Swifties and ‘set jetting’: Southeast Asia’s tourism bounce-back plan
>> I THINK THAT’S WORTH GUIDE AUGUST DRAMA I MEAN, IT’S ALL ABOUT CULINARY JOURNEYS TONIGHT ON CNN >> WHAT’S ON YOUR TRAVEL CHECKLIST FOR 2024 >> WELL, THE >> UN SAYS THIS HERE. INTERNATIONAL TOURS AND WILL RETURN TO PRE-PANDEMIC
STRENGTH. BUT SOUTHEAST ASIA, ONE OF THE LAST REGIONS TO REOPEN HAS BEEN SLOWER TO RECOVER WITH 30% FEWER TOURISTS LAST YEAR THAN 2019. THAT’S ACCORDING TO UN TOURISM DATA IN THIS MONTH SHOW, I TRAVELED TO THE ASEAN TOURISM FORMED TO FIND OUT HOW COUNTRIES HERE IN
SOUTHEAST ASIA PLAN TO BOUNCE BACK THROUGH IT AGAIN PLUS, WE HAD TO THE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW IN LAS VEGAS TO SEE THE LATEST EVA OFFERINGS FROM THE ASIAN MARKET I’M KRISTIE LU STOUT IN LAOS, WHERE THE OZIAN TOWARDS INFORMED MARKETPLACE ASIA
>> I’VE >> BEEN ANTICIPATING TODAY’S TRAVEL PLANS WITH SOME INJURY I’M ABOUT TO TAKE CNN’S FIRST RIDE ON A CHINESE BUILT HIGH-SPEED TRAIN. NOT IN CHINA, BUT IN LAOS, IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. THE REAL PART OF CHINA’S BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE HAS NOT
ONLY TRANSFORM TRAVEL HERE BUT IT COULD HERALD A NEW ERA OF CONNECTIVITY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA IT IS MORNING HERE AT THE VENTE AND TRAIN STATION AND WE’VE BEEN WATCHING CROWDS OF TRAVELERS COMES BREW FAMILIES, STUDENT GROUPS, EVEN THE ODD STRAY DOG, AND THEY’RE ALL
DWARFED BY THIS HUGE IMPOSING ARCHITECTURE, WHICH IS SOMETHING AKIN TO A TRAIN STATION FIND INSIDE CHINA. IN FACT, ALL THE SIGNAGE HERE IS IN LOUD ENGLISH AND CHINESE OPEN IN 2021. THE REAL COST CLOSE $6 OVER A THIRD OF LOSSES
GDP IN 2022, FORMERLY TEN HOUR JOURNEYS BY BUMPY BUS CAN NOW BE DONE INTO TALK AGAIN, HALF AN HOUR THE ROOT RUNS FROM LAOS CONNECTING TO KUNMING IN CHINA. AND AS PART OF A WIDER PAN-ASIAN NETWORK THAT WHEN IT’S BUILD IS SET TO RUN
THROUGH VIETNAM, THAILAND, MYANMAR, AND MALAYSIA DOWN TO SINGAPORE WHILE CHINESE INVESTMENTS SEEMS ABUNDANT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, CHINESE TOURISTS HAVE NOT HOPES WERE HIGH THAT CHINESE TRAVELERS WOULD RETURN TO SOUTHEAST ASIA AFTER CHINA REOPENED ITS BORDERS. BUT BY Q3, THERE WERE
STILL THING IF FEWER CHINESE TRAVELERS THAN IN 2019. THAT’S ACCORDING TO S&P GLOBAL AT THE ASEAN TOURISM FORUM, I SAT DOWN WITH THE CEO OF ONLINE THANK TRAVEL AGENCY AGODA, OMRI MORGENSTERN, WHO SAYS INDIAN AND SOUTH KOREAN WANDERLUST IS FILLING THE CHINESE TRAVELER
GAP. >> IS THAT INDIA, STEPPED INTO THE TOP FIVE ORIGINS FOR ASIAN. AND I THINK THAT TREND WILL CONTINUE AND I THINK KOREA IS ONE OF THOSE COUNTRIES THEY SURPRISING BECAUSE SMALLER BUT REALLY TOP FIRST OF SO MANY COUNTRIES LIKE TOP ONE LIKE
VIETNAM INDONESIA, PHILIPPINES PHILIPPINES, EXACTLY. SO AMAZING. THERE’SOMETHING MAGICAL HAPPENING. THERE. KOREAN LOVE TO TRAVEL. AND I THINK YOU’LL SEE THAT TREND CONTINUING. >> I ASKED THE PHILIPPINES DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM SECRETARY CRISTINA GARCIA FRAASS, GO TO ELABORATE ON THIS NEW TREND.
LAST YEAR, OVER 5 MILLION INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS VISITED THE PHILIPPINES AND THE BIGGEST SOURCE COUNTRY OF THOSE INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS IS SOUTH KOREA, CORRECT? >> SOUTH KOREANS LOVE THE >> PHILIPPINES, THEY LOVE, OUR DIVING THEY LOVE OUR CULTURAL IMMERSIONS, AS WELL AS OUR
ENGLISH. AS A SECOND LANGUAGE PROGRAM. THE PHILIPPINES IS ONE OF THE MOST PREFERRED DESTINATIONS FOR ESL IN THE COUNTRY. THEY’RE GOING TO THE PHILIPPINES TO LEARN ENGLISH? YES. AND NOT ONLY THAT BAG WEEKEND TRIPS THE GOAL, VISIT OUR WHALE SHARKS OR SWIM WITH
ARE SARDINES OR PLAY GOLF. AS THEY LEARN ENGLISH. >> ACCORDING TO YOU AND TOURISM DATA, THAILAND. SO SOME OF THE BIGGEST GROWTH IN TOURIST ARRIVALS GLOBALLY. I SAT DOWN WITH THAILAND’S MINISTER OF SPORTS AND TOURISM SUDO. ONE WANTS TO BOOKIE COX-1 TO
DISCUSS PLANS FOR THE FUTURE. EIGHT NEW AIRLINES ARE LAUNCHING IN THAILAND THIS YEAR IS BANK CAUGHT, TURNING INTO A MAJOR TRAVEL HUB >> SEIZING LOGO? YEAH, I TOWN, WE’D LIKE BANGKOK OR THAILAND TO BE HUBS OF EVERYTHING, NOT JUST AVIATION, BUT A TOURISM
HARB FESTIVAL AND EVENT HUB. >> EVENT AND MUSIC-BASED TOURS. IT WILL BE BIG THIS YEAR ACCORDING TO TRIP.COM AND A GOAT IS 2024. TREND REPORTS PLATE TAYLOR SWIFT BRO YOUR SYSTEMS, USUALLY THE WAY WE KNOW THAT THERE IS THEN IN
EVENT IN SINGAPORE IS WE JUST SEE WITHIN MINUTES, SINGAPORE IS GETTING BLOCKED WITHIN LIKE TWO MINUTES. THE ONLY QUESTION IS WHETHER IT’S CALLED PLAY OR TAYLOR SWIFT, BUT YOU’RE SEEING EVENT-BASED TOURISM WORKS? YES. BRINGS IN THE PUNTERS FOR SINGAPORE? ABSOLUTELY. I THINK
THAT’S PART OF THE THING THAT ARE TRYING TO DO AGAIN, OBVIOUSLY WITH FORMULA ONE THAT DOESN’T MEAN ALL THE TIME TREND REPORTS HAVE ALSO PREDICTED THE RISE OF NOT JET-SETTING, BUT SET JEDI, AKA TV AND FILM INSPIRED TOURISM. >> MY WORK OR GABRIELLE HARRIS
>> EXPEDIA GROUP SAYS, IT’S SAW 200% INCREASE IN SEARCHES TO PARIS AFTER EMILY IN PARIS DEBUTED ITS PREVIOUS SEASON, ABOUT HOW THEY’RE HAPPY HERE. >> WE’RE ON OUR HONEYMOON. >> WELL, THE WHITE LOTUS, WHICH IS ON HBO MAX, OWNED BY THE SAME PARENT COMPANY AS CNN,
DROVE A 300% INCREASE IN TRAVEL DEMAND TO HAWAII AND SICILY. AND WE SAW THE PHOTOGRAPH ON INSTAGRAM OF THE LEADER OF THAILAND MEETING WITH EXECUTIVES FROM HBO. >> OF COURSE THE WHITE MODUS IS THE HIT HBO SERIES SEASON THREE IS FILMING IN THAILAND. ARE YOU
EXPECTING A BIG TOURISM BOOST >> NAN ALL THEY HAVE WHAT FEN-PHEN? >> YES, CERTAINLY THE NUMBER OF WHITE LOTUS FANS IS HUGE AND MANY FANS WILL WANT TO FOLLOW WHERE IT’S BEING FILMED FILM IS ONE OF OUR SOFT POWERS THAT
WERE PUSHING OFF FAR. WE WELCOME EVERY COUNTRY TO
Southeast Asia has been one of the world’s slowest regions to bounce back to pre-pandemic tourism numbers. CNN’s Kristie Lu Stout travels to Laos to find out why Taylor Swift concerts, Indian and South Korean wanderlust, and HBO’s third season of “The White Lotus” could help give the region a boost.