While Asia's travel marketers started 2026 with real momentum, with post-Covid recovery holding and global travel spending reaching record highs in 2025 to US$1.5 trillion, the industry remained susceptible to the growing instability in the Middle East. On February 28, the US and Israel struck Iran, causing the Strait of Hormuz to close and causing a domino effect of skyrocketing costs in nearly every consumer category—especially aviation.
Global jet fuel prices surged 106.6% YoY in March 2026, according to IATA, with refining margins exploding threefold. By late March, airlines in Asia and Oceania, which account for 22% of global jet fuel demand, were suddenly paying the most expensive rates for jet fuel in the world.
As the jet fuel crisis reshapes how consumers fly, Campaign asks industry experts the ways airlines, tourism boards, and travel brands are shifting its communications, especially since marketing amidst geopolitical disruption has become the norm.
Oliver Ellerton, managing partner, Ellerton & Co., notes that consumer travel habits have changed significantly in recent years, especially with several popular destinations now deemed at risk of conflict or political instability.
"In recent months, there's been an uptick in travel from Singapore outbound into Asia," Ellerton says. "It's likely at the expense of long-haul destinations. Passengers are staying away from what they perceive as the more dangerous part of the world."
For example, Qatar, which built significant tourism infrastructure around the 2022 FIFA World Cup, has seen passenger numbers from Southeast Asia fall since the conflict began. Short-haul Southeast Asian destinations including Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia have seen the inverse: arrivals from within the ASEAN region are up, as travellers opt for closer, lower-cost alternatives.
The shift in consumer behaviour is also reshaping how brands allocate marketing spend. Customer acquisition costs across APAC travel brands had already risen by more than 35% since 2022, per Publicis Sapient. Brands are now pivoting away from broad growth campaigns, which were designed to attract new travellers and open new markets, and toward more targeted campaigns.
The rise of intra-regional campaigns
Rather than issuing a single response to the fuel crisis, Thailand's Tourism Authority launched two campaigns to speak to different segments of its market. Firstly, the 'MOOD: Travel Near, Use Less Energy' campaign (see above) targets local and regional travellers from Thailand's immediate catchment such as Malaysia, China, India, and Singapore. Compared to long-haul travellers from the West, these consumers are more likely to weather fuel-driven fare increases from low-cost carriers.
The campaign promotes travel to secondary destinations and promotes low-emission transport. Thailand's domestic travel sector is among the most mature in Southeast Asia. In 2025, domestic trips accounted for roughly 40% of total tourism revenue.
Shankar Joyrama, CEO, Orion Digital notes that TAT's messaging towards promoting accessible, proximate destinations is a strategic move to appeal to a regional consumer base rather than its typically international clientele.
"The low-hanging fruit right now is destinations within four to six hours. These sit in a value frame relative to Europe or the Americas, and still deliver the experience people are after," he explains. "Thailand is covering from every angle, including high-end retreats, mid-range, and budget. It's not just one campaign for one audience, and that's what makes it work."
Indonesia's Ministry of Tourism has taken a similar approach to Thailand since the conflict. At the Bali & Beyond Travel Fair in March, deputy minister for marketing Ni Made Ayu Marthini announced a reallocation of budgets away from Europe and the US toward ASEAN, East Asia, and Oceania. The tourism board intentionally invested in markets that don't require transit through the Middle East and are less affected by significant fare increases.
However, the TAT took its segmentation strategy a step further by launching a campaign that builds on its platform 'Healing Is the New Luxury' on February 28, which focuses on premium international travellers. For these consumers, decision-making is influenced by perceived value and peace of mind, and many often continue to book regardless of price.
By repositioning Thailand as a destination for wellness, luxury, and mindful travel, areas where it already has established credibility and product, the campaign frames higher costs and lower frequency as markers of a more considered travel choice.
Ben Lee, general manager, Mongoose Asia observes that TAT's strategically reframed the crisis into a marketing play with longevity: "Some tourism boards just put out one message and blast it everywhere, but Thailand was targeted in its response. If they hold the line, this could well become a long-term brand platform that performs well beyond this crisis."
Ellerton agrees: "The premiumisation play is smart. It protects yield but also gives consumers a more positive reason to book."
As for the airlines, AirAsia crafted a campaign rooted in its long-standing brand message of affordability for everyone. On April 8, the day after a ceasefire was announced, the airline launched 'Give Peace a Chance'. The creative, which was adapted to APAC markets including Taiwan and Indonesia, was anchored by a statement from CEO and co-founder Tony Fernandes and an immediate fare sale from US$57 (SG$72) out of Singapore.
The campaign reaffirmed the airline's key message of "affordable connectivity" at the moment its fares were rising.
"For 25 years, we have made the world smaller by connecting communities,
building bridges across borders, and bringing people closer to the moments and people that matter
most," Fernandes wrote in the copy. "Peace is ultimately what all of us seek, whether it’s peace between people and
communities, or simply peace of mind in our own lives."
Joyrama explains Fernandes' approach as an brand influencer and spokesperson for the airline: "It's very on-brand for what AirAsia tends to do—stay value-led. People want to travel but they're being mindful of their spending. AirAsia's proposition meets that perfectly."
"It worked, but only because it came from Fernandes, and because it's AirAsia," says Ellerton. "They've mastered cost-led marketing, and it works because they've earned the right to say it. If some other airline tried to replicate this, it would look completely opportunistic. But AirAsia has real, genuine history behind affordable connectivity across Asia."
Tourism Malaysia, meanwhile, made the longer-term call. With West Asian arrivals projected to fall up to 27% due to the conflict, the government announced an extension of 'Visit Malaysia 2026' through to end-2027. The campaign, originally built around celebrating Malaysia's national transformation in a single event-packed year, is being reframed as a two-year recovery vehicle.
Lee flags the risk of prematurely investing in a platform amidst uncertainty: "An extension buys you time, but not relevance. If they stick to the same messaging and creative, it risks becoming wallpaper. The extension only works if there's a genuine second chapter and a fresh story to tell."
For full-service carriers, the communications challenge is distinct from LLCs. Joyrama observes that airlines like Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, and Qantas, which offer more long-haul flights, cannot play the value card. However, these brands do have another lever: certainty.
"People right now, given a choice between two airlines flying to London, one with a Middle East stopover, one direct,
will pay more for the direct flight. For full-service carriers, the messaging isn't about price. It's about
experience, safety, and the reminder that life goes on," he adds.
Ellerton notes a growing trend of premium airlines bundling free stopovers to turn extra fuel costs into potential added value for customers rather than simply passing them on as surcharges. He echoes Joyrama's point: "People still want to travel. When you can still offer long-haul at a competitive rate, you shout about it."
Crisis marketing is the new normal
Beyond campaigns, the crisis has put pressure on senior leadership to communicate to consumers directly. Air Asia's Fernandes set the tone early, acknowledging on March 30 that fares would rise with no equivocation. In addition, Cathay Pacific CCO Lavinia Lau said that cutting flights was "always our last resort."
Meanwhile, Thai Airways CEO Chai Eamsiri confirmed the airline cut more than 46 flights from May and homed in on operational accountability: "Our principle is to consider business viability alongside passenger convenience," he said, adding: "Flight cancellation will be the last option."
Ellerton argues that preemptive communication is the approach when brands need to hold consumer trust: "Especially in the age of social media, transparency is just a better way to go. If they're going to increase fares, don't try and hide it. Don't be sneaky about it. Consumers are clever—they can't be tricked out of paying high fares."
What the current crisis makes obvious is something Asia's travel marketers have been navigating since the war in Ukraine in 2022. For many brands gearing up for the summer where consumer spend peaks, the question becomes whether aspirational advertising will still hold when consumers are more price-conscious and tone-aware than before.
"A fuel crisis doesn't create strategy," says Lee. "It just exposes whether you had one to begin with."
Running glossy campaigns while passengers face cancellations, surcharges, and rerouted itineraries can be risky, Lee notes. Pullman Singapore Orchard's general manager Rob McIntyre, speaking at ITB Berlin 2026, put it plainly that brands should be "very conscious of not turning a crisis into an opportunity."
Ellerton draws a distinction between the kind of aspiration that works and the kind that doesn't. "Stay away from gold-plated luxury messaging. That can come across as tone-deaf right now. But wellness messaging—good for the soul, great sleep, yoga, rejuvenation—that's perfectly safe. You can still deliver what people would call luxury perks without framing it as travel for the 1%."
Lee suggests brands in APAC should avoid chasing reach and go deep on the regional traveller: "ASEAN inter-regional travel is the most resilient segment right now. If people are flying less, then every single touchpoint when they do travel needs to be worth the cost. This is actually a great moment to build loyalty, not just awareness."
For Lee, the brands best positioned right now are those that had already built a clear understanding of their audience before the disruption hit. He is adamant that the way brands communicate to their consumer base now requires a fundamentally different creative approach.
"If people are flying less, every single touchpoint when they do travel needs to be worth the cost. This is a great moment to build loyalty, not just awareness," he explains.
When it comes to crisis, speed is table stakes, Ellerton explains: "Literally the day the ceasefire happened, AirAsia announced 'Give Peace a Chance'. There was no guarantee a ceasefire was coming, or that it would land the way it did."
"They were simply very quick off the mark. In fast-moving situations like this, the ability to move without going through layers of approvals is one of the most valuable things a marketing team can have," he adds.
