The South East Asia Travel Show

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...

April began with the announcement of US "reciprocal tariffs", which ranged from 10% to 49% on exports from South East Asian nations. This has created toxic uncertainty across all industries in the region, notably business travel. But before the tariff turmoil, Q1 had delivered mixed results for travel and tourism, with the Eid al-Fitr holiday numbers particularly weak in Malaysia and Indonesia. Was this the result of the Lunar New Year and Eid public holidays being in the same quarter, or are we at the start of a cyclical travel slowdown in ASEAN? On our monthly roundup, Gary and Hannah assess the latest data and insights gleaned from attending and speaking at travel industry events throughout the month. Plus, Thailand plans to reframe its 2025 tourism strategy after reducing its revenue forecast, Vietnam experiences glitches at the opening of a new airport terminal, and China and Malaysia extend their bilateral visa-free access agreement. And, Indonesia and UN Tourism unveil a detailed set of tourism investment guidelines, Balis vows to enforce new behavioural rules for tourists, and more South East Asian vacationers are heading to Macau.  

Casino Tourism. Concert & Event Tourism. Medical Tourism. The Night Economy. Live-streaming. Public-Private Tourism Partnerships. Many of the hot topics related to Macau's diversification of its tourism economy and inbound market mix bear similarities to countries in South East Asia. There are two key differences, however. 1) Macau is the world city most reliant on tourism income as a proportion of GDP due to casino tourism, and it famously outstripped Las Vegas for gaming revenue in 2006. 2) Macau is 22 times smaller than Singapore, but last year attracted more than twice the total of visitors. To reduce its heavy reliance on visitors from China and Hong Kong, Macau is aggressively marketing to South East Asian travellers - and with some success. To assess the future outlook, Gary is joined by Glenn McCartney, Associate Professor of Integrated Resort & Tourism Management at the University of Macau, and a Tourism and Hospitality Consultant and Executive Trainer. He worked in Macau's hospitality industry during the handover from Portugal to China in 1999, and undertook research for the Macau Government on tourism and gaming development during the casino liberalisation period of the early 2000s. Together, Gary and Glenn unpack the challenges ahead for Macau's next phase of tourism economy development, and assess how the tiny island city is confronting new competition in casino tourism, as Japan, Thailand and the UAE covet this highly lucrative sector.

What connects CNN, Coldplay, Bollywood, The White Lotus, Bluey, Minecraft and K-dramas? All are linked to the burgeoning trend of representing tourism destinations in TV series, movies, videos, documentaries and computer games. This week, Gary and Hannah assess the top 8 TV and Movie Tourism talking points in ASEAN, Asia Pacific and beyond. The global journey takes us from Jakarta, Koh Samui and Singapore to Seoul, Jeju Island and Okinawa - and beyond to the UK, New Zealand and Australia. En route, we discuss the influence of micro-dramas, Ne Zha 2 and Black Myth: Wuking on domestic tourism in China. We look at the darker side of tourism on screen, including No More Bets, The Beach, Iseltwald and the filming issues around The Expats in Hong Kong. Plus we tap into the changing role of tourism boards and travel suppliers in destination placement, assess the surging growth of on-location cookery shows, and explore how Netflix is financing local TV productions to promote culture, heritage and tourism in Indonesia and South Korea for domestic and regional audiences. 

"ASEAN, being the fifth largest economy in the world, is deeply concerned over the recent introduction of unilateral tariffs by the US, including the tariffs announced on 2 April and subsequently the suspension on 9 April... [These] will impact economic security and stability, affect livelihoods of millions of people in the region, and hinder economic progress in ASEAN, particularly less developed economies." It's unusual for ASEAN to word its statements so strongly. This week's response highlights the diplomatically disguised fury throughout the Asia Pacific region. As the US government seeks to isolate China, trade diplomacy between nations across South East Asia and North East Asia is at its most frenetic level for many years. But as China, Malaysia (as ASEAN Chair), Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Australia try to coordinate their responses, what does it all mean for travel and tourism in South East Asia? And what about India? On today's show, Gary discusses the latest regional updates and cautions against making "long-term forecasts of more than 24 hours ahead" given the precarious nature of US policymaking. Nevertheless, the current situation is a crisis, despite Trump's large-scale backtrack earlier this week, because of the centrality of China to all things economic across Asia Pacific. 

What will the new round of US protectionist trade tariffs mean for the economies of ASEAN and Asia Pacific? Over the past seven days, we'e seen stock markets crash, currencies come under pressure and governments entering into panic mode. The long-term shockwaves for the global and regional economies are uncertain, and the fallout for the travel industry is still speculative. In the first of a two-part podcast, Gary navigates through the headline news of the past week, addresses the rationale for the exceptionally high tariff rates slapped on several ASEAN economies, and the reasons that governments are not retaliating. He also discusses why Vietnam is the high-watermark case study, with perhaps the most at stake, and the options open to its trade negotiators to shore up the short-term damage and re-plan for the future. Part 2, coming later this week, will delve into the intra-ASEAN implications, the view from China and the outlook for travel and tourism across the region. 

"It's cheaper to fly from Jakarta to KL, Bangkok or even Japan than to Manado." Indonesia is South East Asia's largest country and largest economy, and has a fascinating, fast-changing travel landscape. This week, Hannah welcomes back to the show Jakarta-based Pauline Suharno, President of ASTINDO, the Indonesian travel agents association, to assess the outlook for travel and tourism. Pauline discusses the progress of a new Indonesia Tourism Board, and a range of new train tourism packages. She also addresses the impacts of government budget cuts on hotels and travel businesses in second-tier cities. Outbound travel is flourishing despite a weak rupiah and visa hurdles to jump, but where are the hot destinations for Indonesian tourists? Plus, what is the "McDonalds of travel", will new airlines get off the ground, and why are domestic airfares so expensive?

It's been a while! Our last show trailer was recorded in 2022, so we are long overdue an update. Find out more about the podcast, the presenters, Gary and Hannah, our global listener base and our monthly schedule. This 90-second summary gives you the inside track on The South East Asia Travel Show as we accelerate through our 6th year.