“While Thailand has long been a British favorite, neighboring East Asian countries have experienced a dramatic rise in search recently and we are starting to see a popularity shift into places like Vietnam,” says Nadine Hallak, Vietnam Travel Expert for Cheapflights UK.

Ha long Bay

Price conscious travelers will find value in all three destinations. Vietnam is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula. Bordered by China, Laos and Cambodia, the country features two World Natural Heritage sites and six World biosphere reserves. Vietnam is ranked 16th in biological diversity, and 16 percent of the world’s species can be found here, including 794 aquatic invertebrates and 2,458 sea fish. While Vietnam travel agency has welcome over 4 million visitors over the years, prices remain relatively low.

Malaysia is made up of three main regions covering over a thousand individual islands. West and East Malaysia are separated by the South China Sea and share a largely similar landscape of coastal plains that rise to often densely forested hills and mountains. 38 designated marine parks are home to shipwrecks, coral gardens, black-tip reef sharks, barracuda, groupers, parrotfish, puffer and angelfish are common sights.

With a population of 230 million, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country. Only about 6,000 of its 17,508 islands that stretch along the equator are inhabited. After Brazil, Indonesia supports the world’s second highest level of biodiversity. The Komodo National Park, the Banda Sea, Raja Ampat and the Bunaken National Marine Park feature some of the best scuba diving in the region.

“Travelers are more up to going the distance not only in flight time, but also in adventure. Whether it’s helping to feed an economy that’s fighting to grow or getting better acquainted with one that’s already booming,” said Hallak. “Perhaps the two most interesting trends to come out of the recession are a heightened global conscience and a thirst for exploration.”