Ep 74: The Past, Present & Future of Golf & Casino Tourism in ASEAN, with Bill Healey

About This Episode

10 Jun 2021 β€’ 29m00s

Golf and casino tourism were booming across South East Asia and Asia Pacific before the pandemic - but both sectors face an uncertain future. This week, Gary and Hannah chat with Bill Healey, a hospitality, golf and casino tourism expert who has lived and worked in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phnom Penh and Bali.

Bill was developing an Asian golf trip booking app in Cambodia before the pandemic struck, and returned to the US expecting to return within a few months. In this fascinating chat, Bill reflects on the growth trajectories of golf and casino tourism in the region over recent years, and the various challenges being faced now and potential opportunities in future.

We also talk about vaccine passports, contactless hotel services and revenue management applications. And with Bill currently being based in Las Vegas, we get his take on how casino tourism is recovering along the world-famous Vegas Strip.

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play
30 Oct 2025 β€’ 26m28s

Ep 272: Scam Centre Tourism Impacts, SAF Mandates, Q4 Travel Promotions & Timor Leste Joins ASEAN: October 2025 in Review

After a quiet September, October travel activity was stimulated by various national holidays (including Golden Week in China, Chuseok in South Korea, Diwali/Deepavali in India, Malaysia & Singapore and Undas in the Philippines). These created air travel spikes that set the scene for the region’s highly anticipated end-of-year peak season, with destinations making promotional plays to attract each other’s holidaymakers. We begin by looking at the accession of Timor Leste to ASEAN and the prospects of a peace settlement between Thailand and Cambodia.
Play
10 Oct 2025 β€’ 34m24s

Ep 271: Chinese Holidaymakers Jet Off, Multiple Muslim Tourism Initiatives & Fiscal Relief for Travel Workers: September + Golden Week in Review

After three weeks in Japan, Singapore and Italy, Gary and Hannah are back in KL to recap the top travel talking points from September and early October. China’s Mid-Autumn Golden Week has just wrapped up, so we assess the current state of play in a diversifying Chinese outbound market. Elsewhere, we discuss a raft of new Muslim-friendly tourism initiatives being introduced across South East Asia, note a shift towards waterborne transport innovation and crunch the numbers of a tax relief scheme for travel industry workers in Indonesia.