Episodes
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
The Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in the First Half of 2023
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Thailand. China, India & Russia. Visa Backlogs. Indonesia's Air Sector. A Short-Term Rental Ban. Taylor Swift & Coldplay. High-Speed Rail. Love the Philippines. What connects the dots? All feature in our round-up of South East Asia's Top 10 talking points from the first half of 2023. As the region moves on from its first full half year of travel since 2019, Gary and Hannah discuss the key issues and vital takeaways. Plus, we forecast some of the hot issues to watch in the second half of the year. Will we see a slowdown in intra-regional pent up travel demand? Will Chinese tourists stream into South East Asia in larger numbers? Can regional airports cope if they do? Will long-haul air fares stay as high as they are right now? How will depreciating currencies impact inbound and outbound travel? And should we finally cast off the shadow of the "return to 2029 levels" recovery benchmark?
Tuesday Jun 27, 2023
Tuesday Jun 27, 2023
What is a SuperApp, and why should the travel industry care about them? There are numerous reasons to care, as Gary and Hannah discuss this week with Jakarta-based Brett Henry, President & Director of MG Group. Brett guides us through a research-based definition of SuperApp characteristics, and explains the opportunities and challenges they provide for brands and travellers. En route, we discuss a bunch of SuperApps in ASEAN, including GoTo, Grab, WeChat, Meituan and Shopee. We also touch on AirAsia's SuperApp progress and ask "Is TikTok the next SuperApp in South East Asia?" (Spoiler alert: Absolutely). Plus, we discuss the hyper-localisation in each market to meet changing consumer needs, the region’s complex e-payments landscape and the economics of distributing travel through SuperApps. And, where do home-grown SuperApps go in future? Will they develop their own travel inventories and further monetise their tourism presence? And is there an accelerating urgency for travel sellers to become engaged participants in SupeApp platforms?
Tuesday Jun 20, 2023
Tuesday Jun 20, 2023
“Airports are making changes in their operation plans and strategies to adapt and inculcate the learnings of the last two years.” The airport sector continues to undergo a transformation as traffic flows recover, intelligent technology adoption accelerates and consumer expectations shift. This week, Gary and Hannah welcome KL-based Shantanu Gangakhedkar, Senior Consultant for Aerospace & Defence with Frost & Sullivan. Shantanu has authored a new White Paper entitled "Future of Airports and Growth Opportunities: Sustainability & Digitization". In a broad-ranging chat, we discuss the air travel recovery in South East Asia and Asia Pacific in the first half of 2023, and the outlook for the rest of the year. We go behind the scenes at the region's airports to discuss the developing trends in F&B (including in-airport food deliveries), duty free retail, biometric applications and baggage handling technology. Shantanu also covers the steps airport operators are taking to achieve net-zero targets. Plus, we assess the outlook for smaller and regional airports in this unfolding new era in travel.
Monday Jun 12, 2023
Monday Jun 12, 2023
"Indonesia's domestic market is underpinning the growth of tourism." This is little surprise. The world's fourth-largest population is expected to generate 1.4 billion domestic trips in 2023. In addition, a "demographic dividend," whereby a youthful population is driving economic growth will support expansion of tourism and hospitality through the 2020s. This week, Gary and Hannah assess the travel outlook in South East Asia's largest country with Jakarta-based Ross Woods, an experienced hotel investment and strategy consultant. Ross discusses the recovery of different hotel segments over the past 12 months across the Indonesian archipelago, and the hotel development pipeline. We also look at the international air travel sector, which remains dominated by Jakarta and Bali, and the prospects for inbound and outbound flight growth in regional airports. Plus, we look at the current status of the Five Priority Destinations project to develop different regions of the country for tourism and reduce the visitor economy's reliance on Bali. And we look at the short-term rentals sector. Is there any chance Bali could replicate the decision of Penang in Malaysia to ban STRs in residential buildings?
Tuesday Jun 06, 2023
Tuesday Jun 06, 2023
Chinese tourists are returning to South East Asia in greater numbers. The recent May Labor Day holiday brought more passenger flights and travellers from cities across China into the region. But how will innovations in mobile payment technology over the last three years influence how Chinese and global travelers pay for products and services while overseas? And how should travel providers, retailers and merchants prepare for this new era? This week, Gary welcomes Dr Cherry Huang, General Manager of Alipay+ Offline Merchant Services, Ant Group, to discuss the Chinese travel recovery so far and emerging spending patterns. We discuss how Alipay enables Chinese travellers to book hotel rooms and flight tickets, buy meals at Singapore hawker centres, make purchases at Bangkok night markets and treat themselves to tailor-made perfumes at duty-free stores. Dr Cherry also outlines the latest trends in Chinese outbound travel, and the outlook and hot destinations in Asia Pacific and worldwide for the rest of 2023. Plus, we discuss the new Alipay+ solution that enables Chinese and global travellers to use their own preferred digital wallet from home while travelling in different countries.
There are so many rich insights to pick out. if your destination or travel or lifestyle-oriented business wants to understand how Chinese travel is changing, you may want to listen to this podcast more than once.
Tuesday May 30, 2023
The Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in May 2023
Tuesday May 30, 2023
Tuesday May 30, 2023
May has been another hectic month as the travel recovery in South East Asia gathers momentum. It kicked off with China's May Golden Week, which delivered a huge domestic tourism boost, while Chinese outbound holidaymakers travelled around the region in greater numbers. This could presage an uplift in Chinese outbound tourism widely anticipated in the second half of 2023. This week, Gary and Hannah discuss the Golden Week among a list of 10 key talking points from across South East Asia and beyond. We journey from Augmented Reality experiences to Sustainable Aviation Fuel announcements and from tourism taxes to record airline profits. En route, we also examine how Japan is promoting outbound tourism to South East Asian markets, and the long-discussed liberalisation of Vietnam's entry visa policy. Plus, are the prospects dimming for "Cannabis Tourism" in Thailand? And which city in Malaysia is developing a waterfront project touted as "The New Milan"?
Friday May 19, 2023
Bali’s Tourism Bounce-back Builds Momentum, with the Bali Hotels Association
Friday May 19, 2023
Friday May 19, 2023
"Barring another pandemic, there would be very little to derail [Bali's] outlook for the next 12 months." Tourism in Bali bounced back impressively in the second half of 2022, and 2023 is seeing the recovery gather fast-paced momentum. This week, Gary chats all things travel and tourism in Bali with Simona Chimenti, Marketing & Media Relations Director of the Bali Hotels Association and General Manager of The Pavilions Bali in Sanur, and Melina Caruso, Technology & Marketing Consultant for the Bali Hotel’s Association. In a broad-ranging chat, we address Bali's top inbound markets, with India and Russia performing well and Chinese tourists starting to return, and the importance of Indonesia's huge domestic market. We address increasing air connectivity, strengthening hotel metrics and shorter booking windows. And, we talk air connectivity and look ahead to Emirates launching its A380 service to/from Dubai in early June. Plus, as media worldwide continue to focus on negative aspects - such as disrespectful tourist behaviour and proposed response measures like a Tourism Tax and Tourist Quota - Simona and Melina provide thoughtful insider perspectives from Bali's hotel industry.
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Travel Takes off in Indonesia, with Pauline Suharno, ASTINDO
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Monday Apr 17, 2023
"Indonesians seem like they want to travel everywhere, as long as there are flights. If the flight ticket to a longer haul destination is too expensive, they just switch destination." Indonesia is the biggest country with the biggest population and biggest travel market in South East Asia - and travel activity is booming. So this week, Gary welcomes Pauline Suharno, Director of Jakarta-based Elok Tours and President of ASTINDO, the Indonesian Travel Agents Association, to discuss developments in travel and tourism to, from and across Indonesia. Good timing, too, as the nation prepares for an extended Lebaran (Eid) holiday with domestic and outbound flights fully booked. Where are the hot destinations for Indonesian travellers? We discuss the impact of high air fares on destination choice, and on inbound tourism to popular spots like Bali. Plus we get the latest lowdown on Indonesia's 5 Super Priority Destinations, and a last-minute price increase for tourists at a popular national park in Labuan Bajo. Finally, with President Joko Widodo encouraging Indonesians to explore more of their own country, Pauline explains the large volume forecast for domestic travellers over the upcoming holidays.
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