singapore & What Will Elections in Thailand & Japan Mean for Tourism?: Start the Week with The South East Asia Travel Show

It’s a BIG week for tourism policy across Asia. On our fast-paced Start The Week show, Gary and Hannah stop over in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Japan. Elections in Thailand and Japan returned the two interim Prime Ministers with clear mandates. What will this mean for Thailand’s attempts to stem its inbound decline? And will fiscal expansionism further weaken the Japanese Yen? And what about repairing relations between China & Japan and Cambodia & Thailand?