Ep 309: Vietnam's Great Airport Race, Cambodia Hedges its China Bets & Robotic Wellness Zen in Singapore

“Robotic lockers and ozone-based water filtration systems.” Gary and Hannah examine recent travel and tourism developments across ASEAN, featuring stops in Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. Key topics include Brunei’s largest year-long tourism promotion planned for 2027 (previewed at Travel Meet Asia in Jakarta), mixed signals from airlines AirAsia and AirBornie regarding fares, Vietnam’s military involvement in ensuring Long Thanh International Airport opens before year’s end, Cambodia’s four-month visa-free policy for Chinese tourists, and Singapore’s new wellness megaproject that has begun construction.

This week’s special edition of the show was recorded live in front of a packed ballroom audience at the 2026 Travel + Leisure Luxury Summit Asia, at the Dusit Thani hotel in Bangkok. Gary and Hannah took to the stage for a three-part podcast. In part 1, we provide a short round-up of the travel and tourism year so far in South East Asia and beyond - and the outlook for the rest of 2026.