Ep 181: The Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in the First Half of 2023

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5 Jul 2023 • 37m57s

Thailand. China, India & Russia. Visa Backlogs. Indonesia’s Air Sector. A Short-Term Rental Ban. Taylor Swift & Coldplay. High-Speed Rail. Love the Philippines.

What connects the dots? All feature in our round-up of South East Asia’s Top 10 talking points from the first half of 2023. As the region moves on from its first full half year of travel since 2019, Gary and Hannah discuss the key issues and vital takeaways.

Plus, we forecast some of the hot issues to watch in the second half of the year. Will we see a slowdown in intra-regional pent up travel demand? Will Chinese tourists stream into South East Asia in larger numbers? Can regional airports cope if they do? Will long-haul air fares stay as high as they are right now? How will depreciating currencies impact inbound and outbound travel?

And should we finally cast off the shadow of the “return to 2029 levels” recovery benchmark?

« Next Episode Ep 182: Reflecting on 3 Years of Tourism Recovery in Maldives, with Thoyyib Mohamed, Visit Maldives Previous Episode » Ep 180: SuperApps Scale Up to Sell More South East Asian Travel, with Brett Henry, MG Group

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9 Aug 2025 • 21m55s

Ep 264: Vietnam's Golden Year Continues, THAI Back on the Bourse, India & Philippines Agree 'Free-Visas' & Happy 60th Birthday Singapore: This Week in Review

Vietnam’s inbound tourism boom in 2025 continues. Malaysia targets tourism to reach 16% of GDP. India and the Philippines talk “free visas”. THAI Airways confirms its post-Covid comeback by returning to the stock market. Boracay “streamlines” its various entry fees” And Singapore celebrate its 60th birthday since independence. It’s been a pretty hectic news week across South East Asia. Join Gary and Hannah as they travel through ASEAN to discuss the top travel and tourism talking points of the past seven days.

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2 Aug 2025 • 37m31s

Ep 263: War, Tariffs, GDP Revisions & Slowing Visitor Arrivals: July 2025 in Review

July was a challenging month for travel and tourism in South East Asia. A military conflict between Thailand and Cambodia shook the region. New ‘reciprocal’ US tariff rates will challenge bottom lines and business travel budgets for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, mixed results continue for visitor arrivals, consumer spending and travel sentiment. This month’s Top 10 Travel Talking Points round-up takes Gary and Hannah from Malaysia to Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and, inevitably given the global geo-economic situation, Washington DC.

Ep 181: The Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in the First Half of 2023

About This Episode

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Ep 264: Vietnam's Golden Year Continues, THAI Back on the Bourse, India & Philippines Agree 'Free-Visas' & Happy 60th Birthday Singapore: This Week in Review

Ep 263: War, Tariffs, GDP Revisions & Slowing Visitor Arrivals: July 2025 in Review

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman