The South East Asia Travel Show

It's been a pretty unsettling first half of 2025 on a geopolitical level, and the regional outcomes are creeping but still uncertain. Against this backdrop, South East Asian airports have remained busy - but structural and cyclical challenges for travel economies are emerging. So, what do the events of January-June tell us about the rest of 2025 and into 2026? This week, Gary and Hannah assess the 10 top takeaways in the year so far. The regional rewind looks at Singapore's capacity to do things differently, Thailand's China-shaped hole in its visitor arrivals, mixed outcomes in Malaysia, a domestic travel downturn in Indonesia and the undisputed ASEAN success story of Vietnam. Plus, we travel to China, the Middle East and Central Asia, look at shifting geographies for LCCs, regulatory scrutiny for OTAs and nominee travel businesses - and examine the outlook over the coming years of a much closer conjunction of the Lunar New Year and Eid-al-Fitr travel periods (especially in 2028).

"Despite referencing the word 'tourism' 26 times in its new Vision 2045 plan, ASEAN remains uncomfortable discussing a regional tourism visa. This largely reflects its institutional limitations rather than a lack of ambition." Over recent months, significant hype has surrounded the possibility of the 10 countries (soon 11) of South East Asia launching a shared visa for tourists. The context is that each country in the region wants to expand tourism to support economic development. Enabling visitors to travel "borderless" throughout the region would, in theory, unlock more tourism and more revenue generation. Meanwhile, China and countries in the Middle East and Central Asia are intent on drawing away tourists from South East Asian nations. This week, Gary deconstructs the 6 key issues around a potential ASEAN Tourism Visa: The Historic Context; The Post-Covid Imperative; The Schengen Model; ASEAN's 2045 Community Vision; South East Asia's Institutional Challenges and the Way Forward. So, what happens next?
This week's edition of the show was inspired by a new article Gary has written, Will an ASEAN tourism visa take off?, for the Asia Media Centre in New Zealand, which you can read here: https://www.asiamediacentre.org.nz/will-an-asean-tourism-visa-take-off

"I wish I had 640 days to do this trip, not 64." Bali-based Stuart McDonald, founder of Travelfish, is 34 days into an ambitious two-month overland trip across 18 countries from his Bali home to Leeds in the UK. So, why is he doing it? What has he experienced en route? And what have been the finest discoveries of the journey so far? This week, Gary catches up with Stuart in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, to track back across his train and-bus route so far, which has taken him from Bali to Jakarta, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Stuart describes the dramatic natural landscapes viewed from numerous train windows. He also tells compelling stories about his encounters with Chinese backpacking culture, entire mountains clad with solar panels, the lowering of a giant Lenin statue, an under-construction China-Central Asia railway, and the cultured urban delights of Almaty. We preview the anticipated highlights of the rest of the trip, including Tbilisi, Istanbul, Bucharest and Budapest, before a rapid dash to Paris to catch the Eurostar to London - and a connection to the journey's end: Leeds. A remarkable journey, which Stuart describes as "exhausting" and a "gruelling mission", but - overall - the "trip of a lifetime".

May was another hectic month of BIG travel, tourism and geopolitical talking points in South East Asia. This month’s roundup takes Gary and Hannah around ASEAN, from our home city of Kuala Lumpur to Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Timor Leste and Vietnam – plus China, India (sort of), Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan. En route, we discuss China's new ASEAN visa, Indonesia clings to its high-speed rail ambitions, and ASEAN accumulates an 11th member, and perhaps as a 12th in future. We feature a mini round-up of travel takeaways from the Philippines, including airport privatisation, a digital nomad visa and visa-free access for Indian travellers. Plus, Vietnam's "resort airline in the sky," AirAsia takes on Saudi Arabia and Vietjet lands in Kazakhstan. And, we finish with a regional concert tourism review and preview, featuring Lady Gaga in Singapore and Blackpink preparing to kill the love in four South East Asian capitals.
 

Vietnam is the most dynamic and talked-about travel market in South East Asia. The nation's economic growth, which outpaces China and India, made the cover of The Economist last week. Global leaders jet in and out for trade talks, and foreign investment has flooded in. Meantime, Vietnam is developing one of ASEAN's largest airports and its most ambitious high-speed railway. But what happens next, especially with the spectre of 46% US trade tariffs? To deconstruct the key elements of travel, tourism and national economic and social development, Gary chats with Dr Nuno Ribeiro, Senior Lecturer at RMIT University in Ho Chi Minh City. Nuno is an experienced tourism and hospitality management academic, consultant and speaker, and has held senior roles in academia and industry across the US, Canada, Portugal, and Vietnam. In a broad-ranging chat, we discuss the interaction between Vietnam's surging inbound, outbound and domestic travel sectors, and the role of tourism in national branding and projecting soft power. Plus, how high is the 'glass ceiling' for travel growth? We also discuss the perceptions (and employment power) of Vietnamese tourism and hospitality students, the influence of AI in hotel management education - and the role of sustainability in shaping the attitudes of tomorrow's travel industry leaders.

Since the turn of the year, Gary and Hannah have been travelling across South East Asia and worldwide, speaking at various travel conferences. So, this week, we’ve compiled a long list of the most ubiquitous concepts, words and phrases we’ve encountered on stage and in the venue break-out spaces and receptions. We discuss the current contexts around popular buzzwords such as Authentic Experiences, Hyper-Personalisation, Seamless Trips and Frictionless Travel. We wonder where the Visa-Free Access debate goes next, and applaud the greater integration of Muslim Tourism themes into travel conference planning. Of course, we can't leave out Over-tourism, Agentic AI, Gen Zs, Digital Arrival Cards and Chatbots, and we make a forecast about how Trump Tariffs will be discussed in a travel context across the rest of 2025. Plus, what happened to Super Apps, the Metaverse and our most disliked phrase "Owning the Customer"?

AI and Sustainability are hotly debated topics in travel. But how might new policies and regulations in these areas impact future interactions between travellers, suppliers, booking platforms and governments? This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the current landscape for OTAs, sustainability and AI policy development with Yang Li, Head of Public Affairs, Asia Pacific, at Booking.com. Which ASEAN and APAC countries are developing structured legal frameworks around sustainability? And how prepared are businesses region-wide for the EU Greenwashing Claims Directive, which is due to enter into force in 2026? Yang selects some key findings from Booking.com's 9th global Sustainability Report, and their applicability to ASEAN markets. We also touch on sustainable tourism target setting, certifications and investment, and the current state of the Intention vs Action gap. Plus, what are 'closed loop' AI trip-planning tools, and how are travellers using them? How will the interface between OTAs and AI agents shape up? And will Asian governments continue their light touch approach to AI regulation, or are new legal frameworks on the horizon? 
 

South East Asia comprises 10 diverse nations and nearly 700 million people spread across a vast landmass. Consequently, the numbers are often large, impactful and scaleable - and travel and tourism are no exceptions. This week, Gary and Hannah select the Top 8 statistical talking points from across the region. These cover inbound and outbound travel, ASEAN vs APAC airline seat capacity, the Hajj pilgrimage from Indonesia, human capital development in Vietnam – and electrified living everywhere. Plus, can Love Win All in Thailand? Which capital city is spending almost USD200 million on urban heritage revitalisation? And which country is surging far ahead of the pack for year-on year tourism arrivals growth? Plus, much more...