Ep 215: 'Clear Air Turbulence', Thailand's Visa Bonanza, Singapore's Vision 2040 & Vietnam Shades 2019: May 2024 in Review

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31 May 2024 • 28m54s

We’re steaming through 2024, with 5 months already completed, and attracting tourists is becoming intensely competitive. This week, Gary and Hannah review South East Asia’s top 8 travel and tourism stories during May.

This month’s round-up takes us to Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines, China and India. En route we discuss “sudden, extreme turbulence” on a Singapore Airlines flight, Vietnam surpasses 2019 visitor arrivals so far in 2024, a pending takeover of Malaysia Airports and a raft of new visa entry categories rolled out in Thailand.

Plus, which countries are chasing pole position to host a new F1 Grand Prix in the region? And which two ASEAN attractions were listed among the world’s top 100 “most boring” tourism sites?

« Next Episode Ep 216: 'From Battambang to Taking the Stage in New York, Sydney & Montreal': The Best Bits From The South East Asia Travel Show in May 2024 Previous Episode » Ep 214: Running Away to the Circus, and Cambodia's Tourism Recovery, with Craig Dodge, Phare

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Ep 323: Singapore's Tourism Spending Slump, Scam Centres in Luxury Hotels & Resorts & Are Australians Starting to Adopt Vietjet?

As we march through Q4, upbeat news is in short supply across the region’s travel industry. This week’s round-up of South East Asia’s top talking points takes Gary and Hannah to Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Australia, Kazakhstan, Czech Republic and Saudi Arabia. With markets abuzz about earnings season, Singapore reports downbeat spending and arrivals numbers, and the best-case scenario for the Philippines in 2026 is flat versus 2025. Meanwhile, regional governments issue travel safety warnings for Saudi Arabia and airlines cancel flights after the deadly attack on Riyadh airport.

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9 Oct 2026 • 23m31s

Ep 322: Phu Quoc Fuels Vietnam's Tourism Rocket Ship, Thailand Moves Closer to Taxing Tourists & Russia's Rising Influence on South East Asian Tourism Planning

“Vietnam is riding a tourism rocket ship, and is on a totally different trajectory to the rest of South East Asia.” As we accelerate through October, this was another week packed with hot travel and tourism topics to discuss. To kickstart the weekend, Gary and Hannah journey across ASEAN and beyond with stopovers in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Laos, Russia and India. We assess Phu Quoc’s dramatic tourism surge to already surpass its 2026 visitor target.

Ep 215: 'Clear Air Turbulence', Thailand's Visa Bonanza, Singapore's Vision 2040 & Vietnam Shades 2019: May 2024 in Review

About This Episode

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Ep 323: Singapore's Tourism Spending Slump, Scam Centres in Luxury Hotels & Resorts & Are Australians Starting to Adopt Vietjet?

Ep 322: Phu Quoc Fuels Vietnam's Tourism Rocket Ship, Thailand Moves Closer to Taxing Tourists & Russia's Rising Influence on South East Asian Tourism Planning

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman