Ep 68: The Current State of Travel in South East Asia and Beyond

About This Episode

28 Apr 2021 • 35m00s

With the COVID-19 pandemic now in its 14 month, what have we learned and how will those lessons be – or not be – applied in future? This week, Gary and Hannah take on some of the ‘big picture’ talking points in travel and tourism in ASEAN.

The show asks, and tries to answer, 7 critical questions:

  1. What do travel and tourism mean today, and do we have a different outlook than before the pandemic?
  2. What have been the biggest changes for the travel industry - which will be temporary, and will any be permanent?
  3. What has been the most overlooked development so far?
  4. What have we learned in the first 4 months of 2021, and is the current outlook different than expected at the end of 2020?
  5. Are travel bubbles relevant any more now that we have vaccines?
  6. Realistically, what are the expectations for travel and tourism in South East Asia in 2021 - and will there be a noticeable ‘turning point’?
  7. Looking further ahead, what are the reasons to be optimistic, and what are the pessimistic factors?
View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play
13 Jun 2025 • 33m14s

Ep 257: Chinese Backpackers, Mountains Clad with Solar Panels, a Giant Lenin Statue & Delightful Almaty: An Epic Overland Journey from Bali to Britain, with Stuart McDonald

“I wish I had 640 days to do this trip, not 64.” Bali-based Stuart McDonald, founder of Travelfish, is 34 days into an ambitious two-month overland trip across 18 countries from his Bali home to Leeds in the UK. So, why is he doing it? What has he experienced en route? And what have been the finest discoveries of the journey so far? This week, Gary catches up with Stuart in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, to track back across his train and-bus route so far, which has taken him from Bali to Jakarta, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Play
6 Jun 2025 • 40m55s

Ep 256: A 'Resort Airline', An OTA Law Suit, Time for Timor Leste & Blackpink Back in the Area: May 2025 in Review

May was another hectic month of BIG travel, tourism and geopolitical talking points in South East Asia. This month’s roundup takes Gary and Hannah around ASEAN, from our home city of Kuala Lumpur to Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Timor Leste and Vietnam – plus China, India (sort of), Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan. En route, we discuss China’s new ASEAN visa, Indonesia clings to its high-speed rail ambitions, and ASEAN accumulates an 11th member, and perhaps as a 12th in future.