The South East Asia Travel Show

The Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in July 2023

July, the seventh month of 2023, proved another busy period along South East Asia’s road to a travel and tourism recovery. This week, Hannah and Gary chat through the Top 8 travel talking points in July. The journey unwinds from Thailand to Singapore, Bali to Kuala Lumpur, Japan to Cambodia and China to Saudi Arabia. We discuss the half-year arrivals in each country, the Top 10 airlines in the region and the three nations comprising almost two-thirds of South East Asia's total airline capacity. We look at the variance on the new Henley Passport Index, which revealed a large spectrum from Singapore (ranked #1 worldwide) and Myanmar (#90). Plus, what's the travel outlook for China's October Golden Week? Should all countries develop a 'Saudi Arabia Strategy' for inbound and outbound travel? And what factors are shaping Thailand's 'Tourism Deficit' with Japan?

Reflecting on 3 Years of Tourism Recovery in Maldives, with Thoyyib Mohamed, Visit Maldives

"We are hitting milestone after milestone at the moment." It's exactly three years since Maldives became one of the first countries in Asia Pacific to reopen for tourism during the pandemic. This week, Gary and Hannah welcome Thoyyib Mohamed, Managing Director of Visit Maldives, to discuss the challenges of the reopening process, and a successful three years since. In 2020, Maldives enticed a creditable 555,000 visitors to its resorts and beaches despite widespread global disruption. This year, the Indian Ocean archipelago nation is on target for a record 1.9 million visitors. We discuss the key inbound markets and shifts in visitor expectations and booking trends since 2020. Growth also brings new challenges. Thoyyib talks us through the new 5th Tourism Master Plan, which tackles diverse issues, ranging from climate impact to energy security, food waste and community development. He also explains the sustainable initiatives underway in one of the lowest lying nations on earth, and the need for global action on climate and ocean pollution. Plus, we chat about one of the lesser known aspects of travel to the Maldives: guest house tourism.

The Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in the First Half of 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?

SuperApps Scale Up to Sell More South East Asian Travel, with Brett Henry, MG Group

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?

The Shifting Outlook for Airports in South East Asia, with Shantanu Gangakhedkar, Frost & Sullivan

“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.

The Key Factors Driving Tourism & Hospitality Expansion in Indonesia, with Ross Woods

"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?

A New Era of Chinese & Global Travel Payments, with Dr Cherry Huang, Alipay+, Ant Group

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.

The Top 10 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in South East Asia in May 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"?