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

Listen to this episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google

Podbean

View All Episodes

About This Episode

5 Nov 2022 • 31m53s

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. Thailand and Singapore claimed the headlines, although their reopening strategies contrasted notably. Cambodia made the fullest reopening move, but garnered less media attention.

Elsewhere, Malaysia and Vietnam launched Sandbox-style schemes on the islands and Langkawi and Phu Quoc.

Twelve months on, how should we reflect on those progressive, yet imperfect, government-driven efforts to reboot travel and tourism?

And how has the language of travel changed in the interim?

« Next Episode Ep 156: This Week’s 8 Top Travel Talking Points in South East Asia Previous Episode » Ep 154: South East Asia Prepares for an Uplifting Holiday Season

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play

9 Oct 2026 • 23m31s

Ep 322: Phu Quoc Fuels Vietnam's Tourism Rocket Ship, Thailand Moves Closer to Taxing Tourists & Russia's Rising Influence on South East Asian Tourism Planning

“Vietnam is riding a tourism rocket ship, and is on a totally different trajectory to the rest of South East Asia.” As we accelerate through October, this was another week packed with hot travel and tourism topics to discuss. To kickstart the weekend, Gary and Hannah journey across ASEAN and beyond with stopovers in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Laos, Russia and India. We assess Phu Quoc’s dramatic tourism surge to already surpass its 2026 visitor target.

Play

1 Oct 2026 • 30m38s

Ep 321: Tracking the Take-off of AI, Intelligent & Automated Technologies at South East Asian Airports

Digital Twins. Automated Ground Operations. Predictive Sustainability. Humanoid Robots. E-Gates. Urban Air Transport. Inter-modality. South East Asia’s air landscape is changing before our eyes, as air travel volumes increase and passenger expectations are constantly upgrading. These factors broaden the range of operational challenges for major hub airports, fast-growing airports in tier-two and tier-three cities and the new mega-airports opening from Singapore to the Philippines and Australia to Vietnam. Can AI and intelligent technologies improve the management of busier skies and more crowded departures and arrivals lounges without the need to build bigger terminals?

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

About This Episode

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Ep 322: Phu Quoc Fuels Vietnam's Tourism Rocket Ship, Thailand Moves Closer to Taxing Tourists & Russia's Rising Influence on South East Asian Tourism Planning

Ep 321: Tracking the Take-off of AI, Intelligent & Automated Technologies at South East Asian Airports

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman