Ep 126: Two Years of Travel Disruption, Part 7 - Vietnam Kickstarts a New Tourism Era, with Mike Tatarski, Vietnam Weekly

About This Episode

16 Mar 2022 • 27m39s

Vietnam’s reopening has been one of the most talked-about in South East Asia, and also one of the most unpredictable.

Even until the scheduled reopening date on 15 March, the terms of the reopening had not been published. However, the entry procedures are now looking very promising, and Vietnam is ready to welcome back tourists. So, on this week’s show, Gary and Hannah talk all things travel and tourism in Vietnam with Ho Chi Minh City-based Mike Tatarski, who is Editor-in-Chief of Saigoneer and founder and producer of the Vietnam Weekly newsletter.

We discuss the outlook for inbound, outbound and domestic travel, and address proposed investments to expand Vietnam’s airport capacity.

Plus, will the North-South high-speed railway come to fruition?

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play
10 Oct 2025 • 34m24s

Ep 271: Chinese Holidaymakers Jet Off, Multiple Muslim Tourism Initiatives & Fiscal Relief for Travel Workers: September + Golden Week in Review

After three weeks in Japan, Singapore and Italy, Gary and Hannah are back in KL to recap the top travel talking points from September and early October. China’s Mid-Autumn Golden Week has just wrapped up, so we assess the current state of play in a diversifying Chinese outbound market. Elsewhere, we discuss a raft of new Muslim-friendly tourism initiatives being introduced across South East Asia, note a shift towards waterborne transport innovation and crunch the numbers of a tax relief scheme for travel industry workers in Indonesia.
Play
25 Sep 2025 • 32m29s

Ep 270: From Japan to South East Asia to South America: Confronting the Cumulative Challenges of Tourism, with Joao Romao

Economic and social processes shape tourism development, but - in turn - tourism reshapes economic spaces, and that is creating new challenges in South East Asia and beyond. This week, Gary welcomes Joao Romao, Associate Professor at Yasuda Women’s University in Japan, to discuss his new book, Economic Geography of Tourism. An economist, tourism strategy advisor and former travel documentary maker, Joao assesses contemporary tourism through a lens of shifting global economic, technological, societal, environmental and political challenges.