Ep 213: Visa Waivers, Extreme Weather, AI Tools & ‘All-Gender Weddings’: Revisiting the 2024 Travel Wishlist

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10 May 2024 • 26m12s

As we speed towards the mid-point of 2024, it’s time to revisit our annual top 10 list of travel wishes and expectations, which we created in January. How have our predictions measured up so far this year?

En route, we assess whether travel visa waivers have become a competitive battleground in South East Asia, and look at evolving patterns in the Public Holiday vs Weekend vs Weekday travel economies.

Plus, are we seeing any progress to bridge the Say-Do gap in sustainable travel activity, and is there any evidence to support the AI hype in travel supply and demand? And we track the timeline of Thailand’s institutional journey to become the region’s first nation to legalise same-sex weddings. When could this become enshrined in law, and how might it influence new travel trends?

« Next Episode Ep 214: Running Away to the Circus, and Cambodia's Tourism Recovery, with Craig Dodge, Phare Previous Episode » Ep 212: 'Everyone Wants to Go to Japan': The Best Bits From The South East Asia Travel Show in April 2024

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11 Sep 2025 • 30m46s

Ep 268: Techo Airport Takes Off, Thai Baht Volatility & Turmoil in Indonesia: This Week in Review

September is historically a slow month for travel news in South East Asia. With the October Golden Week imminent, followed by the peak November-February tourism season, it’s usually a period to reflect and prepare. Not this year. Political upheaval and economic instability in ASEAN’s two largest economies, Indonesia and Thailand, are front-page news. Events in both nations have the potential to influence the end-of-year travel season, not least in Thailand where an enforced national election is likely.

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29 Aug 2025 • 35m12s

Ep 267: Pre-Golden Week Visa-Easing Tricks, Rising Costs of the Thai-Cambodia War & Senior Tour Guides vs Robots: August 2025 in Review

Vietnam and South Korea have “visa-easing tricks up their sleeves” as China’s October Golden Week nears. And, with two-thirds of 2025 completed, attentions are turning to the peak end-of-year travel season across Asia. That’s the backdrop for a frenetic month of travel activity region-wide in August. For our regular monthly round-up, Gary and Hannah travel around ASEAN with stopovers in Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, plus China and South Korea.

Ep 213: Visa Waivers, Extreme Weather, AI Tools & ‘All-Gender Weddings’: Revisiting the 2024 Travel Wishlist

About This Episode

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Ep 268: Techo Airport Takes Off, Thai Baht Volatility & Turmoil in Indonesia: This Week in Review

Ep 267: Pre-Golden Week Visa-Easing Tricks, Rising Costs of the Thai-Cambodia War & Senior Tour Guides vs Robots: August 2025 in Review

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman