Tajikistan has climbed 12 places to rank 107th among 136 nations in the global Travel and Tourism (T&T) competitiveness index.
Russian is ranked 43rd, Kazakhstan — 81st, and Kyrgyzstan — 115th. The index does not include Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Spain attains the 1st place globally in the global T&T competitiveness index for the second time. Spain's success can be attributed to its unique offer of both cultural (2nd) and natural resources (9th), combined with sound tourism service infrastructure (2nd), air transport connectivity (9th) and strong policy support (5th).
Spain is followed by France and Germany. Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Italy, Canada and Switzerland are also among the top ten countries in terms of tourism and tourist arrivals.
Mauritania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Chad and Yemen are at the bottom of the T&T competitiveness index.
According to the statistical data from the Committee for Youth, Sports and tourism Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan, 414,000 foreign tourists visited Tajikistan in 2015 and 312,000 foreign tourists visited the country over the first nine months of last year.
The World Economic Forum has, for the past 11 years, engaged leaders in travel and tourism to carry out an in-depth analysis of the Travel and Tourism competitiveness of 136 economies across the world. The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index measures the set of factors and policies that enable the sustainable development of the travel and tourism sector, which in turn, contributes to the development and competitiveness of a country.
The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index enables all stakeholders to work together to improve the industry’s competitiveness in their national economies. The theme of this year’s edition Paving the Way for a More Sustainable and Inclusive Future reflects the increasing focus on ensuring the industry’s sustained growth in an uncertain security environment while preserving the natural environment and local communities on which it so richly depends.
The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report was first published in 2007. The index is a measurement of the factors that make it attractive to develop business in the travel and tourism industry of individual countries, rather than a measure of a country attractiveness as a tourist destination. The report ranks selected nations according to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), which scores from 1 to 6 the performance of a given country in each specific subindex. The overall index is made of three main subindexes: (1) regulatory framework; (2) business environment and infrastructure; and (3) human, cultural, and natural resources.
