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 155: South East Asia Starts to Reopen for Travel - One Year On!

Test & Go. Vaccinated Travel Lanes. ‘The Most Open Country in South East Asia.’ One year ago, on 1 November 2021, Thailand introduced the Test & Go tourism entry policy. In the same month, Singapore accelerated its Vaccinated Travel Lanes and Cambodia made travel easier for visitors than anywhere else. This week, Gary and Hannah rewind to November 2021 – the month that reignited travel in South East Asia after 20 months of lockdowns and labyrinthine travel restrictions.

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 156: This Week’s 8 Top Travel Talking Points in South East Asia

Ep 155: South East Asia Starts to Reopen for Travel - One Year On!

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman