The South East Asia Travel Show

11 March 2021 marks one year since the WHO declared a pandemic. So, what have we learned in South East Asia, and how can those lessons be best applied? From a current standpoint, two things are clear: 1) international travel and tourism are in a desperate state, and 2) the travel industry hasn’t been able to find the solutions required to escape from the darkness. This week, Gary and Hannah discuss 10 vital learnings from the past year, and how these discoveries can be used to drive a recovery. We found out that Travel Bubbles didn't work in 2020, so are they now a dead concept? What will be the future relationship between vaccines, PCR testing and quarantines? Will tourism authorities invest in domestic travel once borders reopen? Did governments finally learn to differentiate between travel and tourism? What role will China and India play in revitalising regional tourism? And, once the pandemic subsides, will the travel industry take the climate crisis seriously? All this and much, much more...

How will tourism research and graduate education adapt and diversify post-COVID? This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the outlook for travel and tourism across South East Asia from an academic perspective with Prof. Joseph Cheer of the Center for Tourism Research at Wakayama University in Japan, and Dr. Mary Mostafanezhad, Associate Professor at University of Hawaii at Manoa. The broad-ranging interview discusses how travel may look in the early recovery phases, the challenges of educating a new generation of tourism professionals in uncertain economic times and whether the travel and hospitality sectors will continue to engage with universities in future. We also discuss the expected Chinese outbound and ASEAN intra-regional travel rebounds, low-cost carriers, short- and long-haul flying and travel bubbles. Plus, voluntourism, environmental sustainability and resort over-development, plastic trash and air pollution. It’s a fascinating chat.

How will governments use COVID-19 vaccine programmes to revitalise travel and tourism? This week, Gary and Hannah debate the latest tourism reopening proposals in South East Asia and beyond. These include moves to welcome vaccinated travellers in Thailand, Bali’s ‘COVID-free Corridor’, and the likely reboot of the Singapore-Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble. We also discuss a proposed ‘Calibrated’ reopening in India, the ‘Bio Bubble’ tourism initiative in Sri Lanka and ‘Vaccine-to-Go’ travel in Cuba – and their relevance to South East Asian markets. Plus, Costa Rica revives ‘Visa-Free Access’ for Chinese travellers, ‘Vaccinated students’ from China and ‘One-Way Travel Bubbles’ in New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Can vaccines be successfully used to unblock pathways to a travel recovery? And what will travel look like – is it going to be both ‘Safe & Secure’ and ‘Controlled & Restricted’? 

It’s 7 months since the Maldives reopened for visitors in July 2020. The Indian island archipelago nation is being considered as a successful case study for COVID-era tourism – but how has it adapted to a changed world, and what lessons has it learned? This week, Gary and Hannah chat with Ruth Franklin, Co-founder of Secret Paradise Maldives, which focuses on local island experiences beyond the luxury resorts. In a candid and insightful interview, Ruth discusses the pre-COVID opportunities and the processes and protocols implemented to reopen for inbound travel. We discuss the future of sustainable tourism, tailor-made island experiences and guest house stays, plus the growing appeal of long-vacation travel. We also talk about the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, the potential for vaccine tourism – and what needs to happen for the Maldives to achieve its goal of attracting 1.5 million visitors in 2021.

Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, Lunisolar New Year, Spring Festival and Tet – this week's show talks all things travel for the upcoming holiday. In recent years, Chinese New Year brought a welcome surge of inbound visitors from China into ASEAN, and stimulated strong intra-regional and domestic trip volumes. This year, CNY is a purely homegrown travel scenario. In some countries - like Malaysia - inter-state travel is not even permitted, while COVID-19 infection spikes are impacting domestic travel in Thailand, Vietnam and China. Confidence in travel across the region may be at its lowest point since the pandemic struck - for what is normally a joyful and vibrant time to take a vacation. As South East Asia confronts a second consecutive CNY under the shadow of COVID-19, should travel marketers rethink their approach to public holiday tourism in future? Plus, will shifting societal factors in China impact the future flow of CNY visitors into ASEAN and other Asia Pacific destinations?

The aviation industry continues to face immense challenges caused by the pandemic. This week, Gary and Hannah address the current state of aviation policy and regulation with Michelle Dy, Manager, Global Affairs & Policy at AirAsia. This broad-ranging chat looks at the history of aviation development globally and in South East Asia and Asia Pacific. A long-standing objective has been to establish an ASEAN Single Aviation Market - so what progress has been made, and what could a Single Aviation Market mean for airlines, airports and consumers? And how does the scale and scope of Chinese airlines impact this strategic objective? We also discuss how COVID-19 will impact the regional aviation landscape in 2021 and beyond, the challenges for domestic air travel and enduring border closures across the region. With COVID-19 vaccine rollouts commencing, should airline staff be treated as essential workers, and will all air travellers require inoculation? 

Malaysia is one of the most-visited countries in South East Asia, but its inbound arrivals have been largely stagnant for a decade. Despite recording strong growth from China in the pre-pandemic years, other key markets were slowing. Over the past year, the nation's robust domestic travel sector has attempted to step up, but stop-start lockdown restrictions have hampered its overall impact. Borders have remained shut since mid-March 2020. Moreover, the three airlines Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Malindo, are confronting financial troubles and the KL-Singapore high-speed railway has been cancelled. To escape the rut, Malaysia has published a broad-ranging 10-year National Tourism Plan that aims to breathe new life into inbound travel once the borders reopen. This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the myriad challenges facing travel and tourism across Malaysia, and the solutions and strategies being proposed to stimulate the sector right up until 2030.
 Find out more about The South East Asia Travel Show and view our back catalogue at www.theseasiatravelshow.com and join in the daily discussion at www.linkedin.com/company/the-sea-travel-show

This week, Gary and Hannah chat with Denver-based travel marketer, behavioural economist and podcaster Sandra Thomas-Comenole. During a varied career, Sandra has worked with several international travel brands, including InsideJapan Tours, Croatian Tourism and the US National Parks Service. In a fascinating interview, she discusses how behavioural economics can help guide travel marketers through an uncertain 2021, the pitfalls of traveller sentiment surveys and the impending leadership challenges should tourism rebound at a rapid rate. We also discuss the current state of destination marketing in the US, and some of the opportunities for engaging more closely with Asian markets and travellers to accelerate the economic recovery. After being overlooked as a priority economic sector by several US administrations, does the Biden-Harris ticket offer new hope for travel and tourism funding, strategy development and implementation for tourism in the US?