Ep 246: Indonesia's Inbound, Outbound & Domestic Travel Outlook, with Pauline Suharno, ASTINDO

Listen to this episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Podbean

View All Episodes

About This Episode

3 Apr 2025 • 39m15s

“It’s cheaper to fly from Jakarta to KL, Bangkok or even Japan than to Manado.” Indonesia is South East Asia’s largest country and largest economy, and has a fascinating, fast-changing travel landscape. This week, Hannah welcomes back to the show Jakarta-based Pauline Suharno, President of ASTINDO, the Indonesian travel agents association, to assess the outlook for travel and tourism. Pauline discusses the progress of a new Indonesia Tourism Board, and a range of new train tourism packages.

She also addresses the impacts of government budget cuts on hotels and travel businesses in second-tier cities. Outbound travel is flourishing despite a weak rupiah and visa hurdles to jump, but where are the hot destinations for Indonesian tourists?

Plus, what is the “McDonalds of travel”, will new airlines get off the ground, and why are domestic airfares so expensive?

« Next Episode Ep 247: The Impact of Trump's Tariffs in ASEAN & Asia Pacific One Week On - Part 1 Previous Episode » Ep 245: Russian Tourists, Chinese Planes & Singapore's Forensic Concert Tourism Planning: March 2025 in Review

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play

19 Mar 2026 • 22m55s

Ep 291: As the Energy Crisis Impacts Spread Across Asian Travel, Can K-pop Save the World?

As the energy crisis impacts start to diversify across Asia, Gary and Hannah ask a simple question: Can K-pop save the world? This week’s journey takes us from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos to Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, plus Maldives and Sri Lanka. En route we assess some of the radiating outcomes of war in the Middle East that go far beyond airlines and air connectivity. And we turn to South Korea for hope and inspiration.

Play

13 Mar 2026 • 33m52s

Ep 290: The Economic Impacts of War in the Middle East for Travel & Tourism Across South East Asia

“It’s a cliche to say that everything is in flux, and that there is a great deal of uncertainty across travel economies. But it’s true.” The US and Israel’s ongoing aerial bombardment of Iran and Lebanon - and the worsening unintended consequences of retaliatory strikes on energy assets and other installations across the Middle East - are raising crisis fears across Asian economies. Travel and tourism are once again in the cross-hairs, and it’s starting to feel like Covid 2.

Ep 246: Indonesia's Inbound, Outbound & Domestic Travel Outlook, with Pauline Suharno, ASTINDO

About This Episode

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Ep 291: As the Energy Crisis Impacts Spread Across Asian Travel, Can K-pop Save the World?

Ep 290: The Economic Impacts of War in the Middle East for Travel & Tourism Across South East Asia

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman