Ep 223: The Bali Benchmark, TikTok's Travel Sandbox & The Mole in Malaysia: July 2024 in Review

July is a busy season. Chinese summer holiday tourists returned to the region in large numbers, while destinations across ASEAN implemented various measures to boost their full-year tourism arrivals. And we had some extreme weather events as well.

So, what were the Top 8 travel and tourism talking points in July? In our monthly round-up, Gary and Hannah travel around ASEAN, with stopovers in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, plus China and India. En route, we discuss TikTok’s latest travel play in Thailand and Indonesia, jet planes returning to KL’s Subang Airport after more than two decades and growing legal pressure on illegal tour operators. And, a new survey shows that Chinese tour groups are smaller and younger than pre-pandemic.

Plus, is Bali the new benchmark in the battle to attract Chinese and Indian tourists? How many countries worldwide does Singapore’s power-packed passport enable its citizens to visit visa-free? And why hasn’t Netflix series The Mole been promoted in Malaysia, despite being filmed around the country?

Resources

• https://dragontrail.com/resources/blog/chinese-outbound-travel-trade-survey-july-2024