Ep 192: The Top 8 Under-the-Radar Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia

About This Episode

9 Nov 2023 • 26m36s

Could Brunei become a regional aviation hub connecting China and South East Asia? And how might AI, humanoid simulants and an apocalyptic sci-fi landscape boost movie tourism in Thailand?

This week, Gary and Hannah have created a list of 8 travel developments that may not make major headlines, but are still highly interesting. These tourism talking points that snuck under the radar take us from Singapore to Brunei, Indonesia to China and Thailand to Japan. En route, we discuss a start-up airline that plans to fly Chinese-made passenger jets, the story of a shattered glass tourism bridge in Indonesia and a proposed tourism theme park on the border between Thailand, Laos and China.

Plus we tackle a new tourism and trade agreement between Japan and the Philippines, and address the aviation and arrivals slowdown in Singapore. Is this a barometer for the rest of South East Asia?

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