Ep 322: Phu Quoc Fuels Vietnam's Tourism Rocket Ship, Thailand Moves Closer to Taxing Tourists & Russia's Rising Influence on South East Asian Tourism Planning

“Vietnam is riding a tourism rocket ship, and is on a totally different trajectory to the rest of South East Asia.” As we accelerate through October, this was another week packed with hot travel and tourism topics to discuss. To kickstart the weekend, Gary and Hannah journey across ASEAN and beyond with stopovers in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Laos, Russia and India. We assess Phu Quoc’s dramatic tourism surge to already surpass its 2026 visitor target. Can it keep expanding, and where is the ceiling? Plus, KL and Singapore have been running each other close all week for an undesirable global title. We stop in Laos, Cambodia and India for the latest on scam centres, some of which are allegedly being run from hotel rooms, and discuss why the Philippines is belatedly setting a 2030 target for sustainable aviation fuel. Meanwhile, Thailand moves a closer to taxing inbound tourists - and possibly charging them again when they depart - and Malaysia steps up its efforts to secure more tourists from Russia by negotiating a bilateral visa-free agreement and direct flights between the two countries. All this and much more…