Ep 237: South East Asia's Top 8 Pre-Lunar New Year Travel & Tourism Talking Points: January 2025 in Review

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24 Jan 2025 • 34m07s

The Lunar New Year travel period has begun! Chinese tourists are staggering their trips to South East Asia to avoid the Golden Week travel rush…

So, following this trend, we’ve expedited our monthly round-up. This week, Gary and Hannah assess the Top 8 talking points from a very hectic January 2025 – perhaps even more frenetic than usual given the fairly early occurrence of the LNY. This month’s top takeaways take us to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Laos, Myanmar… and more.

Along the way, we discuss the Thai Prime Minister’s AI video to assure Chinese tourists about safety, Bali buries its hotel development moratorium, the Visit 2026 campaign experiences hiccups in Malaysia, and there’s an unexpected move in Laos as it revokes visa waivers. Plus, we touch on an intriguing budget win by the Secretary of Tourism in the Philippines, and we celebrate the first same-sex marriage ceremonies in Thailand.

« Next Episode Ep 238: Using the 5Fs, White Lotus, Lalisa & Soft Power to Reposition Thai Tourism, with Chattan Kunjara, Tourism Authority of Thailand Previous Episode » Ep 236: South East Asia's Top 8 Travel Mega-Projects in 2025, with James Clark, Future South East Asia

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11 Sep 2026 • 32m04s

Ep 317: Vietnam's Golden Tourism Year Continues, Thailand Revises its Visa Rules for Travellers & AirAsia Tests New Routes into Europe

So, we’re just three weeks away from that all important fourth quarter of the year - and it’s a hectic time across the travel landscape, with plenty of talking points to deconstruct. This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the air travel impacts of a major volcanic eruption (with a familiar name) in Indonesia and a State of Emergency in Malaysia caused by wild fire “haze”. Plus, we look at how Russian, Chinese and South Korean tourists are fuelling Vietnam’s dynamic inbound surge, while Cambodia counts the cost of a dismal year for international arrivals.

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21 Aug 2026 • 35m46s

Ep 316: Thailand's Tourism Tax is Back, Vietnam Targets 50 Million Visitors & Russia Entices South East Asian Tourists

“Tourists are now viewed as a source of taxation revenue. It’s increasingly hard to raise taxes on your own citizens, but if you have 30+ million tourists each year, that’s a lot of potential tax you can raise.” This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the multiple challenges Thailand faces in increasing its proposed tourism tax, from THB300 to THB450 - and collecting it. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s stellar tourism run continues with a raft of upcoming initiatives and an eye-watering new inbound tourism target.

Ep 237: South East Asia's Top 8 Pre-Lunar New Year Travel & Tourism Talking Points: January 2025 in Review

About This Episode

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Ep 317: Vietnam's Golden Tourism Year Continues, Thailand Revises its Visa Rules for Travellers & AirAsia Tests New Routes into Europe

Ep 316: Thailand's Tourism Tax is Back, Vietnam Targets 50 Million Visitors & Russia Entices South East Asian Tourists

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman