June 23, 2026
South Asia emerging as a tourism destination
A successful podcast is looking at the whole region South Asia, which still has to do a lot of catch-up in international tourism.
“Travel Dialogues South Asia” is a new weekly podcast series exploring tourism trends, sustainability, policy, and innovation across South Asia, as the region seeks stronger positioning in global travel.
South Asia is home to a quarter of the global population, however, its share as a destination for international trips reached only 2% with 36 million arrivals in 2025. It was the only region in Asia which actually saw a decrease in arrivals in 2025 compared to 2024.
There is no lack of reasons to visit South Asia in terms of natural and manmade attractions. However, for many years, tourism development has been hindered by political frictions and a lack of innovation and adequate storytelling by the tourism industry.
With the rising demand for transformative travel, going beyond recreation, sightseeing, and the creation of memories, South Asia has new opportunities to offer answers to the quest for wellbeing and happiness especially for inner-Asian travellers.
To start a new regional discourse about the best ways to leverage the opportunities of changing demand and new technological instruments, but also to master the challenges of climate change and a lack of regional cooperation, Meaningful Tourism Centre (UK and Nepal) has joined forces with TravelDailyNews Asia-Pacific and the TV production company Tanneri Chaso (Nepal) and started a new series of podcasts to support the rise of a new era of tourism in South Asia, called Travel Dialogues South Asia. The region covered by the podcast includes from West to East: Pakistan, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Travel Dialogues South Asia podcasts are published every Wednesday on https://www.traveldailynews.asia/.
The first editions presented experts from the region, but also a look from China about the potential of South Asia for Chinese visitors. One of the coming editions will discuss the situation of Halal tourism in South Asia from a Southeast Asian point of view.
Prof Dr Wolfgang Georg Arlt FRGS FRAS, Executive Director of the Meaningful Tourism Centre and Editor of the podcast: “By thinking of South Asia as a distinct tourism destination, as is common for instance for neighbouring Southeast Asia, new interest can be generated and the many cross-border connections in history and culture underlined. We are happy to see that the first six podcasts attracted more than 100,000 views.”
Contact: info@meaningfultourismcentre.org