Mediocre performance for Asia in WEF Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013

03 Jul 2013  2045 | World Travel News

BANGKOK- The latest World Economic Forum Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013 went largely unnoticed in most Asian countries. Probably because the ranking of most countries in the region does not really deserve any praise of self-congratulation. Just in contrary. In the ranking of the 10 most travel and tourism competitive countries, only Singapore succeed to be ranked number 10. By comparison seven countries are located in Europe and 2 countries in the Americas. By expanding the classification to the 25 top countries, 17 of them are locating in Europe while only Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea succeeded to enter into the chart.

The ranking overall index takes into consideration various aspects of the tourism and travel activity such as the regulatory framework, the business environment, the infrastructure as well as human, cultural and natural resources. While Asian countries fare pretty well in the last sub-index thanks to a wealth of heritage sites, spectacular landscapes and lively cultures, however its positioning is ruined by generally bad records for the protection of the environment and for some countries for deficient infrastructure and also a complicated regulatory framework.

In its report, Singapore is praised for its excellent transport infrastructure, its high quality of human resource (it ranks 2nd in this field). The City State also outperforms the rest of Asia for its environment policy, its easy regulatory network and code of investments, the safety and its efficient public administration. The report only blamed Singapore for its eroded competitiveness once it comes to pricing. As Singapore rides on the wave of success, hotels are full with high rates being the norm while taxation of tourism has also been on the rise lately.

In the regional ranking, Singapore is followed by Japan which succeeded to climb back eight places. The WEF Report praises Japan for its cultural assets, its excellent transport infrastructure, its excellent training, which in return generates a highly skilled working force.
Japanese society strong emphasis for service is another major asset for the country. Hong Kong arrives in third position: excellent infrastructure, safety for travellers, a conducive business environment are some of its main assets. However Hong Kong is blamed for poor record in terms of environment.

Environment’s concern is also shared by the WEF Competitiveness Report for Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, China, India or Indonesia. Thailand suffers additionally  from a weak regulatory environment –such as the protection of property rights- while WEF blames very poor transport condition and infrastructure in Indonesia and the Philippines. India’s ranking at place 65 is to be blamed to the lack of hotel accommodation, difficulties to obtain a visa, weak ICT and poor hygiene and health standards.

The WEF Report however delivers a note of hope to all Asian countries. The report assesses that major progresses have been recently made in most countries to improve environment records and also transportation.

 

Sourced: TravelDailyNews

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