Ep 123: Two Years of Travel Disruption, Part 4 - Pandemic Travel Experiments That Failed

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22 Feb 2022 • 30m54s

Who remembers the “one billion visitors by 2024” prediction? How about GeNose testing, the Special Tourist Visa and the Hong Kong-Singapore Air Travel Bubble?

It’s been a long two years of the pandemic, and various attempts have been made to revive travel in South East Asia. In Part 4 of the Two Years of Travel Disruption series, Gary & Hannah rewind through 2020 and 2021 to pick out the travel proposals, initiatives and experiments that didn’t get off the ground - or, if they did, faded from view.

En route, we recall Singapore’s “contract signing speed dating” project, a spurned sandbox in Cambodia and the absence of promised airline support in Thailand.

Plus, what happened to the Malaysia-Indonesia VTL, why did Indonesia backtrack on banning backpackers, and will there ever be an ASEAN Travel Corridor - or at least mutual recognition of vaccine certificates between the 10 member countries?

« Next Episode Ep 124: Two Years of Travel Disruption, Part 5 - Australia Reopens & Targets ASEAN, with Brent Anderson Previous Episode » Ep 122: Two Years of Travel Disruption, Part 3: A New Era Beckons in Singapore, with Karen Yue

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Ep 123: Two Years of Travel Disruption, Part 4 - Pandemic Travel Experiments That Failed

About This Episode

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Ep 275: Indonesia's Biometric Airport Corridor, Hotel Taxes in Malaysia & What Happens Next Between China & Japan?: November 2025 in Review

Ep 274: Will Indonesia Build a High-Speed Railway to Bali, What is the 'Cosmic Turtle' & When Will Long Thanh Airport Open?: South East Asia's Top Travel Mega-Projects in 2025 in Review

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman