Ep 241: Indonesia's Tourism Budget Bust, Malaysia's New State Airline & the Philippines Goes Michelin: February 2025 in Review
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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?
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Ep 251: Mixed Travel & Tourism Vibes Across South East Asia: April 2025 in Review
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Was this the result of the Lunar New Year and Eid public holidays being in the same quarter, or are we at the start of a cyclical travel slowdown in ASEAN?
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Ep 250: Macau's Ongoing Quest to Diversify its Casino Tourism Economy, with Glenn McCartney, University of Macau
Casino Tourism. Concert & Event Tourism. Medical Tourism. The Night Economy. Live-streaming. Public-Private Tourism Partnerships. Many of the hot topics related to Macau’s diversification of its tourism economy and inbound market mix bear similarities to countries in South East Asia. There are two key differences, however.
Macau is the world city most reliant on tourism income as a proportion of GDP due to casino tourism, and it famously outstripped Las Vegas for gaming revenue in 2006.
