🎙️ Opening
🌏 What if Southeast Asia isn’t just becoming a popular destination...
✈️ but the first stop for a whole new generation of travelers?
🇮🇳 Especially travelers from India.
📈 The number of Indian travelers coming to Southeast Asia has been growing by around 30 percent year-on-year.
🎒 But there’s another trend changing the way people experience Southeast Asia:
Solo travel.
🤝 And for solo travelers, the biggest question isn’t always...
“Where should I go?”
It’s...
🔐 “Can I trust this place?”
🎙️ Hello, and welcome to The Southeast Asia Desk Weekly Dispatch Podcast.
I’m Rheza Ardiansyah.
🧭 This is where we slow down the headlines and make sense of the stories shaping Southeast Asia.
🎒 Today, we’re exploring why Southeast Asia is becoming a new playground for solo travelers. Joining me from New Delhi, India, is the Head of Growth at Zostel, Prajit Mittal—this interview transcript was generated by AI.
🌏 What are the recent travel trends in Southeast Asia?
🎙️ Rheza:
Prajit, can you tell us about the recent global travel trends in Southeast Asia?
💬 Prajit:
First of all, thank you for having me. It’s great to be here.
🌏 I do feel that there has been a huge shift in Southeast Asian travel trends in recent years.
🇮🇳 There is a growing demand from Southeast Asian destinations among Indian travelers. India has become a huge market.
📈 I’m seeing around a 30% year-on-year rise in the number of travelers from India coming to Southeast Asia, especially 🇹🇭 Thailand and 🇻🇳 Vietnam, followed by 🇮🇩 Indonesia, specifically Bali.
🇨🇳🇲🇾 Indians are increasingly replacing Chinese and Malaysian travelers, who were previously among the biggest traveler groups.
💰 One reason is simply that Indians now have more disposable income.
✈️ Air travel has also become faster and cheaper, with more flights available.
🛂 At the same time, travel friction has been reduced. There are fewer visa restrictions, and it’s much easier to get a visa for Indonesia. There are also no visa requirements for Indians traveling to Vietnam or Thailand.
🇮🇳 Why is Southeast Asia becoming a preferred destination for Indian travelers?
🎙️ Rheza:
Do you have any other analysis of how and why Southeast Asia could become a preferred choice for Indian travelers?
💬 Prajit:
🇪🇺 When you compare it with Europe, for example, you have to go through the entire visa process. It’s a whole headache altogether.
✈️ The flight hours to Europe or other destinations are also much longer and more difficult.
🌏 So Southeast Asia naturally becomes the first choice, especially for first-time travelers.
🎒 There is also a natural journey that travelers from India go through.
➡️ They may start with Southeast Asia.
➡️ Then, as they become more experienced, they travel to iconic destinations in Europe, North America, Australia, and elsewhere.
🔄 And as they become even more experienced travelers, they tend to come back to Southeast Asia looking for more experiential travel.
✨ The experiences available in Southeast Asia have become much richer.
🏝️ The region has also developed more luxury experiences, which are increasingly attractive to people with higher disposable incomes.
🎒 What was your first experience traveling to Southeast Asia?
🎙️ Rheza:
Speaking of first-time travelers, have you ever visited Southeast Asia before?
💬 Prajit:
Oh, I’ve been to Southeast Asia at least a couple of dozen times now.
🇹🇭 My favorite place is Thailand. That’s where my travel journey started.
🧑🎓 I was around 17, just about to turn 18, and I had some money saved from freelancing.
✈️ I really wanted to travel. I’d seen Thailand on YouTube and everywhere else, and I just wanted to experience it myself.
🤫 I didn’t tell anyone at home.
I just left for the airport.
💵 I found a super-cheap deal—around 100 dollars for a return flight to Bangkok.
📞 I called my family from the airport and told them I was going.
😅 Then I basically said, “Don’t scold me!”
🌏 It was a life-changing experience.
💡 I realized that the world was much bigger than what I’d seen before.
🏠 How did staying in a hostel change your perspective on travel?
💬 Prajit:
The first time I stayed in a hostel was actually quite scary.
😰 I didn’t know anything about hostels. I thought I would stay in a cheap hotel.
🏨 But then I stumbled upon a hostel in Phuket called Slumber Party.
💵 The dorm bed was around 100 baht, and I remember thinking:
🤔 “I have to share a room with strangers?”
🧳 “Will my bag be safe?”
😟 “What if something happens?”
There were so many unknowns.
✨ But once I got into it, the whole story changed.
🤝 I made a lot of friends, and I still talk to some of them more than 10 years later.
🍜 I had dinner with them on a street in Thailand that I would never have discovered on my own.
🌶️ I probably wouldn’t have tried Thai street food if it wasn’t for them.
🎉 I went on my first pub crawl.
🥾 I went hiking and trekking with people I’d never met before.
🐍 We even saw snakes together.
🌌 And there was another time when I was backpacking and the bus tire burst in the middle of the night in a desert.
🚌💥 We couldn’t do anything.
⭐ So I just looked up at the sky.
🌌 It became one of the best stargazing experiences of my life.
🏝️ Why did Zostel choose Phuket as its first Southeast Asian destination?
🎙️ Rheza:
Interestingly, several years after you first visited Phuket, Zostel launched Zostel Phuket.
Can you tell us more about what inspired Zostel Phuket?
💬 Prajit:
It really started with that first trip to Phuket about 10 years ago.
🏝️ A couple of years back, I was there again with my co-founder on a relaxing holiday.
🌊 We weren’t doing anything. We were just chilling on the beach and sitting at bars.
💡 And that’s when it hit us:
“This is where Zostel should be.”
🇮🇳 We had taught people in India how to travel.
🗺️ We’d helped people explore new destinations across India.
🌏 And we felt it was time to go outside India.
🇹🇭 Phuket felt like the natural place to begin our expansion journey in Southeast Asia.
📊 The data and business analysis came afterward.
❤️ The initial decision was simply:
“We enjoy this place. This is where we should be.”
Zostel already had a huge travel community—around 5 million travelers.
🎒 We felt that traveling outside India and seeking new experiences was the natural next step for that community.
🌏 Now we want to create new destinations in Thailand that aren’t as explored—and eventually expand beyond Thailand into other parts of Southeast Asia.
🎒 What makes solo travel so transformative?
🎙️ Rheza:
You’ve traveled to several countries in Southeast Asia. Let’s talk more about solo travel.
How can Southeast Asians—and travelers from beyond the region—enjoy solo travel in Southeast Asia?
💬 Prajit:
Solo travel totally changes your life.
🌱 It changes your perspective.
👀 It changes how you see things.
🧠 And ultimately, it changes you.
🤝 A lot of it comes down to trust.
You learn that you can trust people and that there doesn’t have to be fear around traveling alone.
🎒 If I had to describe solo travel in one sentence, I’d say it’s the cheapest personal transformation that money can buy.
🚌 You have to make small decisions by yourself.
🤔 Should I take this bus?
👤 Should I trust this person who’s approaching me?
🔄 What should I do if my plans suddenly change?
💳 Will they accept my money?
🍜 Will there be food I can eat?
You never know what will happen.
🧠 But over time, you become more instinctive.
🌊 You learn to go with the flow.
✨ It makes you more comfortable being yourself and helps you discover who you are.
There is also no single way to travel solo.
🧭 Everyone has their own story.
For me, solo travel means staying somewhere long enough to understand the place.
🏪 Even if I go to a local 7-Eleven, I want the cashier to know me.
🌏 That’s how I travel.
And even now, when I’m traveling for business, I try to take a few days off to travel alone, stay in hostels, and meet new people.
🤝 It’s an amazing experience.
🇸🇬 How can travelers experience Southeast Asia through solo travel?
🎙️ Rheza:
I can really relate to that.
🇸🇬 I had my own first solo trip to Singapore in 2014.
🤝 I met Malaysian travelers who were there to attend a concert by Taking Back Sunday—one of my favorite bands.
🎶 I changed my plans and watched the concert with them.
✨ It became an unforgettable experience.
🌌 So hopefully, other Southeast Asians and travelers from beyond the region can experience something similar—whether it’s meeting strangers, discovering local food, or even simply gazing at the stars.
💬 Prajit:
Exactly.
🌌 You never know what kind of experiences you can have when you travel slowly, travel solo, and allow yourself to take unplanned trips.
💡 How can Southeast Asian businesses fill the gaps in the travel industry?
🎙️ Rheza:
How could business founders in Southeast Asia help fill the gaps and improve the travel experience in the region?
💬 Prajit:
I think the biggest challenge solo travelers face—especially first-time travelers—is trust.
🔐 You don’t automatically know whether you can trust a new country, a new region, or people who don’t speak your language.
💡 I think there are many products that could be built to make travelers feel safe, comfortable, and confident.
🗺️ For example, when you arrive somewhere and don’t speak the local language, it can be difficult to navigate.
📍 What if you can’t find directions?
🚌 How do you get from the airport to your hostel?
📱 What happens if Google Maps isn’t available?
😰 These things can become scary.
That’s where businesses can help.
🏠 Hostels themselves are an example.
Zostel was created because we knew young people wanted to travel but didn’t have a lot of money.
💰 Hotels weren’t necessarily built for them.
🏠 So hostels provided an affordable way to travel while still creating opportunities for experiences and social connections.
🤝 You can stay in a room with strangers and still feel safe.
📱 It could be a hostel like Zostel.
🤖 It could be an AI-powered app that translates conversations and helps travelers communicate with locals.
💳 Another major issue is payments.
🌏 Across Southeast Asia, card acceptance can still be limited in some places, meaning travelers have to carry cash.
🏧 And withdrawing money from ATMs can come with additional fees.
🇮🇩 Where should Zostel expand in Indonesia?
💬 Prajit:
Actually, I have one question for you.
🇮🇩 If Zostel were to expand into Indonesia, where would you recommend?
🌴 Apart from the usual tourist destinations like Bali and Jakarta, where should we go to build new destinations and help people experience the real Indonesia?
🎙️ Rheza:
That’s a million-dollar question! 😄
🇮🇩 But I think Zostel could expand in Indonesia by exploring the country’s diversity through places like:
🏛️ Yogyakarta
🏞️ Bandung
Both are located on Java Island, separate from Bali, and offer travelers a different kind of experience.
🎎 They offer strong traditional cultures and more opportunities to experience Indonesia’s local character.
✨ Travelers could discover a sense of originality and authenticity that goes beyond the usual tourist destinations.
🌏 So, let’s see when Zostel will come to Indonesia!
🤝 Would Zostel consider working with local Indonesian partners?
💬 Prajit:
Hopefully, soon!
🤝 We love working with local partners who understand the vision.
🎙️ Rheza:
Thank you so much, Prajit.
🙏 It’s been a fruitful conversation.
I hope we can meet offline and continue the conversation sometime soon.
💬 Prajit:
Definitely.
It was great to meet you, Rheza.
Thank you so much for your time.
🎙️ The Wrap
🌏 So, the next time you think about traveling across Southeast Asia...
🏝️ Don’t just think about the destinations.
🎒 Think about the experiences that happen between the destinations.
🤝 The stranger who becomes a travel companion.
🍜 The local meal you would never have ordered on your own.
🌌 Or simply a night spent looking up at the stars...
✨ Because sometimes, the best travel experiences are the ones you never planned.
🎙️ I’m Rheza Ardiansyah, and this has been The Southeast Asia Desk Weekly Dispatch Podcast, where we slow down the noise and follow the region’s compass. 🧭🌏
📬 If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our newsletter at thesoutheastasiadesk.com, and join us again next weekend for stories to linger over—one weekend at a time. ✨
