Who, Where & What is Asia Travel Re:Set?

Hello, I’m Gary Bowerman – and I’m writing this intro from a small cafe in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Welcome to Asia Travel Re:Set – a new resource for travel professionals, researchers and students. Twice weekly, I will chart developments in Asia’s fast-changing travel sector as it enters an uncertain era.

I’ve lived in ‘KL’ since 2010. This includes a one-year sojourn in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Georgetown, Penang. Before that, I lived in Shanghai, China, for 6 years.

Born in the UK, travel was forged in my DNA as my mum was a travel agent. During college, I backpacked around Europe. Once I graduated, I headed to Australia and New Zealand. Then Central and South America.

Upon returning to London, I forged a career as a travel guide researcher, then a journalist, writer, columnist and editor. That way, the travels could continue.

I began the millennium working in London, and spent a short stint with the American Society of Travel Agents in the US. Since 2004, I’ve lived and worked in Asia.

For almost two decades, I’ve navigated the corporate travel arena.

My roles have ranged from copywriting, content management and PR to strategic marketing, business development and trends consulting. Fortunately, most of these jobs enabled me to keep travelling and writing.

While living in Shanghai, I co-founded a travel marketing and intelligence firm, Check-in Asia. We now have bases in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur.

As a travel and consumer trends analyst, my clients include hotel brands, aviation groups, multinational firms, investment banks, research houses, conference companies, PR and ad agencies.

In 2014, I wrote a book, The New Chinese Traveler, documenting the development of China’s travel and tourism sector. Frequently I am invited by newspapers, online publications and TV news channels to discuss Asian travel developments.

I also co-host a podcast, The South East Asia Travel Show. We launched 
in January 2020 on the premise that South East Asia was the world’s most dynamic 
travel region. It actually was. In 2019, South East Asia witnessed 7.9% visitor arrival growth, according to the UNWTO. That’s pretty impressive. Then came COVID-19.

“Normally,” I travel frequently. But not now. My last cross-border trip was  to Singapore for a Travel & Covid-19 seminar in late-February. Luckily, I can still fly around Malaysia, which is beautiful.

I’ve been planning to write Asia Travel Re:Set for several months. Before the pandemic, actually.

After too many prevarications, now seems the right time to start the journey…

Please feel free to come along!