Ep 95: 10 Tough Travel Learnings From the First Three-Quarters of 2021

About This Episode

28 Sep 2021 • 37m21s

As South East Asia enters the 4th quarter of 2021, Gary and Hannah bash heads together to create a list of 10 top travel learnings from a year that – as yet – hasn’t really got going. Perhaps a rush of travel activity awaits around the corner… but 2021 has taught the travel industry some harsh lessons.

So on this week’s show, we discuss the following points:

  1. 2021 is shaping up to worse than 2020 for tourism businesses
  2. Governments being in control of travel is a disaster
  3. Any ASEAN cooperation is a pipe dream
  4. South East Asian tourism planners are directionless without Chinese tourists
  5. Vaccines have not been the save-all the tourism industry thought they would be
  6. Reopening may come down to 2 models: Thailand’s Phuket Sandbox or Singapore’s Vaccinated Travel Lane
  7. Pent-up demand is probable, but not guaranteed
  8. Overlooking domestic markets is a long-term mistake
  9. Outbound travel is of little importance to governments and
  10. Media reporting of travel during the pandemic is clickbait driven.
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