The South East Asia Travel Show

Rethinking Indonesia's Under-achieving Inbound Tourism Sector, with Nur Wulan T

“Indonesia has the potential to lead in eco-tourism, in cultural heritage and in Muslim-friendly tourism... but it tries to promote everything all at once, which dilutes the message.” Beautiful, vast and complex, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago nation, and home to the planet’s fourth-largest population. But tourism is heavily concentrated in Bali, which recorded 45% of inbound arrivals to Indonesia in 2024. Meanwhile, Indonesia lags behind Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam for visitor arrivals, attracting 13.1 million visitors in 2024, while generating more than 1 billion domestic trips. So why does it underperform for inbound tourism? This week, Gary is joined by Bali-based travel executive Nur Wulan T, who has worked for leading travel-tech players and airlines, including Garuda, Traveloka, Tiket.com and STAAH, and is a speaker on tourism and hospitality topics. We discuss the diverse impacts of Indonesia’s infrastructure deficit and high domestic airfares. Plus, we asses the mixed progress of the 5 Super Priority Destinations - Lake Toba, Borobudur, Labuan Bajo, Mandalika and Likupang - and Bali's long-touted second airport. Wulan also explains the untapped potential of Sumba and Papua, the lessons to be learned from other Asian countries that are pushing creative boundaries in Muslim tourism, and areas for improvement in destination marketing.

Vietnam's Golden Year Continues, THAI Back on the Bourse, India & Philippines Agree "Free-Visas" & Happy 60th Birthday Singapore: This Week in Review

Vietnam's inbound tourism boom in 2025 continues. Malaysia targets tourism to reach 16% of GDP. India and the Philippines talk "free visas". THAI Airways confirms its post-Covid comeback by returning to the stock market. Boracay "streamlines" its various entry fees" And Singapore celebrate its 60th birthday since independence. It’s been a pretty hectic news week across South East Asia. Join Gary and Hannah as they travel through ASEAN to discuss the top travel and tourism talking points of the past seven days. 

War, Tariffs, GDP Revisions & Slowing Visitor Arrivals: July 2025 in Review

July was a challenging month for travel and tourism in South East Asia. A military conflict between Thailand and Cambodia shook the region. New 'reciprocal' US tariff rates will challenge bottom lines and business travel budgets for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, mixed results continue for visitor arrivals, consumer spending and travel sentiment. This month's Top 10 Travel Talking Points round-up takes Gary and Hannah from Malaysia to Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and, inevitably given the global geo-economic situation, Washington DC. En route we discuss the potential implications of the Thailand-Cambodia War, the new US tariff rates and the Asian Development Bank's gloomy GDP forecasts for the region. Plus, we assess the latest visitor arrivals statistics - and Malaysia's controversial new accounting method - look at Singapore's tourism partnership with OpenAI, Hotel 101's lacklustre IPO in New York, and further delays for Thailand's casino resort legislation and tourism tax  And, we finish on a positive note with the newly inscribed UNESCO World Heritage Sites across South East Asia.

Deconstructing Thailand's Tourism Landscape in a Turbulent Year for South East Asia, with Bill Barnett, C9 Hotelworks

"We're seeing a return to seasonality. Before the pandemic, when we had mass tourism, the low seasons were being filled out by China and other markets. But there are also global issues at play as well." It's been a turbulent year for Thailand, with slow economic growth, political stasis, an unresolved US tariff rate and a military conflict with Cambodia. Meanwhile, mountains of media stories dissect what Thai tourism is/isn’t doing to arrest slowing visitor arrivals. So what's the real story beneath the headlines and top-line statistics? This week, Gary and Hannah are joined by Phuket-based Bill Barnett, Managing Director of C9 Hotelworks and a renowned hospitality and real estate advisor and tourism expert to deconstruct Thailand's shifting travel landscape. We discuss the untapped potential of Thailand's unique geographies, the need for masterplanned investment in travel infrastructure and tourism services, and the quest to "get beyond the beach and shopping malls". Plus, is frequent re-forecasting of Chinese arrivals creating unnecessary negativity? How are an economic slowdown and high debt levels reshaping domestic tourism behaviours? How can Thailand leverage its strengths in wellness tourism ("everyone is trying to reinvent the spa")? Is hotel profitability set to slow, and what will be the impacts of new supply pipelines and "a price-driven recovery"? Looking forward, Bill discusses how his company supports the training of a next generation of hospitality leaders and the empowering of more women to succeed in tourism leadership roles. 
 

South East Asia's New Low-Cost Carrier Landscape: What's Next for Budget Air Travel?, with Shantanu Gangakhedkar, Frost & Sullivan

“You will see LCC fleet sizes increasing, and you’ll see them operating longer routes into East Asia, Central Asia and even into Eastern and Western Europe." More than 50% of available flight seats on any given day in South East Asia are provided by low-cost carriers (LCCs). Budget airlines have played a vital role in rebuilding regional air travel and tourism in ASEAN and Asia Pacific since the prolonged Covid border closures. Now, with ASEAN into its fourth year since reopening, LCCs are being emboldened to expand their route networks and stretch the geographic reach for passengers - with the help of advancements in aircraft technology and AI tools to improve operational efficiencies. This week, Gary is joined by Kuala Lumpur-based Shantanu Gangakedkhar, Senior Consultant, Aerospace & Defense, at Frost & Sullivan, to assess the outlook for low-cost air travel in South East Asia, North East Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and beyond. En route, we discuss a range of pertinent issues from pricing and fierce market competition to air traffic management and the LCC market potential of South East Asia's tier-2 and tier 3 cities. Plus, we address the exit of Jetstar Asia from Singapore, ongoing aircraft supply chain challenges, and the current and potential impacts for the airline industry of US tariffs.

Rethinking Digital Nomadism & The Future of Borderless Travel, with Milos Pelucha, Destinova

What is the future of Digital Nomadism, Remote Work and Work from Anywhere? And should ASEAN destinations do more than issue Digital Nomad Visas to integrate remote workers into tourism economies? And who, actually, are digital nomads. Are they remote workers? Are they laptop backpackers? Is digital nomadism a lifestyle? Is it a tourism segment? What is borderless living? What are Micro-Societies? Why is global mobility developing as a hot topic? Are co-working and co-living compatible concepts for destination marketing? This week, Gary is joined by Milos Pelucha, Co-Founder of Destinova, and an advocate for remote work as a high-yield travel segment. Milos and Gary's conversation coincides with the climax of the 2025 Bansko Nomad Festival - the world's largest digital nomad gathering - in Bulgaria. We take a global journey through the critical issues of the remote working economy and the future of "borderless" tourism, from Armenia to China, Azores to Bhutan, Thailand to the French Alps, Morocco to Georgia and Vietnam to India. En route we breakdown the key components for destination marketers seeking to engage the fast-evolving 'work from anywhere' movement - which is becoming more organised and more dynamic.

South East Asia's Top 10 Talking Points of 2025 So Far: Travel & Tourism in a New Era of Global Uncertainty

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).

Is an ASEAN Tourism Visa South East Asia's Most Pressing Travel Concern?

"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