The South East Asia Travel Show

By The South East Asia Travel Show

What's The South East Asia Travel Show about?

The South East Asia Travel Show is hosted by Gary Bowerman and Hannah Pearson. Each week, we discuss the hottest travel talking points in the 10 countries of ASEAN, and the influential travel markets of Asia Pacific and beyond.

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The South East Asia Travel Show episodes:

06.21.2024
From the Dubai of ASEAN to China's Mega-Percentages: South East Asia's Top 10 Travel Takeaways From H1 2024
The 'Dubai of ASEAN'. China's Mega-Percentages. The 'Next Taylor Swift' Event. Tourism in an Ageing Region. At the end of the first half of 2024, Gary and Hannah look back at the 10 most consequential travel takeaways in South East...
06.14.2024
Reviewing Tourism in Thailand in the First Half of 2024, with Vincent Vichit-Vadakan
This week, Thailand confirmed it IS targeting 40 million arrivals in 2024. Achieving this goal would set an annual record for Thailand and - crucially - surpass the 39.9 million visitors in 2019. It would be a stellar achievement. So,...
06.07.2024
Is South East Asia's Era of Hotel Rate Growth Now Over?, with Jesper Palmqvist, STR CoStar
"The narrative is changing. We're not talking about the pace of hotel rate growth anymore." Stability and volatility may sound contradictory, but both terms help to explain hotel performance in South East Asian markets and China so far in 2024....
06.05.2024
"From Battambang to Taking the Stage in New York, Sydney & Montreal": The Best Bits From The South East Asia Travel Show in May 2024
"From Battambang to Taking the Stage in New York, Sydney & Montreal" to "Say versus Do in Sustainable Tourism" and "Backwards Steps in Domestic Tourism in ASEAN". Welcome to the third edition of our monthly mini-round-up of the key moments...
05.31.2024
"Clear Air Turbulence", Thailand's Visa Bonanza, Singapore's Vision 2040 & Vietnam Shades 2019: May 2024 in Review
We’re steaming through 2024, with 5 months already completed, and attracting tourists is becoming intensely competitive. This week, Gary and Hannah review South East Asia's top 8 travel and tourism stories during May. This month's round-up takes us to Singapore,...
05.15.2024
Running Away to the Circus, and Cambodia's Tourism Recovery, with Craig Dodge, Phare
With a 5.0 TripAdvisor rating, Phare, the Cambodian Circus based in Siem Reap, must be doing something right. We speak to Craig Dodge, their Senior Director of Sales and Marketing, about the journey this social enterprise has taken from humble beginnings...
05.10.2024
Visa Waivers, Extreme Weather, AI Tools & ‘All-Gender Weddings’: Revisiting the 2024 Travel Wishlist
As we speed towards the mid-point of 2024, it's time to revisit our annual top 10 list of travel wishes and expectations, which we created in January. How have our predictions measured up so far this year? En route, we...
05.01.2024
"Everyone Wants to Go to Japan": The Best Bits From The South East Asia Travel Show in April 2024
From "Everyone wants to go to Japan" to "Thailand's on the verge of over-tourism" to "Three towers with a surf board on top". Welcome to our new monthly mini-roundup of the key moments from recent podcast discussions and interviews. During...
04.25.2024
The Return of Over-tourism, Chinese Tourists & Thailand’s Tourism Tax: April 2024 in Review
“Whatever happened to ‘Quality Tourism’?” As we complete one-third of 2024, what were the top 8 travel talking points in April? Gary and Hannah journey across the region, with stops in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, China and Dubai. We analyse...
04.19.2024
The Top 8 Statistical Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia
Travel and tourism in South East Asia are heavily stat-driven. Indeed, 2024 is turning out to be a year of shouting loudly about milestones and 2019 catch-ups across the region. So, this week, Hannah and Gary assess 8 hot numerical...
04.11.2024
Building an Airline Sustainability Strategy, with Philip See, Malaysia Aviation Group
As sustainability targets in aviation gain sharper focus, airlines and governments in South East Asia are racing to implement strategies. These range from sustainable aviation fuel levies to in-house trainings. With news this week that Malaysia plans to implement a...
04.04.2024
The Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in March 2024
Well, we’ve completed the first quarter of 2024 – where did that go? March was another frenetic month, with plenty of travel and tourism news, statistics, announcements and pronouncements. So where is South East Asia at exactly 2 years after...
04.02.2024
The Best Bits from The South East Asia Travel Show in March 2024
Welcome to our new monthly mini-roundup of the key moments from The South East Asia Travel Show’s recent editions. The March rewind features red-hot talking points including ASEAN's domestic and international flight recovery, Indonesia's most popular outbound destinations, the opportunities...
03.25.2024
The Eco-Tourism Adventurer of Laos: In Conversation with Inthy Deuansavanh, Inthira Group
"It is my dream for Laos to be at the centre of adventure eco-tourism in the region." Laos is a beautiful land-locked nation clad in forested mountains, but its adventure and eco-tourism sectors are still developing from a low base....
03.20.2024
The Outlook for Travel & Tourism in Indonesia, with Pauline Suharno, ASTINDO
Indonesia is by some margin the largest country, with the largest population and largest economy, in South East Asia. It also counts a fascinating interplay between inbound and outbound travel and a vast domestic travel and tourism sector. This week,...
03.15.2024
The Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in Q1 2024
From Changi's statistical milestone to a festive travel renaissance and Taylor Diplomacy to Thailand's 'Tourism Salesman'. As the end of Q1 2024 draws near, we move towards another major milestone. Nearly two years ago, on 1 April 2022, South East...
03.11.2024
Assessing South East Asia's Air Travel Recovery 4 Years After the Declaration of a Pandemic, with Brendan Sobie
Today marks 4 years since the WHO declared Covid-19 a global pandemic on 11 March 2020. We know what happened next, especially in Asia Pacific where the impacts on travel lasted longer than elsewhere. So where is South East Asia's...
03.08.2024
Is China Serious About Attracting More Inbound Tourists & Business Travellers?, with Yereth Jansen
Are we seeing the start of a transformation in China's travel sector? While outbound tourism grabs the headlines, a vibrant domestic travel recovery and a shift towards opening up its inbound sector garner less coverage. That is starting to change...
03.04.2024
Future South East Asia: The Top 8 New Airport, High-Speed Rail & Urban Development Projects, with James Clark
Wherever you travel in South East Asia, it’s impossible to miss that transport infrastructure is being built out on a vast scale. After the lull of the pandemic era, this will accelerate over the next decade and beyond. Airport capacities...
02.21.2024
Reflecting on 4 Years & 200 Episodes of The South East Asia Travel Show
Happy Anniversary to us. Launched on 9 January 2020, The South East Asia Travel Show has reached the 200 episodes milestone. This week, Gary and Hannah reflect on the key travel and tourism issues from the past four years, a...
02.13.2024
Will Bali's Tourism Bounce-back Continue in 2024?, with the Bali Hotels Association
Bali has bounced back impressively over the past year for international and domestic arrivals - but will that momentum endure as regional competition intensifies in 2024? This week, Bali introduces the International Tourism Levy, which must be paid in addition...
02.06.2024
Will Taylornomics Encourage OTAs & SuperApps to Sell Concert Tickets in Asia?
This week, multi-Grammy-winning Taylor Swift kicks off her Asia tour in Tokyo ahead of dates in Melbourne, Sydney and six sold-out shows in Singapore. Music tourism is a hot emerging trend in Asia, with destinations like Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Macau,...
02.02.2024
South East Asia's Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in January
The 2023 visitor arrivals and airport passenger statistics are published, and the gloves are off. As the region prepares for a vibrant Lunar New Year travel season, 2024 is set to be the most shape-shifting year for travel since 2019....
01.18.2024
The Outlook for Travel & Tourism in Vietnam, with Mike Tatarski, Vietnam Weekly
Boosted by a population surpassing 100 million, Vietnam counts one of the region’s fastest growing travel and aviation markets. To assess the outlook for tourism in 2024, Gary and Hannah welcome back Ho Chi Minh City-based Mike Tatarski, founder of...
01.10.2024
The 2024 Travel & Tourism Wishlist for South East Asia
As we begin the second full calendar year of travel and tourism in South East Asia since the pandemic, it’s time to look ahead at what 2024 might offer. This week, Gary and Hannah discuss their Top 10 list of...
12.14.2023
2023 in Review: This Year’s Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia
The first full calendar year of travel and tourism in South East Asia since the pandemic is almost complete. And what a dramatic 12 months it has been. To take stock, Gary and Hannah have created a list of the...
11.30.2023
Reflections on a Hectic Year of Travel in South East Asia and Beyond, with Vincent Vichit-Vadakan
Just back from Jakarta and Hanoi, respectively, Gary and Hannah can confirm that South East Asian airports are getting busier as the end-of-year travel season nears. So, it's the perfect time to revisit some key tourism themes in 2023 with...
11.23.2023
The Top 8 Statistical Talking Points in Travel & Tourism in South East Asia
From 9 to 4 trillion. South East Asia its awash with travel stats. Figures and percentages garner extra importance as we near the year end, and the travel industry plans ahead for 2024. This week, Gary and Hannah go behind...
11.09.2023
The Top 8 Under-the-Radar Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia
Could Brunei become a regional aviation hub connecting China and South East Asia? And how might AI, humanoid simulants and an apocalyptic sci-fi landscape boost movie tourism in Thailand? This week, Gary and Hannah have created a list of 8...
11.02.2023
The Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in October 2023
So, we are on the final stretch for 2023 - with 10 months down, 2 to go. While this historically marks a busy part of the calendar for travel in South East Asia, it’s also a time when jitters start...
10.12.2023
AI, OTAs, Payments & Ancillary Revenues for Independent Hotels, with Vikram Malhi, Zuzu Hospitality
"AI will fundamentally change the way people travel, the way OTAs work and how hotels have to adapt. We are still in the very early stages." Golden Week is behind us, and travel players are looking ahead to hotel bookings,...
10.03.2023
The Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in September 2023
3. 23. 150,000. 17.9 million. 34 million. 80%. Numbers and statistics carry extra weight in South East Asia as we enter the fourth quarter, which is peak travel season in many countries and arrivals counting gets highly competitive. So what...
09.29.2023
Reflections on the Hotel Sector Recovery in South East Asia in 2023, with Jesper Palmqvist, STR
"The rates are not likely to drop from here." South East Asian hotel economics are changing since countries reopened - or are they? This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the outlook for the hotel sector in South East Asia and...
09.05.2023
Behind the Scenes of Australia’s Tourism Transformation Plan, with Samantha Palmer, AusTrade
Australia counts one of Asia Pacific's most fascinating visitor economies. It combines vibrant inbound, outbound and domestic leisure and business travel segments with large international education, VFR and working holiday components. One in 7 businesses in Australia is related to...
08.28.2023
The Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in August 2023
From 4.4 million to 15.4 million. Thailand is way out in front in South East Asia for year-to-date visitors in 2023 vs 2022. Two-thirds through 2023, Gary and Hannah look back to compare the progress for visitor arrivals in 7...
08.25.2023
Celebrating South East Asian Cuisines & Food Cultures with the Kita Food Festival
"This is a South East Asian festival. It will be a mouthpiece for us to develop the vocabulary that surrounds South East Asian cooking, food culture and, moving forward, South East Asian restaurants." This week, Gary is joined by Leisa Tyler...
08.18.2023
Pop Music Tourism in the Spotlight as Taylor Swift & Blackpink Fever Grips South East Asia
South East Asia is abuzz with talk of Tourism Taylornomics as Singapore prepares for the billion-dollar Eras Tour to arrive. Coldplay are also headed to the region, Blackpink are filling soccer stadiums and fans await news of Beyonce's 2024 tour...
08.01.2023
The Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in July 2023
July, the seventh month of 2023, proved another busy period along South East Asia’s road to a travel and tourism recovery. This week, Hannah and Gary chat through the Top 8 travel talking points in July. The journey unwinds from Thailand...
07.18.2023
Reflecting on 3 Years of Tourism Recovery in Maldives, with Thoyyib Mohamed, Visit Maldives
"We are hitting milestone after milestone at the moment." It's exactly three years since Maldives became one of the first countries in Asia Pacific to reopen for tourism during the pandemic. This week, Gary and Hannah welcome Thoyyib Mohamed, Managing...
07.05.2023
The Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in the First Half of 2023
Thailand. China, India & Russia. Visa Backlogs. Indonesia's Air Sector. A Short-Term Rental Ban. Taylor Swift & Coldplay. High-Speed Rail. Love the Philippines. What connects the dots? All feature in our round-up of South East Asia's Top 10 talking points...
06.27.2023
SuperApps Scale Up to Sell More South East Asian Travel, with Brett Henry, MG Group
What is a SuperApp, and why should the travel industry care about them? There are numerous reasons to care, as Gary and Hannah discuss this week with Jakarta-based Brett Henry, President & Director of MG Group. Brett guides us through...
06.20.2023
The Shifting Outlook for Airports in South East Asia, with Shantanu Gangakhedkar, Frost & Sullivan
“Airports are making changes in their operation plans and strategies to adapt and inculcate the learnings of the last two years.” The airport sector continues to undergo a transformation as traffic flows recover, intelligent technology adoption accelerates and consumer expectations shift....
06.12.2023
The Key Factors Driving Tourism & Hospitality Expansion in Indonesia, with Ross Woods
"Indonesia's domestic market is underpinning the growth of tourism." This is little surprise. The world's fourth-largest population is expected to generate 1.4 billion domestic trips in 2023. In addition, a "demographic dividend," whereby a youthful population is driving economic growth...
06.06.2023
A New Era of Chinese & Global Travel Payments, with Dr Cherry Huang, Alipay+, Ant Group
Chinese tourists are returning to South East Asia in greater numbers. The recent May Labor Day holiday brought more passenger flights and travellers from cities across China into the region. But how will innovations in mobile payment technology over the...
05.30.2023
The Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in May 2023
May has been another hectic month as the travel recovery in South East Asia gathers momentum. It kicked off with China's May Golden Week, which delivered a huge domestic tourism boost, while Chinese outbound holidaymakers travelled around the region in...
05.19.2023
Bali’s Tourism Bounce-back Builds Momentum, with the Bali Hotels Association
"Barring another pandemic, there would be very little to derail [Bali's] outlook for the next 12 months." Tourism in Bali bounced back impressively in the second half of 2022, and 2023 is seeing the recovery gather fast-paced momentum. This week, Gary...
04.17.2023
Travel Takes off in Indonesia, with Pauline Suharno, ASTINDO
"Indonesians seem like they want to travel everywhere, as long as there are flights. If the flight ticket to a longer haul destination is too expensive, they just switch destination." Indonesia is the biggest country with the biggest population and...
04.13.2023
Exploring the Future of Adventure Travel, with Shannon Stowell, ATTA
“Community and sustainable travel is so hard to get right, and so easy to get wrong. How do you bring people into a place and they enjoy it, and they’ll pay for it, and they won’t destroy it? Anybody who...
04.06.2023
Transboundary Haze Casts a Cloud Over Tourism in South East Asia
The term "haze" relates to dry season plantation burning at this time of year which creates palls of toxic smoke across the region. This is impacting communities, healthcare systems and tourism throughout mainland South East Asia. So this week, Gary...
03.29.2023
10 Key Tourism Takeaways 12 Months Since South East Asia Reopened
Quarantine be gone! One year ago this week, on 1 April, the borders reopened across much of South East Asia as countries dropped quarantine-on-arrival mandates. The past 12 months have flown by, but the long pandemic travel shutout seems a...

What's The South East Asia Travel Show about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The South East Asia Travel Show episodes:

From the Dubai of ASEAN to China's Mega-Percentages: South East Asia's Top 10 Travel Takeaways From H1 2024

Reviewing Tourism in Thailand in the First Half of 2024, with Vincent Vichit-Vadakan

Is South East Asia's Era of Hotel Rate Growth Now Over?, with Jesper Palmqvist, STR CoStar

"From Battambang to Taking the Stage in New York, Sydney & Montreal": The Best Bits From The South East Asia Travel Show in May 2024

"Clear Air Turbulence", Thailand's Visa Bonanza, Singapore's Vision 2040 & Vietnam Shades 2019: May 2024 in Review

Running Away to the Circus, and Cambodia's Tourism Recovery, with Craig Dodge, Phare

Visa Waivers, Extreme Weather, AI Tools & ‘All-Gender Weddings’: Revisiting the 2024 Travel Wishlist

"Everyone Wants to Go to Japan": The Best Bits From The South East Asia Travel Show in April 2024

The Return of Over-tourism, Chinese Tourists & Thailand’s Tourism Tax: April 2024 in Review

The Top 8 Statistical Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia

Building an Airline Sustainability Strategy, with Philip See, Malaysia Aviation Group

The Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in March 2024

The Best Bits from The South East Asia Travel Show in March 2024

The Eco-Tourism Adventurer of Laos: In Conversation with Inthy Deuansavanh, Inthira Group

The Outlook for Travel & Tourism in Indonesia, with Pauline Suharno, ASTINDO

The Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in Q1 2024

Assessing South East Asia's Air Travel Recovery 4 Years After the Declaration of a Pandemic, with Brendan Sobie

Is China Serious About Attracting More Inbound Tourists & Business Travellers?, with Yereth Jansen

Future South East Asia: The Top 8 New Airport, High-Speed Rail & Urban Development Projects, with James Clark

Reflecting on 4 Years & 200 Episodes of The South East Asia Travel Show

Will Bali's Tourism Bounce-back Continue in 2024?, with the Bali Hotels Association

Will Taylornomics Encourage OTAs & SuperApps to Sell Concert Tickets in Asia?

South East Asia's Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in January

The Outlook for Travel & Tourism in Vietnam, with Mike Tatarski, Vietnam Weekly

The 2024 Travel & Tourism Wishlist for South East Asia

2023 in Review: This Year’s Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia

Reflections on a Hectic Year of Travel in South East Asia and Beyond, with Vincent Vichit-Vadakan

The Top 8 Statistical Talking Points in Travel & Tourism in South East Asia

The Top 8 Under-the-Radar Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia

The Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in October 2023

AI, OTAs, Payments & Ancillary Revenues for Independent Hotels, with Vikram Malhi, Zuzu Hospitality

The Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in September 2023

Reflections on the Hotel Sector Recovery in South East Asia in 2023, with Jesper Palmqvist, STR

Behind the Scenes of Australia’s Tourism Transformation Plan, with Samantha Palmer, AusTrade

The Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in August 2023

Celebrating South East Asian Cuisines & Food Cultures with the Kita Food Festival

Pop Music Tourism in the Spotlight as Taylor Swift & Blackpink Fever Grips South East Asia

The Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in July 2023

Reflecting on 3 Years of Tourism Recovery in Maldives, with Thoyyib Mohamed, Visit Maldives

The Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in the First Half of 2023

SuperApps Scale Up to Sell More South East Asian Travel, with Brett Henry, MG Group

The Shifting Outlook for Airports in South East Asia, with Shantanu Gangakhedkar, Frost & Sullivan

The Key Factors Driving Tourism & Hospitality Expansion in Indonesia, with Ross Woods

A New Era of Chinese & Global Travel Payments, with Dr Cherry Huang, Alipay+, Ant Group

The Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in May 2023

Bali’s Tourism Bounce-back Builds Momentum, with the Bali Hotels Association

Travel Takes off in Indonesia, with Pauline Suharno, ASTINDO

Exploring the Future of Adventure Travel, with Shannon Stowell, ATTA

Transboundary Haze Casts a Cloud Over Tourism in South East Asia

10 Key Tourism Takeaways 12 Months Since South East Asia Reopened

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