Possible Schengen-style ASEAN Visa: What should travel managers know

Last Updated on: June 13, 2025 at 2:38 am

The push for a Schengen-style ASEAN visa is gaining traction, and while much of the buzz focuses on boosting tourism, the implications for business travel could be far greater.

Originally floated by former Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, the proposed shared visa zone would allow seamless travel between participating ASEAN countries, initially envisioned to include mainland nations such as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Myanmar. The system would function similarly to Europe’s Schengen visa or the GCC’s regional travel scheme, allowing travellers to move between borders with a single visa valid for up to 90 days.

What does it mean for business travel in APAC?

The Asia-Pacific region is already one of the most active business travel corridors globally, and a unified visa could remove one of its biggest friction points. According to the 2025 GBTA APAC Conference, the region accounts for 41.3% of global business travel spend, with US$612.6 billion recorded in 2024. Business travel is on the rise across the board, with standout growth in:

• South Korea: +27%
• India: +22%
• Japan: +15%
• Australia: +12%
• China: +9%

Future hotspots of growth include Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Taiwan, all of which are expected to experience significant increases through 2027. In this context, a regional visa could:

• Simplify multi-market trips for sales teams, executives, and tech deployments
• Enable faster decision-to-travel timelines, crucial for closing regional deals
• Reduce visa admin costs for frequent business travellers, especially SMEs

Business travel behaviour in APAC: Built for regional mobility

GBTA data paints a clear picture of the modern APAC business traveller:

• 6 trips annually, double the global average
• Average trip spend: US$741.47
  
  • Airfare: US$165.30
  • Accommodation: US$237.48
  • F&B: US$145.21
    
• 3.2-night average duration, mostly for meetings, seminars, or conferences
• 61% blend leisure with business trips
• 59% of APAC business travellers fly economy, while 30% choose business class, and the remainder opt for premium economy. 

The region also leads globally in digital wallet adoption (69% use mobile wallets), skipping ahead of traditional payment methods. Travellers are increasingly embracing multimodal transport, combining air, rail, and local options, and showing interest in eco-friendly travel is rising, with over 23% actively seeking electric vehicle rentals.

In short, today’s APAC business traveller is digital-first, regional, and agile, making them ideal beneficiaries of a unified visa system.

What’s holding the Schengen-style ASEAN Visa back?

Despite the enthusiasm, the path to implementation is rocky. As noted by the East Asia Forum, such a visa would require:

• Shared data infrastructure
• Aligned visa issuance and screening processes
• Common security standards

These are steep asks for a region that typically operates through non-binding consensus, not centralised policy. Concerns over visa overstays, illegal employment, and border security remain key objections for member states.

What companies and travel managers should watch

1. Track diplomatic developments, especially at ASEAN summits or regional tourism forums.
2. Stay agile with TMC policies, prepare for a shift in regional booking flows if visa requirements drop.
3. Capitalise on blended travel, consider how a multi-entry visa could encourage longer, multi-market trips among staff.
4. Watch pilot zones, early cooperation between 2–3 nations (e.g. Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam) may set the tone for wider adoption.

Final Takeaway

The unified ASEAN visa may have started as a tourism initiative, but its business potential is enormous. In a region where borders often bottleneck opportunity, seamless access could elevate how fast, how far, and how easily companies do business.

For travel and HR leaders managing teams across Southeast Asia, now is the time to monitor developments, optimise policies, and start reimagining how your team moves across borders.

Visas are just one part of the journey; let us help with the rest.

From navigating entry requirements to streamlining how your team books, approves, and manages travel, our support team is here to make business travel across Southeast Asia simpler.  Book a demo or sign up for a free trial to test TruTrip’s benefits yourself.