Ep 241: Indonesia's Tourism Budget Bust, Malaysia's New State Airline & the Philippines Goes Michelin: February 2025 in Review

About This Episode

28 Feb 2025 • 30m50s

Where 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?
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