Ep 89: 2021: The Year So Far in Malaysia, with Faeez Fadhlillah

About This Episode

18 Aug 2021 • 35m00s

Malaysia continues to struggle with containing COVID-19, and despite an accelerated vaccine programme is not currently permitting international or interstate travel. Compounding the problem is a worsening economic and political crisis, which resulted this week in the resignation of the government.

So in Part 6 of our 2021: The Year So Far In… series, Gary and Hannah bring it home to Malaysia to chat with Faeez Fadhlillah, CEO of TripFez, Honorary Treasurer of the Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents and a PATA Board Member. Regularly involved in travel policy discussions with the government, Faaez is perfectly placed to discuss the current situation for travel businesses in Malaysia, and the outlook for the rest of the year and into 2022.

During the interview, we analyse the ‘travel bubble’ landscape, a heavily touted reopening on the island of Langkawi, and other potential tourism restart options.

Plus, we discuss why South East Asia needs ASEAN to develop a unified vaccine recognition strategy. And, as a travel entrepreneur, what are Faeez’s plans for reinvigorating Tripfez in the near future?

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play
10 Oct 2025 • 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.
Play
25 Sep 2025 • 32m29s

Ep 270: From Japan to South East Asia to South America: Confronting the Cumulative Challenges of Tourism, with Joao Romao

Economic and social processes shape tourism development, but - in turn - tourism reshapes economic spaces, and that is creating new challenges in South East Asia and beyond. This week, Gary welcomes Joao Romao, Associate Professor at Yasuda Women’s University in Japan, to discuss his new book, Economic Geography of Tourism. An economist, tourism strategy advisor and former travel documentary maker, Joao assesses contemporary tourism through a lens of shifting global economic, technological, societal, environmental and political challenges.