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

27 Apr 2026 • 15m31s

Ep 300: Thailand & Cambodia Pursue Peace, Myanmar Nears ASEAN Return & Embodied AI Tourism in Malaysia: Start the Week in The South East Asia - Part 1

Is a rapprochement between Thailand and Cambodia getting closer? Could Myanmar soon return to ASEAN? And how will embodied AI transform the tourism landscape in South East Asia? Those are three of the top questions Gary and Hannah ask and answer in Part 1 of our two-part Start the Week show. To kickstart the lead-up to the May holiday period, we head to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and China to tackle the talking points that matter.

Play

27 Apr 2026 • 21m07s

Ep 301: Vietnam's Long Thanh Challenges, Thailand's China Tourism Crisis & Fuel Surcharges Go Off-the-Chart in the Philippines: Start the Week with The South East Asia Travel Show - Part 2

How high can airfare surcharges go in the Philippines? Is a 30% drop in Chinese flights to Thailand a short-term adjustment, or a long-term shift? Is Indonesia serious about levying ships in the Malacca Strait? And will oil deals with Russia give it more influence in South East Asia? These are four central questions in Part 2 of our Start the Week show, as Gary and Hanna break down the radiating effects of two months of war in the Middle East for travel and tourism in ASEAN and beyond.

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 300: Thailand & Cambodia Pursue Peace, Myanmar Nears ASEAN Return & Embodied AI Tourism in Malaysia: Start the Week in The South East Asia - Part 1

Ep 301: Vietnam's Long Thanh Challenges, Thailand's China Tourism Crisis & Fuel Surcharges Go Off-the-Chart in the Philippines: Start the Week with The South East Asia Travel Show - Part 2

Hannah Pearson

Gary Bowerman