Ep 47: 2020: Looking Back On The Year That Changed Travel Forever

Listen to this episode

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Podbean

View All Episodes

About This Episode

17 Dec 2020 • 32m00s

To round-out 12 months that no-one will ever forget, Hannah and Gary quiz each other about the travel and tourism issues that dominated 2020.

Among the topics discussed are domestic tourism, travel bubbles, the absence of Chinese travellers, Zoominars, slimmed-down airlines, the future of visas, self-drive travel, political travel propaganda, the future of cruising, PCR and antigen tests, quarantines and vaccine passports.

We also select our favourite podcast moments of 2020, and the questions we were both asked most frequently on webinars and interviews.

Looking ahead to 2021 and beyond, we attempt to answer the ultimate question: “When, realistically, will international travel return to a sustainable level?

Spoiler alert: Hannah is more optimistic than Gary. Roll on 2021!

« Next Episode Ep 48: 21 for 2021: A Travel Industry Wish List For The New Year - Part I Previous Episode » Ep 46: “It Will Take Upwards of 5 Years to Recover,” with Simon Westaway, Australian Tourism Industry Council

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play

5 Dec 2025 • 39m50s

Ep 276: Visa-easing Tricks, Tariff Turmoil, Vietnam's Breakout Year & What Happened to the ASEAN Tourism Visa?: 2025 in Review

So, another year is almost over - but what did we learn in 2025, South East Asia’s third full year of travel since the Covid pandemic? This week, Gary and Hannah delve through the archives to take stock of an eventful 12 months for travel and tourism in South East Asia and the broader Asia Pacific region. We journey from the regional turmoil of Trump’s tariffs to the tourism impacts of scam centres, and from Singapore setting the standard on SAF to Timor Leste becoming ASEAN’s 11th member.

Play

28 Nov 2025 • 32m08s

Ep 275: Indonesia's Biometric Airport Corridor, Hotel Taxes in Malaysia & What Happens Next Between China & Japan?: November 2025 in Review

With one month remaining of 2025, airports are getting busy across South East Asia as the year-end travel season swings into gear. And November was another month filled with intriguing talking points to break down. We begin by discussing the long-term societal, political and travel impacts of heavy flooding in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. We take to the skies to address whether AirAsia might enter Vietnam via a stake share in Vietravel Airlines, and ponder the science fiction elements of new Biometric Corridors to verify traveller identities in Indonesia.

Ep 47: 2020: Looking Back On The Year That Changed Travel Forever

About This Episode

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Ep 276: Visa-easing Tricks, Tariff Turmoil, Vietnam's Breakout Year & What Happened to the ASEAN Tourism Visa?: 2025 in Review

Ep 275: Indonesia's Biometric Airport Corridor, Hotel Taxes in Malaysia & What Happens Next Between China & Japan?: November 2025 in Review

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman