Indonesia Behind in Survey on Tourism

Tourism may be one of Indonesia’s best hoped economic sectors, but the country ranked only 60th out 124 in a new global survey on tourism competitiveness report according to a report in the Jakarta Post.

Switzerland, Austria and Germany have the most attractive environments for developing the travel and tourism industry, according to the very first ranking of its kind in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2007, released Thursday by the World Economic Forum.

Iceland, the United States, Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom complete the top ten list, the WEF announced in a statement from Geneva.

“Our study is not a 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,” said Jennifer Blanke, Senior Economist of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Network.

The executive summary of the report is available at the WEF website at http://www.weforum.org/pdf/tourism/summary.pdf

Travel and Tourism
Competitiveness Index
(Top 10 and selected countries)

1. Switzerland 5.66
2. Austria 5.54
3. Germany 5.48
4. Iceland 5.45
5. United States 5.43
6. Hong Kong SAR 5.33
7. Canada 5.31
8. Singapore 5.31
9. Luxembourg 5.31
10. United Kingdom 5.28
13. Australia 5.21
31. Malaysia 4.80
43. Thailand 4.58
60. Indonesia 4.20
65. India 4.14
71. China 3.97
86. Philippines 3.79
88. Vietnam 3.78