Ep 171: 10 Key Tourism Takeaways 12 Months Since South East Asia Reopened
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Google
PodbeanAbout This Episode
29 Mar 2023 • 37m13sQuarantine be gone! One year ago this week, on 1 April, the borders reopened across much of South East Asia as countries dropped quarantine-on-arrival mandates. The past 12 months have flown by, but the long pandemic travel shutout seems a part of history – especially as all of Asia Pacific, including China, is now open.
So, what have (and haven’t) we learned over the past year? For this week’s show, Gary and Hannah have compiled a list of the 10 key travel and tourism takeaways since 1 April 2022. Here’s the list we discuss on the podcast:
- Thailand is South East Asia’s ‘Tourism Central’
- Competition to attract tourists is intense – and intensifying
- Intra-regional flight capacities still aren’t what they were
- Smaller ASEAN countries are dependent on the air capacity recovery of neighbouring countries
- “High-Quality” tourism is selectively applied
- “Sustainable”, “Ecotourism” and “Green” tourism discourse isn’t delivering notable change
- Airports haven’t invested in the right areas – and it’s showing
- Domestic tourism focus has largely fallen by the wayside
- The manpower crisis is still far from over
- Rail travel is this decade’s big trend to watch
Resources
OAG Southeast Asia air traffic March analysis
Listen to Ep 164: South East Asia’s Top 10 New Airport, High-Speed Rail & Transport Projects, with James Clark, Future South East Asia
Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed
Play
26 Jun 2025 • 40m18s
Ep 259: South East Asia's Top 10 Talking Points of 2025 So Far: Travel & Tourism in a New Era of Global Uncertainty
It’s been a pretty unsettling first half of 2025 on a geopolitical level, and the regional outcomes are creeping but still uncertain. Against this backdrop, South East Asian airports have remained busy - but structural and cyclical challenges for travel economies are emerging.
So, what do the events of January-June tell us about the rest of 2025 and into 2026? This week, Gary and Hannah assess the 10 top takeaways in the year so far.
Play
20 Jun 2025 • 17m26s
Ep 258: Is an ASEAN Tourism Visa South East Asia's Most Pressing Travel Concern?
“Despite referencing the word ‘tourism’ 26 times in its new Vision 2045 plan, ASEAN remains uncomfortable discussing a regional tourism visa. This largely reflects its institutional limitations rather than a lack of ambition.” Over recent months, significant hype has surrounded the possibility of the 10 countries (soon 11) of South East Asia launching a shared visa for tourists. The context is that each country in the region wants to expand tourism to support economic development.
