Ep 293: A New Survey Report on the Impacts of War in the Middle East on Travel Businesses in South East Asia

“48% of South East Asian travel businesses believe that the prospects for their business in Q2 2026 are worse than they had anticipated at the start of the year.” But, dig deeper and the opinion variances between travel industry players throughout the region are noticeable. On this week’s show Hannah is in the hot seat, as Gary interviews her about a new survey report put together by her team at Pear Anderson and the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA). What have been the various impacts so far for travel businesses across South East Asia of war in the Middle East? Are inbound and outbound travel equally affected? How do travel operators view the outlook in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines? How might travel volumes shape up in Q2? Where might travel booking patterns be focused, or redirected to? Is South East Asia well placed to capture shifting demand? Will domestic travel take precedence as it did during Covid? What are the lessons from the pandemic that travel agents and tour operators are applying this time around? And how long will the tail be for the fuel crisis that is hurting economies across Asia? All this and much, much more…