Philippines rises 12 places in the 2013 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report making it the most improved country ranking 16th out of 25 in the Asia Pacific region and 82nd among 140 countries globally.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013, the Philippines is included among the rising stars in emerging market economies in terms of travel and tourism competitiveness as its rank among 140 economies “climbed from 94th [in 2011] to 82nd [in 2013] on the back of policy improvements supporting the industry.”
This was announced by the Makati Business Club, a partner institute of the World Economic Forum under the Global Benchmarking Network, which released the report in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday.
The report assessed the performance of 13 out of 25 Asia Pacific economies, including the Philippines.
“The Philippines is the most improved country in the region, ranking 16th regionally and 82nd overall, up 12 places since the last edition,” the report said.
Among the country’s comparative strengths are its natural resources (44th), its price competitiveness (24th), and a very strong — and improving —prioritization of the Travel & Tourism industry (this indicator ranks 15th, as government spending on the sector as a percentage of GDP is now 1st in the world, and tourism marketing and branding campaigns are seen to be increasingly effective).
In addition, the country has been ensuring that several aspects of its policy rules and regulations regime are conducive to the development of the T&T sector. Among these are better protection of property rights, more openness toward foreign investments, and few visa requirements for foreign visitors (ranked 7th).
However, other areas — such as the difficulty of starting a business in the country, in both cost and length of the process (ranked 94th and 117th, respectively) — remain a challenge. Moreover, safety and security concerns (ranked 103rd); inadequate health and hygiene (94th); and underdeveloped ground transport, tourism, and ICT infrastructure are all holding back the potential of the economy’s T&T competitiveness. Notably, the Philippines landed within the top 50 in 4 out of 14 component pillars of the travel and tourism competitiveness index in 2013: 15th in prioritization of travel and tourism, 24th in price competitiveness in the travel and tourism industry, 42nd in affinity for travel and tourism, and 44th in natural resources.
Likewise, the Philippines belongs in the top 50 in terms of 27 out of 79 indicators comprising the travel and tourism competitiveness index in 2013: 7th in visa requirements, 35th in carbon dioxide emission, 28th in particulate matter concentration, 39th in environmental treaty ratification, 46th in government prioritization of the travel and tourism industry, 1st in travel and tourism government expenditure, 17th in timeliness of travel and tourism data, 20th in domestic airline seat kilometers per week, 31st in international airline seat kilometers per week, 39th in number of operating airlines, 44th in road density, 32nd in presence of major car rental, 17th in ticket taxes and airport charges, 49th in purchasing power parity, 34th in fuel price per liter, 36th in hotel price index, 45th in quality of educational system, 32nd in extent of staff training, 12th in HIV prevalence, 26th in attitude of population toward foreign visitors, 20th in extension of business trips recommended, 27th in degree of customer orientation, 25th in number of world heritage natural sites, 40th in total known species, 39th in marine protected areas, and 50th in creative industries exports. Aside from the biennial Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report, the World Economic Forum’s publications include the flagship annual Global Competitiveness Report.(BCM)