Ep 317: Vietnam's Golden Tourism Year Continues, Thailand Revises its Visa Rules for Travellers & AirAsia Tests New Routes into Europe

About This Episode

11 Sep 2026 β€’ 32m04s

So, we’re just three weeks away from that all important fourth quarter of the year - and it’s a hectic time across the travel landscape, with plenty of talking points to deconstruct. This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the air travel impacts of a major volcanic eruption (with a familiar name) in Indonesia and a State of Emergency in Malaysia caused by wild fire “haze”. Plus, we look at how Russian, Chinese and South Korean tourists are fuelling Vietnam’s dynamic inbound surge, while Cambodia counts the cost of a dismal year for international arrivals. New visa entry rules come into force next week in Thailand, and we have the latest updates. Plus, we check-out AirAsia’s first codeshare agreement with Turkiye’s Pegasus Airlines, which potentially offers South East Asian travellers cheaper air routes to Europe. We finish in Thailand, where a group of airlines is teaming up to enable passengers on domestic routes to check-in 10kgs of fresh fruit. Is fruit shopping tourism really a thing?

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play
11 Sep 2026 β€’ 32m04s

Ep 317: Vietnam's Golden Tourism Year Continues, Thailand Revises its Visa Rules for Travellers & AirAsia Tests New Routes into Europe

So, we’re just three weeks away from that all important fourth quarter of the year - and it’s a hectic time across the travel landscape, with plenty of talking points to deconstruct. This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the air travel impacts of a major volcanic eruption (with a familiar name) in Indonesia and a State of Emergency in Malaysia caused by wild fire “haze”. Plus, we look at how Russian, Chinese and South Korean tourists are fuelling Vietnam’s dynamic inbound surge, while Cambodia counts the cost of a dismal year for international arrivals.
Play
21 Aug 2026 β€’ 35m46s

Ep 316: Thailand's Tourism Tax is Back, Vietnam Targets 50 Million Visitors & Russia Entices South East Asian Tourists

“Tourists are now viewed as a source of taxation revenue. It’s increasingly hard to raise taxes on your own citizens, but if you have 30+ million tourists each year, that’s a lot of potential tax you can raise.” This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the multiple challenges Thailand faces in increasing its proposed tourism tax, from THB300 to THB450 - and collecting it. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s stellar tourism run continues with a raft of upcoming initiatives and an eye-watering new inbound tourism target.