Ep 166: Tackling South East Asia's Big Travel & Tourism Challenges

After the disruptions of 2020, 2021 and 2022, 2023 will be the most important year for travel and tourism in living memory. Two months into the year, South East Asia is confronting an anticipated travel demand rebound now that Asia Pacific is fully open. Major issues are emerging around tourism and the environment, energy, water and waste management. Meanwhile, transport infrastructure is being built out on a massive scale across the region.

So this week, Gary and Hannah rewind the big questions we’ve been asking and trying to answer in the first two months of the year that will shape the direction of travel through the rest of 2023.

In this compilation show, we track how China’s reopening will be driven by group tour, semi-organised and independent travellers. We tackle accessible tourism in Thailand, a plastic trash report in Vietnam and, of course, AI-generative content. Plus, we look ahead to the region’s first high-speed railway in Indonesia, and the high cost of sports event tourism in Cambodia.

With contributions from our guests Prof. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, James Clark, Ewan Cluckie, and Stuart McDonald.