Ep 99: 7 Days of Travel Drama in South East Asia!

About This Episode

15 Oct 2021 • 19m18s

In today’s show, Gary recounts the dramatic events of the past 7 days as some governments in South East Asia finally made decisive moves to restart travel. 

The process was kickstarted by Singapore whose announcement of 9 new Vaccinated Travel Lanes triggered other countries to start playing catch up.

Within days, Malaysia and Thailand had accelerated the return of travel - albeit in different ways. Vietnam and Cambodia are racing to keep up, while Bali’s now in-process reopening to vaccinated inbound travellers remains shrouded in mystery and confusion.

It’s becoming clear that competition to attract travellers in South East Asia will become fierce in the lead up to Christmas/New Year and Lunar New Year.

Adding to the intrigue, other Asia Pacific destinations - including India, Fiji, New South Wales in Australia, and potentially South Korea and Japan – prepare to welcome back travellers.

Bringing things up to date, Gary concludes by saying that more speculation and announcements are expected - but travel is starting to return to the region, perhaps faster than was expected.

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play
22 Mar 2023 • 36m56s

Ep 170: The Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in March 2023

With travel and tourism activity continuing to ramp up across South East Asia, Gary and Hannah tackle the top news stories and talking points in March. The journey takes us to Vietnam, Bali (Indonesia), Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Laos … and Switzerland! En route, we discuss mobile rail ticketing in Laos, bad tourist behaviour shaming in Bali, free tourism experiences in Singapore and an interesting legal case in Malaysia addressing the constitutional right (or otherwise) to travel overseas.
Play
15 Mar 2023 • 9m20s

Ep 168: Mini Update - China Restores Inbound Tourism & Expands Outbound Travel

China began reopening to international travel on 8 January 2023, but the impact so far has been gradual. There are various reasons, including the Chinese government’s decision to phase the scaling up of outbound travel capacity. From today, 15 March, outbound group package tours are permitted to 60 countries worldwide. Independent travellers are, of course, free to travel globally. Also from today, China will begin issuing tourist entry visas, and has reestablished visa-free access to Hainan Island and for cruise passengers docking in Shanghai.