Ep 267: Pre-Golden Week Visa-Easing Tricks, Rising Costs of the Thai-Cambodia War & Senior Tour Guides vs Robots: August 2025 in Review

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29 Aug 2025 • 35m12s

Vietnam and South Korea have “visa-easing tricks up their sleeves” as China’s October Golden Week nears. And, with two-thirds of 2025 completed, attentions are turning to the peak end-of-year travel season across Asia. That’s the backdrop for a frenetic month of travel activity region-wide in August. For our regular monthly round-up, Gary and Hannah travel around ASEAN with stopovers in Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, plus China and South Korea.

Along the way, we discuss Vietnam’s new 2025 arrivals target, plus Airbnb’s big numbers to argue its economic value across APAC markets. Kuala Lumpur talks airport terminal inter-linkage and Thai Vietjet announces ambitious expansion plans, while the financial costs of the Thailand-Cambodia weigh heavily in both countries.

Finally, could senior tour guides in the Philippines herald a new era of engaging mature tourism professionals to service travellers from ageing source markets?

« Next Episode Ep 268: Techo Airport Takes Off, Thai Baht Volatility & Turmoil in Indonesia: This Week in Review Previous Episode » Ep 266: More Indonesian Airports, Thai Crypto Tourists & Vietnam's Proposed Superapp: This Week in Review
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🎙️ About The Creators 🎧

Hannah Pearson

Hannah Pearson

Asia travel analyst and speaker. Director of Pear Anderson, a research & sales travel consultancy specialising in SEA and Muslim travel. Read more »

Gary Bowerman

Gary Bowerman

Asia travel analyst and speaker. Co-founder and director of Check-in Asia, a travel content, marketing and market research agency. Read more »

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