Ep 241: Indonesia's Tourism Budget Bust, Malaysia's New State Airline & the Philippines Goes Michelin: February 2025 in Review
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
PodbeanAbout This Episode
28 Feb 2025 • 30m50sWhere did February go? Already, we are two months into 2025, and what a fascinating month it proved to be. Some compelling regional stories emerged. So, as we do every month, Gary and Hannah discuss the Top 8 tourism talking points from a hectic February. The journey takes us to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines, plus Hong Kong, China, Japan and India.
En route we ask and answer the following questions:
- Which was the first ASEAN country to surpass 2019 arrivals?
- How will Indonesia’s tourism budget cut impact inbound arrivals?
- Why is China promoting Xishuangbanna as visa-free for South East Asian tour groups?
- Who will win the race to 40 million visitors, Thailand or Japan?
- And where in the world was the first Michelin-starred Filipino restaurant?
Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed
Play
16 Oct 2026 • 26m01s
Ep 323: Singapore's Tourism Spending Slump, Scam Centres in Luxury Hotels & Resorts & Are Australians Starting to Adopt Vietjet?
As we march through Q4, upbeat news is in short supply across the region’s travel industry. This week’s round-up of South East Asia’s top talking points takes Gary and Hannah to Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Australia, Kazakhstan, Czech Republic and Saudi Arabia. With markets abuzz about earnings season, Singapore reports downbeat spending and arrivals numbers, and the best-case scenario for the Philippines in 2026 is flat versus 2025. Meanwhile, regional governments issue travel safety warnings for Saudi Arabia and airlines cancel flights after the deadly attack on Riyadh airport.
Play
9 Oct 2026 • 23m31s
Ep 322: Phu Quoc Fuels Vietnam's Tourism Rocket Ship, Thailand Moves Closer to Taxing Tourists & Russia's Rising Influence on South East Asian Tourism Planning
“Vietnam is riding a tourism rocket ship, and is on a totally different trajectory to the rest of South East Asia.” As we accelerate through October, this was another week packed with hot travel and tourism topics to discuss. To kickstart the weekend, Gary and Hannah journey across ASEAN and beyond with stopovers in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Laos, Russia and India. We assess Phu Quoc’s dramatic tourism surge to already surpass its 2026 visitor target.
