This week, Thailand confirmed it IS targeting 40 million arrivals in 2024. Achieving this goal would set an annual record for Thailand and - crucially - surpass the 39.9 million visitors in 2019. It would be a stellar achievement. So, it's the perfect time to assess the year so far in Thai tourism - and look ahead - with Bangkok-based travel journalist Vincent Vichit-Vadakan. We discuss Thailand's visa liberalisation measures in recent months, and its highly anticipated Soft Power Conference later in June - which will present a diverse vision of Thailand's future, including tourism, culture, arts, cuisine, music, fashion and festivals among its 11 soft power pillars. Plus, we chat about new hotel and resort developments, the influence of TV series and movies filmed across Thailand and last-minute flight prices. And, we look ahead to the Marriage Equality Bill being enshrined into law and its potential impact on tourism. Travelling beyond Thailand, we delve into EV tours in Laos, multigenerational travel from India and a major upcoming tourism development in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo.

"The narrative is changing. We're not talking about the pace of hotel rate growth anymore." Stability and volatility may sound contradictory, but both terms help to explain hotel performance in South East Asian markets and China so far in 2024. To delve deeper into the evolving travel, tourism and geo-economic factors influencing the hotel industry, Gary and Hannah welcome Jesper Palmqvist, Senior Director, Asia Pacific, at STR CoStar, back to the show. In a broad-ranging interview, Jesper discusses consumer spending, hotel pipelines, differentiated luxury segments, booking windows, public holidays, weather patterns and the return of seasonality throughout the region. We also address intra-ASEAN flight connectivity and the interlocking travel factors in North East Asia, and their impacts in ASEAN markets. Plus, we dive into the developing post-pandemic trends in Singapore - which is a regional benchmark travel and hospitality market - and the objectives and potential outcomes of its Vision 2040 strategy.

"From Battambang to Taking the Stage in New York, Sydney & Montreal" to "Say versus Do in Sustainable Tourism" and "Backwards Steps in Domestic Tourism in ASEAN". Welcome to the third edition of our monthly mini-round-up of the key moments from recent podcast discussions and interviews.

During May, Craig Dodge, Senior Director of Sales & Marketing at Phare, discusses the compelling journey of Cambodia's arts circus from a wartime refugee camp in Battambang to a theatre stage tour taking in New York, Sydney & Montreal. Plus, we discuss the backwards steps in incentivising and promoting domestic tourism in South East Asia since the pandemic, and Thailand's latest visa entry gambit.

Plus, in which ASEAN country are 34% of travellers becoming "tired of hearing about climate change all the time"? Is the Say-Do gap in sustainable tourism shifting emphasis?

We’re steaming through 2024, with 5 months already completed, and attracting tourists is becoming intensely competitive. This week, Gary and Hannah review South East Asia's top 8 travel and tourism stories during May. This month's round-up takes us to Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines, China and India. En route we discuss "sudden, extreme turbulence" on a Singapore Airlines flight, Vietnam surpasses 2019 visitor arrivals so far in 2024, a pending takeover of Malaysia Airports and a raft of new visa entry categories rolled out in Thailand. Plus, which countries are chasing pole position to host a new F1 Grand Prix in the region? And which two ASEAN attractions were listed among the world's top 100 "most boring" tourism sites?

With a 5.0 TripAdvisor rating, Phare, the Cambodian Circus based in Siem Reap, must be doing something right.

We speak to Craig Dodge, their Senior Director of Sales and Marketing, about the journey this social enterprise has taken from humble beginnings in Battambang to shows in New York City. Along the way, we talk Cambodia's tourism recovery and the pull between positioning it as a mono destination vs part of a multi-country Southeast Asian itinerary.

Lastly, we finish off with why Craig is such an advocate for Cambodian attractions and tour operators to get online.

As we speed towards the mid-point of 2024, it's time to revisit our annual top 10 list of travel wishes and expectations, which we created in January. How have our predictions measured up so far this year? En route, we assess whether travel visa waivers have become a competitive battleground in South East Asia, and look at evolving patterns in the Public Holiday vs Weekend vs Weekday travel economies. Plus, are we seeing any progress to bridge the Say-Do gap in sustainable travel activity, and is there any evidence to support the AI hype in travel supply and demand? And we track the timeline of Thailand's institutional journey to become the region's first nation to legalise same-sex weddings. When could this become enshrined in law, and how might it influence new travel trends?

From "Everyone wants to go to Japan" to "Thailand's on the verge of over-tourism" to "Three towers with a surf board on top". Welcome to our new monthly mini-roundup of the key moments from recent podcast discussions and interviews. During April, Philip See, Group Chief Sustainability Officer & CEO of Loyalty and Travel Solutions of the Malaysia Aviation Group, discusses the sustainable aviation challenges and opportunities in South East Asia. Plus, we head to Japan to break down the astonishing surge of inbound travel from South East Asia to one of Asia Pacific's hottest destinations. We tackle the re-emergence (or otherwise) of Thailand's THB300 tourism tax, and Hannah consults Google Maps to locate the under-development fourth tower of Singapore's iconic Marina Bay Sands resort. All this and much more in our April rewind.

“Whatever happened to ‘Quality Tourism’?” As we complete one-third of 2024, what were the top 8 travel talking points in April? Gary and Hannah journey across the region, with stops in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, China and Dubai. We analyse the increase in Chinese arrivals to ASEAN & Asia Pacific in Q1, and preview the May Labour Day holiday. We review travel volumes during the Songkran, Eid/Lebaran and Khmer New Year travel periods. Plus, a Thai tourism leader calls for a new visitor levy to battle over-tourism in primary destinations, while Malaysian budget hoteliers raise their rates. We assess the regional aviation impact of Dubai’s catastrophic flooding and the eruption of Mt Ruang in Indonesia. Plus, Bali raises a Dengue Fever alert and Singapore hits 95% of its pre-pandemic monthly arrivals in March - partly thanks to a certain tortured pop poet.