I swore I'd never go back to Southeast Asia in September. So, naturally, I went back this September.
In September of 2025, I visited Southeast Asia. I got absolutely soaked as my trip took place during Asia’s notorious monsoon season, and I swore (loudly and sincerely) that I would never do that again.
Cut to 2026. I booked a trip to return to Southeast Asia – and I was going in September. It's what worked best for my customers’ and my schedules.
So there I was, back in the thick of monsoon season, hitting Singapore, Bangkok, and Malaysia for a round of check-ins with some of our most exciting clients in the region. The agenda was straightforward: show up, stay present, and remind people that Mappedin is made of actual human beings who will get on a plane (and get rained on) to see them.
Singapore: Thunderstorms and a masterclass in inclusivity
My first stop was Singapore to meet with my partners at Frasers Property, a longtime Mappedin customer and multinational real estate investor-developer-operator of real estate.
When we sat down, a tropical thunderstorm hit. And I mean hit. Through the window we watched it pour for our entire meeting. When it ended, we walked outside and it stopped. Classic.
The conversation with Frasers, though, was anything but fleeting.
What they're building around inclusivity is something unmatched by other property groups of its size and scope.
They refuse to use the word "accessibility." They refer to the concept instead as inclusivity, and the distinction matters.
Their approach goes far beyond ramps and larger fonts. They're rethinking how information about their properties reaches every type of shopper: different demographics, different needs, different ways of navigating a space. Color coding, more granular tenant detail, layered information design. All of it engineered so that whatever you need to know about a Frasers property is at your reach before you even inside the building.
The goal is simple to say and hard to execute: make every visit the best possible experience for every possible person.
Bangkok: Raves on a Tuesday, more rain on a Wednesday
Thailand in September is not for the weak. It's 35-degree Celsius heat, 100% humidity, and then, without warning, a wall of rain. But what I got out of the visit was so worth the weather.
At around 11 in the morning on a Tuesday during my visit, I made my way onto the fifth floor of a mall. What I found was a full Tomorrowland rave activation in progress. I was headed to a meeting — I was briefly tempted to cancel it.
That's Bangkok for you. It's also where I got to see two very different visions of the future of guest experience up close at two incredible properties (both of which are Mappedin customers).
One Bangkok is bringing its guest experience together across every surface, web, mobile, and Blue Dot-enabled sessions, with RealView on the way – Mappedin’s 360-degree view of an indoor space.
That was the part I couldn't wait to try. There's something authentically cool about standing on the other side of the world yet still walking that mall virtually using RealView, turning the corner the way a visitor would before they ever arrive. It's the kind of thing that stops being a product feature and starts being a place you can almost reach out and touch.
Central Pattana, Thailand's largest retail property development and investment corporation, is chasing the same goal from a different angle. They're all about guest experience too, and looking at how to bring it all together on one platform. Different starting point, same instinct. Watching the two of them move at their own pace toward the same idea was half the point of being there.
And naturally, I nearly got stranded on my way back home. On the day I was due to fly home, Bangkok was hit by what I can only describe as a storm of the century. All 50 districts under disaster rating, roads flooding, cars stalling, taxis running at surge pricing that made your eyes water.
My flight made it out. Barely.
The big question every property is wrestling with
Across every conversation on this trip, one theme kept surfacing: footfall is up, but the revenue story is more complicated.
Some of these properties are seeing anywhere from a 30 to 50% increase in visitor traffic thanks to fan-beloved activations and events:
- Hello Kitty runs
- Pokémon activations
- Tomorrowland raves
- A tea shop store opening with people lined up down the mall
Without a doubt, these properties know how to draw a crowd. The harder question is what happens next.
Getting people through the doors is one thing. But getting them to that second store, the extra purchase, deeper engagement with the property – That's the conversion problem they're all working through right now.
And they're the experts on their own shoppers, their own floors, their own cities. I'm just lucky enough to get pulled into the conversation.
What I'm bringing back to the West
These teams have already proven they can fill the room. The footfall is there (in some cases through the roof) – and that's their doing. Well done.
Now the task is turning that energy into real revenue, and it's thrilling to watch. I can't wait to keep the conversation going and see where it takes them.
This is the real reason I keep showing up. The people out here didn't just make time for me. They made me feel at home. Coffee, meetings, a ride when the rain turned the roads to rivers. These are people who opened their doors, and more importantly, opened up about what they're building. They're the mall experts, and their hospitality is the whole reason a trip like this works.
So Asia, I’ll see you next September. And I'll be bringing my raincoat.
Interested in how Mappedin supports venue experience and operations, from visitor wayfinding to leasing to security? Get in touch with our team.
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