Hong Kong, Singapore fly flag for Asia in world rankings
GENEVA: Hong Kong and Singapore have made the top 10 most attractive environments for developing the travel and tourism industry, according to the first ranking of its kind: the 2007 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, released by the World Economic Forum.
Switzerland, Austria and Germany topped the rankings while Iceland, the United States, Canada, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom also made the top 10.
Jennifer Blanke, senior economist of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Network, said, “Our study is not a ‘beauty contest’, or a statement about the attractiveness of a country.
“On the contrary, we aim to measure the factors that make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism industry of individual countries.
“The top rankings of Switzerland, Austria and Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore demonstrate the importance of supportive business and regulatory frameworks, coupled with world-class transport and tourism infrastructure and a focus on nurturing human and natural resources, for fostering an environment that is attractive for developing the travel & tourism (T&T) sector.”
Within Asia, Hong Kong is the highest ranked country (6th), followed by Singapore (8th).
The report noted that “these economies have excellent infrastructure: the ground transport infrastructure of both are assessed as among the top three in the world, and their air transport infrastructure also gets high marks.
“They also have top notch human resources, providing healthy and well educated people to work in the sector.
“With regards to the policy environment, they hold the top two places out of all countries, with regulatory environments that are extremely conducive to the development of the travel and tourism industry (policies facilitating foreign ownership and foreign direct investment, well protected property rights, few visa restrictions).
“Further, they are among the safest countries of all assessed with regards to crime and security issues. Hong Kong is unsurpassed with regards to the quality of health and hygiene, and Singapore is ranked second with regards to the overall prioritisation of travel and tourism.
The rankings are based on the first-ever Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) covering 124 countries around the world.
The TTCI uses a combination of data from publicly available sources, international T&T institutions and T&T experts, as well as the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, together with its network of partner institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the countries covered by the Report.
Australia ranked 13th overall, just ahead of New Zealand (14th). Other rankings: Malaysia (31) Thailand (43), India (65), and China (71)
Ian Jarrett
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