Ep 227: Stargazing Tourism, a 'Cultural Industrial Hub' & New UNESCO Heritage Sites: August 2024 in Review

Listen to this episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Podbean

View All Episodes

About This Episode

10 Sep 2024 • 26m16s

“The pieces of South East Asia’s post-pandemic tourism jigsaw are still being put into place”. Regional travel and tourism trends continue to be impacted by the Covid era, both from a supply and demand perspective. So, as we march full steam into the final third of 2024, what were the Top 8 talking points in August 2024?

On our monthly roundup, we discuss the fallout from Malaysia Airlines’ decision to cut almost one-fifth of its capacity, assess the airline volumes into the region from China and dive into the factors behind the latest round of quarterly airline earnings. We also discuss Thailand establishing 18 Dark Sky Reserves to attract stargazing tourists and Ho Chi Minh City’s promotion of 8 soft powers in a play to be a “cultural industrial hub.”

Plus, which two countries in the region are celebrating the inscription of new UNESCO World Heritage Sites? And which ASEAN nation has achieved a 101% recovery of its visitor arrivals so far this year compared to 2019?

« Next Episode Ep 228: Tackling Economic Leakage & Sustainability Grandstanding in Tourism, with Ewan Cluckie, Tripseed Previous Episode » Ep 226: The Outlook for Muslim Friendly Tourism & Hospitality in Asia Pacific, with Nizran Noordin, Islamic Tourism Centre

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play

22 Aug 2025 • 26m46s

Ep 266: More Indonesian Airports, Thai Crypto Tourists & Vietnam's Proposed Superapp: This Week in Review

Indonesia plans to expand its total of international airports by Presidential decree. Thailand fires the regional starting gun for crypto payments in tourism (when will other countries join the race?). Vietnam launches its own ‘Superapp’ to be rolled out over the next two years. It’s been a week of mega-announcements in South East Asia as concerns grow about slowing travel and tourism momentum and looming geo-economic disruptions. Join Gary and Hannah as they travel through ASEAN to discuss the top travel talking points of the past seven days.

Play

14 Aug 2025 • 33m26s

Ep 265: Rethinking Indonesia's Under-achieving Inbound Tourism Sector, with Nur Wulan T

“Indonesia has the potential to lead in eco-tourism, in cultural heritage and in Muslim-friendly tourism… but it tries to promote everything all at once, which dilutes the message.” Beautiful, vast and complex, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago nation, and home to the planet’s fourth-largest population. But tourism is heavily concentrated in Bali, which recorded 45% of inbound arrivals to Indonesia in 2024. Meanwhile, Indonesia lags behind Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam for visitor arrivals, attracting 13.

Ep 227: Stargazing Tourism, a 'Cultural Industrial Hub' & New UNESCO Heritage Sites: August 2024 in Review

About This Episode

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Ep 266: More Indonesian Airports, Thai Crypto Tourists & Vietnam's Proposed Superapp: This Week in Review

Ep 265: Rethinking Indonesia's Under-achieving Inbound Tourism Sector, with Nur Wulan T

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman