April 11, 2017 TnH Global 0

Spain tops the 2017 edition of the Travel & Tourism competitiveness index for the second time

In 2017, Spain continues leading the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) ranking published by the World Economic Forum in April 5^th. This is the second time that the WEF appoints Spain as the most competitive country for travel and tourism after leading the ranking in 2015.

The World Economic Forum Report benchmarks the performance of 136 economies through measuring four broad factors of competitiveness. Spain maintains the first place with an overall score of 5.43 out of 7, followed by France (5.32), Germany (5.28), Japan (5.26) and United Kingdom (5.20).

The success of Spain can be attributed to its wide and unique offer of both cultural (2^nd) and natural resources (9^th). The richness of cultural and natural assets is also recognized by UNESCO where it is the third country in the ranking with 45 sites listed as World Heritage. Furthermore, also remarkable are the scores gained in the tourism service infrastructure (2^nd), the air transport connectivity (9^th) and strong policy support (5^th).

The country has also obtained good scores in Safety and security (18^th), ground and port infrastructure (15^th) and health and hygiene (24^th). In general, the key of Spanish success is to obtain scores over the average in most of the 14 pillars analyzed.

The Report also remarks that Europe is again the strongest region in terms of overall competitive performance. However, the developing economies, particularly in Asia-Pacific region, are improving their competitiveness in travel and tourism. India is one of the most improved nations reaching the 40^th position in the overall rank.