Ep 162: The Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in January 2023

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2 Feb 2023 • 30m06s

2023 is a vital year for travel and tourism in South East Asia and Asia Pacific. January was a fascinating kick-start month for the region’s visitor economies. China reopened its airport gates, albeit gradually, the Lunar New Year launched the domestic and outbound travel calendar and tourism boards set out their (initial) 2023 visitor forecasts.

On today’s show, Gary and Hannah review January’s Top 10 travel talking points and discuss what they could mean for the 12 months ahead. The journey takes us to 9 countries around the region.

En route, we assess the return of Chinese tour groups to 7 ASEAN countries, discuss airport capacity in Vietnam and Thailand and address an administrative bottleneck for the Laos-China train.

Plus we talk sales tax refunds in Philippines, tourism villages in Indonesia, sky-high hotel rates in Singapore and two Malaysian Prime Ministers challenged in the courts over an aborted high-speed rail project. Phew!

« Next Episode Ep 163: Sustainable Travel Tracking in Vietnam & AI in Tourism, with Stuart McDonald, Travelfish Previous Episode » Ep 161: Ethics, Sustainability & Accessibility in Tour Operations, with Ewan Cluckie, Tripseed

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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.

Ep 162: The Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in January 2023

About This Episode

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Ep 272: Scam Centre Tourism Impacts, SAF Mandates, Q4 Travel Promotions & Timor Leste Joins ASEAN: October 2025 in Review

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

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman