Ep 194: 2023 in Review: This Year’s Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia

The first full calendar year of travel and tourism in South East Asia since the pandemic is almost complete. And what a dramatic 12 months it has been.

To take stock, Gary and Hannah have created a list of the Top 10 travel and tourism talking points in South East Asia and beyond in 2023. Our review of the year journeys from Indonesia to China, via Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

En route, we discuss the region’s first high-speed railway, the return of visa waivers and a ban on short-term rentals. We assess why three island destinations in the region are struggling to recover and the shifting travel payments landscape.

Plus, we tap into music tourism and a boost for hotel bookings by the Time Person of the Year, and Malaysia’s late-year statistical surprise.