The South East Asia Travel Show

China's October National Day public holiday is the third 'Golden Week' of the year. In 2024, it just wrapped up amid a global sense that Chinese outbound tourism is definitively back. Twenty-one months after China reopened for travel, destinations across South East Asia, Asia Pacific and worldwide enjoyed their most optimistic Golden Week since the corresponding period way back in 2019. To discuss the top takeaways, Gary is joined by Sienna Parulis-Cook, Director of Marketing & Communications for Dragon Trail international. In a broad-ranging discussion, we dissect various key issues, ranging from visa-free travel to events and festivals, and data from the top OTAs and niche booking platforms to the two most-visited destinations, Hong Kong and Macau. Intriguing Golden Week hotspots under discussion also include Georgia, Italy, Turkey, Japan and Malaysia, and we track the shifts in Chinese traveller sentiment from Dragon Trail's new survey. Plus, we chart the ongoing rise of red-hot travel and lifestyle app Xiaohongshu, and place our cards on the table about the Chinese travel trends to watch out for in 2025.

This week, China's October Golden Week kickstarts Q4 of 2024 and the path toward South East Asia completing a 5-year Covid cycle. So, it's the perfect time to assess the top 8 talking points from the 9th month of the year. We begin in Thailand with the issues around the proposed introduction of Electronic Travel Authorisation, while Royal Assent for the Marriage Equality Bill makes it the third Asian jurisdiction to legalise same-sex unions. Elsewhere, AirAsia grabbed headlines throughout September and Singapore scored another F1 win. Plus, a new VAT refund scheme for tourists in the Philippines and a possible hotel construction moratorium in Bali. And finally, a Singaporean university is attempting to balance the inconveniences and benefits of a surge in tourist visitors. 

"How do you know your tourism activity's overall impact is beneficial to a community if you aren't measuring it?" This week, Gary and Hannah discuss economic leakages and quantifying the impacts on local communities of tour operations with Ewan Cluckie, Founder of Thailand-based Tripseed. Socio-economic sustainability in tourism is an under-scrutinised topic, but Tripseed is confronting it head-on. The company recently published phase 1 of its deeply researched Economic Distribution Disclosure Initiative, a set of tools and metrics designed to "drive transparency and positive impact within the local economy”. Ewan discusses why economic leakage is "particularly pronounced" in Thailand, and research related to other ASEAN countries. So, what are these leakages, how do you measure and compare them - and where does the money go? And, how can leakages be assessed for suppliers further along the chain, whose data might be tricky to obtain? Ewan also provides a heads-up about the areas that this innovative tourism impact project in South East Asia will address next - and the interest it has garnered from university research institutes and large private sector organisations.

"The pieces of South East Asia's post-pandemic tourism jigsaw are still being put into place". Regional travel and tourism trends continue to be impacted by the Covid era, both from a supply and demand perspective. So, as we march full steam into the final third of 2024, what were the Top 8 talking points in August 2024? On our monthly roundup, we discuss the fallout from Malaysia Airlines' decision to cut almost one-fifth of its capacity, assess the airline volumes into the region from China and dive into the factors behind the latest round of quarterly airline earnings. We also discuss Thailand establishing 18 Dark Sky Reserves to attract stargazing tourists and Ho Chi Minh City's promotion of 8 soft powers in a play to be a "cultural industrial hub." Plus, which two countries in the region are celebrating the inscription of new UNESCO World Heritage Sites? And which ASEAN nation has achieved a 101% recovery of its visitor arrivals so far this year compared to 2019?

"The Muslim friendly tourism and hospitality eco-system will be the next big thing in global tourism." Muslim tourism is forecast to be valued at USD225 billion worldwide by 2030, with ASEAN and Asia Pacific at the centre of future growth. To discuss the challenges and opportunities up ahead for the travel industry, Gary and Hannah welcome Nizran Noordin, Director General of the Islamic Tourism Centre, which is based in Malaysia. We discuss the efforts being made to support and promote the Muslim visitor economy in South East Asian nations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and the Philippines, plus regional markets like China, Russia, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Macau. We also address the challenges of developing standardised Muslim tourism branding, marketing and communications. Plus, Nizran outlines Malaysia's strategy to become a regional hub for Umrah pilgrims, and highlights some of the key themes at the upcoming 4th World Islamic Tourism Conference, which takes place in Kuala Lumpur in September. 

We are almost two-thirds through 2024. This year, more than ever, South East Asia's travel and tourism recovery and regrowth is being assessed through the lens of data and statistics. But quantifying every aspect of tourism obfuscates the dynamic political, economic, societal, technological and environmental factors behind those numbers. So, this week Gary and Hannah ask and answer 8 critical questions about the direction of regional travel in 2024, and beyond – without referencing data. Can we go an entire show without stating Thailand’s latest monthly arrivals or air passenger data at Changi? En route, we discuss political leadership changes in Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, the ongoing LCC rebuild, the return of Chinese travellers at scale and disruption in the aircraft manufacturing sector. Plus, what's next for Asian currency values and the impact on travel, casino legalisation in Thailand, visa waivers, and m-pox planning across the region? And why have high-speed railway proposals become a governmental "must have" across ASEAN in 2024?

Land-locked Laos is a beautiful part of South East Asia, where tourism is coming back to life despite tough economic times. Overland travel is a dynamic driver, following the launch in 2023 of the cross-border China-Laos railway, and - last month - a new train link between Bangkok and Vientiane. To navigate Laos's changing travel landscape, Gary is joined by Jason Rolan, Tourism Specialist and Senior Partner at RDK Group, and Benny Kong, Co-Founder of Discover Laos Today. In a broad-ranging chat, we address the first-half year visitor arrivals to Laos, and its top inbound markets - and the latest visa entry measures designed to attract more visitors from selected markets. We also discuss changing visitor perceptions, booming hotel investment and infrastructure development, notable shifts in seasonality and labour supply challenges in the hospitality sector. Plus, Benny talks about the popular response to the EV tours and self-drive EV car rentals his company has introduced in three parts of the country - including a vintage-style guided EV trip around Luang Prabang, which is building a viral buzz on social media. 
 

July is a busy season. Chinese summer holiday tourists returned to the region in large numbers, while destinations across ASEAN implemented various measures to boost their full-year tourism arrivals. And we had some extreme weather events as well. So, what were the Top 8 travel and tourism talking points in July? In our monthly round-up, Gary and Hannah travel around ASEAN, with stopovers in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, plus China and India. En route, we discuss TikTok's latest travel play in Thailand and Indonesia, jet planes returning to KL's Subang Airport after more than two decades and growing legal pressure on illegal tour operators. And, a new survey shows that Chinese tour groups are smaller and younger than pre-pandemic. Plus, is Bali the new benchmark in the battle to attract Chinese and Indian tourists? How many countries worldwide does Singapore's power-packed passport enable its citizens to visit visa-free?  And why hasn't Netflix series The Mole been promoted in Malaysia, despite being filmed around the country?