Ep 268: Techo Airport Takes Off, Thai Baht Volatility & Turmoil in Indonesia: This Week in Review

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11 Sep 2025 • 30m46s

September is historically a slow month for travel news in South East Asia. With the October Golden Week imminent, followed by the peak November-February tourism season, it’s usually a period to reflect and prepare. Not this year. Political upheaval and economic instability in ASEAN’s two largest economies, Indonesia and Thailand, are front-page news. Events in both nations have the potential to influence the end-of-year travel season, not least in Thailand where an enforced national election is likely.

Meantime, Gary and Hannah assess Malaysia’s latest positioning statement for its biggest ever 12-month national tourism campaign in 2026. Phnom Penh inaugurates Cambodia’s much hyped new Techo Airport. And Vietnam’s buoyant tourism economy enjoys a further boost during National Day.

Plus, why are consumer trade shows an even bigger deal than normal in 2025 in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines? All this and more in our weekly travel and tourism news roundup.

« Next Episode Ep 269: ASEAN & APAC Still Playing Air Travel Catch-up, Bali Floods Fallout & Koh Samui’s Mega-Bridge: This Week in Review Previous Episode » 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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10 Oct 2025 • 34m24s

Ep 271: Chinese Holidaymakers Jet Off, Multiple Muslim Tourism Initiatives & Fiscal Relief for Travel Workers: September + Golden Week in Review

After three weeks in Japan, Singapore and Italy, Gary and Hannah are back in KL to recap the top travel talking points from September and early October. China’s Mid-Autumn Golden Week has just wrapped up, so we assess the current state of play in a diversifying Chinese outbound market. Elsewhere, we discuss a raft of new Muslim-friendly tourism initiatives being introduced across South East Asia, note a shift towards waterborne transport innovation and crunch the numbers of a tax relief scheme for travel industry workers in Indonesia.

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25 Sep 2025 • 32m29s

Ep 270: From Japan to South East Asia to South America: Confronting the Cumulative Challenges of Tourism, with Joao Romao

Economic and social processes shape tourism development, but - in turn - tourism reshapes economic spaces, and that is creating new challenges in South East Asia and beyond. This week, Gary welcomes Joao Romao, Associate Professor at Yasuda Women’s University in Japan, to discuss his new book, Economic Geography of Tourism. An economist, tourism strategy advisor and former travel documentary maker, Joao assesses contemporary tourism through a lens of shifting global economic, technological, societal, environmental and political challenges.

Ep 268: Techo Airport Takes Off, Thai Baht Volatility & Turmoil in Indonesia: This Week in Review

About This Episode

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Ep 271: Chinese Holidaymakers Jet Off, Multiple Muslim Tourism Initiatives & Fiscal Relief for Travel Workers: September + Golden Week in Review

Ep 270: From Japan to South East Asia to South America: Confronting the Cumulative Challenges of Tourism, with Joao Romao

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman