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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Ep 276: Visa-easing Tricks, Tariff Turmoil, Vietnam's Breakout Year & What Happened to the ASEAN Tourism Visa?: 2025 in Review

So, another year is almost over - but what did we learn in 2025, South East Asia’s third full year of travel since the Covid pandemic? This week, Gary and Hannah delve through the archives to take stock of an eventful 12 months for travel and tourism in South East Asia and the broader Asia Pacific region. We journey from the regional turmoil of Trump’s tariffs to the tourism impacts of scam centres, and from Singapore setting the standard on SAF to Timor Leste becoming ASEAN’s 11th member.

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

Ep 276: Visa-easing Tricks, Tariff Turmoil, Vietnam's Breakout Year & What Happened to the ASEAN Tourism Visa?: 2025 in Review

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman