Nearly 200 delegates, including leaders of national tourism organizations (NTOs) of ASEAN members and the regional groupings partners gathered in Vietnams northern Quang Ninh province on Monday, touching upon measures to speed up sustainable tourism development.

Addressing the meeting, Nguyen Trung Khanh, general director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said tourism sector makes contributions to better political and cultural understanding, and closer bilateral and multilateral cooperation not only among regional countries, but also among nations in the world.

At the 49th meeting of NTOs of countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which opened on Monday in Quang Ninhs Ha Long city, the delegates also highlighted contributions of tourism sector to gross domestic product.

Thailand Is Second Most Visited Country In Asia

Thailand attracted second highest number of tourists in the region with 32.58 million visitors in 2016

The Asia Pacific region accounts for 30 per cent of the world’s international tourism receipts

But Bangkok has been engulfed by smog for the past few days, raising questions about how seriously the authorities are taking the air pollution problem in the Thai capital.

Experts warn of the threat to public health if the unhealthy air quality levels persist, urging authorities to enforce mitigation measures to protect people’s health

It has been almost a week since the PM2.5 level in Bangkok rose significantly, forming a thick layer of smog over the city, but authorities are still scrambling to find solutions to help ease the problem

Spraying water over Greater Bangkok’s sky, trying to produce artificial rain haven’t brought any significant results so far.

The Asia Pacific region has outperformed all other regions in terms of growth, with international tourist arrivals increasing an average 7% per year compared to the world average of 4%.