Ep 234: South East Asia's Top 10 Travel & Tourism Stories of 2024: An Eventful 12 Months in Review

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6 Dec 2024 • 36m01s

Visa-Free Travel Between South East Asia & China. Tourism Taxes. The Politics of Taylornomics. ASEAN’s Most Expansive High-Speed Rail System. Singapore Vision 2040. And, The Quest For Post-Covid Recovery Continues.

It’s time for our annual 2024 review. As we complete the 2nd full calendar year of travel and tourism in SEA since the pandemic – it’s been a highly eventful 12 months. This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the Top 10 travel and tourism talking points in South East Asia in 2024 - and their implications for 2025… and beyond. Amid discussions about tourism politics and economics, national branding and soft power, demographics, technology and strategy development, we end the show with the region’s most positively uplifting societal story of the year. Hats off to… Thailand!

« Next Episode Ep 235: South East Asia's 15 Travel & Tourism Hot Topics to Watch in 2025 Previous Episode » Ep 233: A New Bali Airport, Laos Backpacker Perils & Chinese Aircraft Ready for Take-off: November 2024 in Review

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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.

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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 234: South East Asia's Top 10 Travel & Tourism Stories of 2024: An Eventful 12 Months 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