"Tourists are now viewed as a source of taxation revenue. It's increasingly hard to raise taxes on your own citizens, but if you have 30+ million tourists each year, that's a lot of potential tax you can raise." This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the multiple challenges Thailand faces in increasing its proposed tourism tax, from THB300 to THB450 - and collecting it. Meanwhile, Vietnam's stellar tourism run continues with a raft of upcoming initiatives and an eye-watering new inbound tourism target. As South East Asian nations have become accustomed to welcoming more Russian tourists, what about travel in the reverse direction? Russia's tourism authorities are targeting tourists from the region to bolster its visitor economy. Plus, we tackle the latest airline route rationalisations and service cutbacks attributed to the Iran War fuel crisis, and a new tourism budget row in the Philippines. Finally, we look at how Vietnam (digital heritage passport) and Indonesia (premium tourism) are introducing new thinking into their domestic travel economy planning. All this and much more.

With two-thirds of 2026 almost complete, tourism strategies, plans and developments are loaded with extra meaning. 2027 is looming up ahead… This week, Gary and Hannah journey across South East Asia and to Australia to ask and answer this week's top tourism questions. We begin Down Under where Australia's new 10-year tourism roadmap is simply world class. We discuss why. Next to Brunei, which is rolling out various tourism initiatives as it targets 1 million arrivals in 2027. Meanwhile, Vietnam's national payment system is now connected to China's WeChat Pay, enabling Chinese visitors to Vietnam and Vietnamese tourists in China to swipe and pay seamlessly. Plus, The Haze is back, blanketing parts of Malaysia and Singapore in a gloomy fug. It could get much worse yet… Meanwhile, Indonesia's high-speed rail route continues to bleed mega-money, Malaysians are spending more on domestic tourism - and China issues a solemn warning that destinations across the region should take seriously. 

2026 has been a mixed year for tourism across South East Asia, and all countries are preparing their future strategies. With arrivals growth slowing and competition to attract tourists intensifying, Wellness and Business Events are emerging as key battlegrounds. This week, Gary and Hannah analyse how some of the region's key players, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia, are setting out their strategic stalls - or are they simply chasing the same tourists with different labels and campaigns? Plus, we discuss new flights between Phuket and Bali, and the background behind the arrest of a Malaysia Airlines pilot for drug smuggling in Jakarta. And, is Thailand's Prime Minister paving the way for Myanmar to return to the ASEAN fray after five years of isolation since the military coup?

"What a turbulent seven months 2026 has delivered so far." As we say goodbye to July, Gary and Hannah review the latest hot topics in travel and tourism from across South East Asia, China and India, and look ahead to the rest of the year. We begin by breaking down the multi-billion RMB fine imposed by China's anti-trust regulator on Trip.com, the nation's largest OTA, for "monopolistic practices". From China we head to Malaysia, where an unexpected F1 Grand Prix race is raising the tourism temperature. Next to Singapore, where the national carrier, Singapore Airlines, enjoyed record quarterly revenue and thriving passenger demand offset by a stinging 78.5% rise in fuel costs. We look at Cambodia Airlines' order for 20 COMAC aircraft and Thai AirAsia's decision to suspend nine domestic flight routes from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi until October. Will they be reinstated for peak season? Plus, we look at Singapore's upcoming concert tourism season from the perspective of the Indian media, assess the impact of AI on tour guiding - and finish with a humorous story about a jail stay request in the Philippines.

Back on 7 January, Hannah and Gary kickstarted the year by analysing 12 topics, themes and issues that we expected to influence the direction of travel across the 11 nations of South East Asia during 2026. As we near the end of the 7th month of the year, how do those forecasts stand up? And will they pertain across the rest of the calendar year? This week, Gary tracks back across those 12 themes and assesses each one in the context of global and regional influences - and, of course, the Middle East War. Two key words stand out above all else: Risk and Uncertainty - which we chose (back in January) as our Words of the Year Ahead!

Seaplane regulations, a fatal speedboat accident and new cyberscam centre revelations. This week's show takes Gary and Hannah around ASEAN and beyond, with stopovers in Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Timor Leste and the Middle East. We begin with the latest updates on flights connecting South East Asia and the Middle East as the military conflict between the US and Iran flares up once again. We look at the latest developments in IATA's battle to promote sustainable aviation fuel while at the same time challenging government policies. A deadly speedboat accident near Phu Quoc raises once more the issue of marine safety in tourism, while Vietnam steps up attempts to attract more Muslim tourists. New revelations about scam centres in Timor Leste and Cambodia raise more questions than answers, and we finish in Thailand where an island network of seaplanes is ready for take-off, or is it?

"They are not happy with just Vietnam, just Thailand - now they are going after Australia!" The scale of ambition and speed of commercial aggression shown by Vietnamese airlines is a stand-out feature of 2026, and there is no sign of a slowdown. On our monthly round-up of the top travel and tourism talking points in South East Asia and beyond in June, Gary and Hannah look at how airline strategies are shifting in ASEAN, Asia, Australia and the Middle East East - and the new threads tying them together. Plus, the Mekong Tourism Forum in Yangon suggests Myanmar is being welcomed back onto South East Asia's tourism map. On an upbeat note, Love and Tourism are being rephrased in the Philippines, but coming back down to earth, Thailand is building a border wall between itself and Cambodia. Plus, we test the thermal waters of Bangkok's forthcoming  mega-wellness development, and finish with a look at KL's just-opened durian experience centre. Are durians the new ambassadors of ASEAN tourism? All this, and much more...

"Robotic lockers and ozone-based water filtration systems." As we close in on the halfway point of 2026, Gary and Hannah review the latest travel and tourism developments across ASEAN and beyond with stopovers in Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. Gary's just back from Travel Meet Asia in Jakarta, where Brunei previewed its largest year-long tourism promotion in 2027, which we break down. Meanwhile, airlines - and air fares - are in the spotlight with mixed messages delivered this week by AirAsia and AirBorneo. So, what happens next? Plus, we look at the new solutions Vietnam is putting in place (Hint: the army) to ensure the massive new Long Thanh International Airport opens before the end of the year, and ponder why Cambodia is offering visa-free access to Chinese tourists for a limited 4-month period. Finally, we head to Singapore, where the city's long-anticipated "mega wellness project" has broken ground - but what will be inside?

This week's special edition of the show was recorded live in front of a packed ballroom audience at the 2026 Travel + Leisure Luxury Summit Asia, at the Dusit Thani hotel in Bangkok. Gary and Hannah took to the stage for a three-part podcast. In part 1, we provide a short round-up of the travel and tourism year so far in South East Asia and beyond - and the outlook for the rest of 2026. We are then joined by Jeninne Lee-St John, Editor in Chief of Travel + Leisure South East Asia, Hong Kong and Macau, to discuss the origins of glamping, tented camps and outdoor lodging developments in remote natural spaces throughout the region. In part 3, Shyn-Yee Ho, Director of Horwath Asia & Director of the Asia Pacific Outdoor Lodging Association (APOLA), joins us to break down a brand new White Paper, entitled “How Asia Pacific is defining the future of luxury outdoor lodging”, that she produced especially for the conference. We cover a great deal of ground, looking at the growth, management and investment into outdoor lodging camps from Australia to Cambodia, Mongolia to Thailand and Indonesia to China, plus the US, Africa and India. A fascinating discussion that delves into the diversity of outdoor accommodation concepts and formats that already exist or are being planned and developed across Asia Pacific.

"The world has changed around Thailand since Covid, whereas Vietnam appears more in control of its destiny." As we race toward the midpoint of 2026, it was another week with plenty of travel talking points in ASEAN and beyond. The week, Gary and Hannah visit Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and China to decipher the top takeaways. We begin in the Philippines with the latest reports from the devastating earthquake in Mindanao, and send our very best wishes to people across the nation for Philippine Independence Day. Next up is IATA's State of the Global Air Transport Industry report, with some scything parting words from Director General, Willie Walsh, regarding policies around sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which he says have put progress "under pressure." We then deconstruct the merits and debits of a detailed article comparing the tourism policy trajectories of Thailand and Vietnam - written from a Thai travel industry perspective (TLDR: Pinch. Of. Salt.) Plus. we look at how Malaysia has enticed a Chinese cruise operator to establish a regional home port on the west coast, address the reasons why Vietnamese airlines are attempting to expedite orders of Boeing planes - and we delve into our media headline of the week: "Five days, unlimited durian, zero apologies."