Ep 245: Russian Tourists, Chinese Planes & Singapore's Forensic Concert Tourism Planning: March 2025 in Review

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27 Mar 2025 • 33m24s

“Should South East Asian nations be worried by moves in South Korea and Türkiye to attract more Chinese and Russian tourists?” March proved to be the most fascinating month so far in 2025 for travel and tourism talking points in South East Asia. For our regular monthly rewind, Gary and Hannah travel through Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and The Philippines, plus China, South Korea and, rare for us, Turkiye.

En route, we discuss the possibility of Chinese COMAC planes flying in Vietnam and Laos, Thailand cutting its visa-free stay from 60 to 30 days and new flight connections to Cambodia ahead of the nation’s new airport opening in July. Plus, we look at the forensic tourism planning behind Singapore securing Lady Gaga’s Asia-exclusive concerts in May, and assess the impact of Indonesia’s currency slump on domestic, inbound and outbound travel.

And we pack in casino tourism, cruise travel and a touted new airline in ASEAN’s largest air market.

« Next Episode Ep 246: Indonesia's Inbound, Outbound & Domestic Travel Outlook, with Pauline Suharno, ASTINDO Previous Episode » Ep 244: Taking South East Asia's 'Less Bad Travel' Pulse, with Stuart McDonald, Travelfish

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13 Jun 2025 • 33m14s

Ep 257: Chinese Backpackers, Mountains Clad with Solar Panels, a Giant Lenin Statue & Delightful Almaty: An Epic Overland Journey from Bali to Britain, with Stuart McDonald

“I wish I had 640 days to do this trip, not 64.” Bali-based Stuart McDonald, founder of Travelfish, is 34 days into an ambitious two-month overland trip across 18 countries from his Bali home to Leeds in the UK. So, why is he doing it? What has he experienced en route? And what have been the finest discoveries of the journey so far? This week, Gary catches up with Stuart in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, to track back across his train and-bus route so far, which has taken him from Bali to Jakarta, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

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6 Jun 2025 • 40m55s

Ep 256: A 'Resort Airline', An OTA Law Suit, Time for Timor Leste & Blackpink Back in the Area: May 2025 in Review

May was another hectic month of BIG travel, tourism and geopolitical talking points in South East Asia. This month’s roundup takes Gary and Hannah around ASEAN, from our home city of Kuala Lumpur to Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Timor Leste and Vietnam – plus China, India (sort of), Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan. En route, we discuss China’s new ASEAN visa, Indonesia clings to its high-speed rail ambitions, and ASEAN accumulates an 11th member, and perhaps as a 12th in future.

Ep 245: Russian Tourists, Chinese Planes & Singapore's Forensic Concert Tourism Planning: March 2025 in Review

About This Episode

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Ep 257: Chinese Backpackers, Mountains Clad with Solar Panels, a Giant Lenin Statue & Delightful Almaty: An Epic Overland Journey from Bali to Britain, with Stuart McDonald

Ep 256: A 'Resort Airline', An OTA Law Suit, Time for Timor Leste & Blackpink Back in the Area: May 2025 in Review

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman