Ep 120: Two Years of Travel Disruption, Part I: 15 Temporary & Permanent Changes in Travel

About This Episode

4 Feb 2022 • 38m02s

It’s almost two years since South East Asian nations began shutting their borders as COVID-19 spread across the region and beyond.

Over the coming weeks, Gary and Hannah will put together a series of shows with the help of regional experts to assess the various changes that are already occurring because of the pandemic, plus changes that might happen in the coming months – and those that perhaps should, but maybe won’t, happen at all.

To kick things off, we’ve created a 15-point list of evident shifts across travel and tourism since March 2020. These range from huge job losses, business closures and lasting damage to travel infrastructure to the rise of the SuperApps, and from shifts in the ‘quality’ vs ‘mass’ tourism debate to uncertainties surrounding the return of business travel.

Plus, what is the future of travel insurance?

Have we seen the back of over-tourism?

And how have consumer perceptions about overseas travel altered during the past two years?

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play
21 Aug 2026 • 35m46s

Ep 316: Thailand's Tourism Tax is Back, Vietnam Targets 50 Million Visitors & Russia Entices South East Asian Tourists

“Tourists are now viewed as a source of taxation revenue. It’s increasingly hard to raise taxes on your own citizens, but if you have 30+ million tourists each year, that’s a lot of potential tax you can raise.” This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the multiple challenges Thailand faces in increasing its proposed tourism tax, from THB300 to THB450 - and collecting it. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s stellar tourism run continues with a raft of upcoming initiatives and an eye-watering new inbound tourism target.
Play
14 Aug 2026 • 27m26s

Ep 315: Australia Zones-in on ASEAN Tourists, Vietnam Loads Up WeChat & Brunei Wants to Join the "1 Million Tourists Club"

“With two-thirds of 2026 almost complete, tourism strategies, plans and developments are loaded with extra meaning. 2027 is looming up ahead… This week, Gary and Hannah journey across South East Asia and to Australia to ask and answer this week’s top tourism questions. We begin Down Under where Australia’s new 10-year tourism roadmap is simply world class. We discuss why. Next to Brunei, which is rolling out various tourism initiatives as it targets 1 million arrivals in 2027.