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

About This Episode

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?

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play
7 Jan 2026 • 48m26s

Ep 278: Travel & Tourism in an Age of Uncertainty: 12 Key Themes to Watch in South East Asia & Asia Pacific in 2026

If 2025 heralded a new Age of Uncertainty across global political landscapes and economic sectors, what does 2026 hold in store for South East Asia and the broader Asia Pacific region? And how will the myriad risks and uncertainties that emerged last year influence travel and tourism patterns in 2026? Was 2025 the end of days for many post-pandemic travel ‘trends’? And what vital lessons did 2025 teach us for the rest of the decade?
Play
8 Dec 2025 • 34m57s

Ep 277: The Geopolitics of Travel & Tourism in ASEAN, Asia Pacific & Beyond in the Era of AI

“I was at a tourism conference in Hangzhou in 2018, where Chinese companies showed how they were using AI to personalise travel for users. That’s nearly eight years ago.” In 2025, AI became a strategic commercial tool in all sectors, including travel and tourism. But it isn’t widely understood just how effectively embedded AI already is in China’s tourism sector, and how far ahead its leading players are to much of the world.