Tourism’s rapid growth is set to play a critical role in shaping infrastructure use in ASEAN. Factors such as cheaper travel options, a rise in connectivity and fewer tourist barriers have increased demand to unsustainable levels, and ASEAN’s long term competitiveness as a tourist destination may be undermined by bottlenecks unless appropriate investment is made in travel infrastructure and other travel resources according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in a recent report. ASEAN has yet to meet global benchmarks in tourist service infrastructure, and environmental sustainability remains the region’s greatest competitiveness constraint. For example, many countries suffering from high air pollution, water stress, below-average levels of wastewater treatment, endangered wildlife and forest loss. A correspondent from WEF has stated that travel and tourism can drive economies, but only if policy-makers

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The ASEAN Post