Asian Trails Update | Q1 2025

Happy New Year from Asian Trails!

After the more widely accepted Gregorian New Year and then Lunar New Year, April is the month when many of our South-East Asian destinations celebrate. Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos all enjoy similar water festivals and share traditional customs.

The start of (Gregorian) year has been fruitful so far, and we have made good progress in many areas. In January, we announced a change in management, with Marc Albert switching role from MD of our Thailand office to establish a new eCommerce department. Meanwhile, former Assistant MD Delphine Guillon stepped into fill Marc’s shoes taking on the opportunity to lead Asian Trails Thailand as the first female Managing Director. Read more about this key change here.

In other managerial changes, as of the beginning of April, Justin Culkin was promoted to General Manager of Asian Trails China & Hong Kong in recognition of his consistently exceptional leadership and commitment to excellence.

Throughout Q1, our sales teams and representative offices across the globe have been typically busy, attending various tradeshows such as FITUR (alongside our sister brands Sita and Desert Adventures) and OTM where many of Asian Trails’ India market managers descended on Mumbai in January.

In February, Thailand’s talented MICE Manager Suriwipa ‘Gift’ Dalliston was in attendance at AIME in Melbourne, Australia, while many of our Managing Directors were on show at ITB Berlin, where we met with old friends and partners while discussing new opportunities in the markets.

In Q1 we added Explore Borneo to our brochure range, while also releasing our Sustainability Report on 2024. We also took time to sit down with Sustainability Manager Emi to discuss how Asian Trails initiatives elevate our commitment to responsible tourism.

In local news, many of our destinations have adjusted travel policies. Here’s a summary list of some of the significant updates:

Meanwhile, several airlines in Asia also announced changes:

Of course, it would be remiss not to mention the saddening impact of the earthquake in Myanmar on 28 March. Thankfully, our team in Myanmar were soon confirmed safe and well, and we had no guests on the ground during the incident, but our thoughts and best wishes are still with those affected. As you may have seen in many viral news reports, Bangkok also experienced the considerable force of the quake. Again I’m thankful that our teams and travellers under our care were all fine, and Thailand was back to normal very soon.

If you’d like to stay informed on Asian Trails updates, our various social media channels will reveal the very latest travel news and events across South-East Asia and China:

Laurent Kuenzle
Chief Executive Officer, Asian Trails

 

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