10 Best Countries According to 2013 World Travel & Tourism Index

It is both interesting and informative to see where Canada ranks on the world’s stage. This is something that I’ve explored in posts like the best countries to live, the smartest countries, the happiest countries, the  most peaceful countries, the most sustainable countries, the friendliest countries, the most charitable countries, the most prosperous countries, the best countries for quality of life, the Best Countries for Business in 2013, the top 20 countries for life expectancy at birth and most recently the best countries for working women. Today I’ll add to this list with the findings of the 2013 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index which aims to “measure factors and policies that make it attractive to develop the T&T sector in different countries.”

This report was compiled by The World Economic Forum and it was based on some 140 destinations across the globe using “a combination of data from publicly available sources, international travel and tourism institutions and experts. It also incorporates the results of the Executive Opinion Survey.” In order to reach these findings there were three categories that were summarized into three subindexes: (1) the Travel & Tourism (T&T) regulatory framework subindex; (2) the T&T business environment and infrastructure subindex; and (3) the T&T human, cultural, and natural resources subindex. These subindexes were further broken down into 14 pillars: 1. Policy rules and regulations; 2. Environmental sustainability; 3. Safety and security; 4. Health and hygiene, 5. Prioritization of Travel & Tourism; 6. Air transport infrastructure; 7. Ground transport infrastructure; 8. Tourism infrastructure; 9. ICT infrastructure; 10. Price competitiveness in the T&T industry; 11. Human resources; 12. Affinity for Travel & Tourism; 13. Natural resources; and 14. Cultural resources.

Based on this data, the top 10 countries according to the World Economic Forum’s 2013 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index are:

Lake Louise, Alberta Canada

• 10) Singapore – Score: 5.23. Regional rank in the Asia Pacific: 1. 2011 ranking: 10th
• 9) Sweden – Score: 5.24. Regional rank in the Europe: 7. 2011 ranking: 5th
• 8) Canada – Score: 5.28. Regional rank in the Americas: 2. 2011 ranking: 9th
• 7) France – Score: 5.31. Regional rank in the Europe: 6. 2011 ranking: 3rd
• 6) United States – Score: 5.32. Regional rank in the Americas: 1. 2011 ranking: 6th
• 5) United Kingdom – Score: 5.38. Regional rank in the Europe: 5. 2011 ranking: 7th
• 4) Spain – Score: 5.38. Regional rank in the Europe: 4. 2011 ranking: 8th
• 3) Austria – Score: 5.39. Regional rank in the Europe: 3. 2011 ranking: 4th
• 2) Germany – Score: 5.39. Regional rank in the Europe: 2. 2011 ranking: 2nd
• 1) Switzerland – Score: 5.66. Regional rank in the Europe: 1. 2011 ranking: 1st

This list is important as it has great potential to impact tourism and criteria like safety and security, health and hygiene, air transport infrastructure, ground transport infrastructure, tourism infrastructure and price competitiveness are all very important factors to consider when deciding vacation destinations. This is an especially interesting report to us Canadians as we have always been seen as an extremely tourist friendly country and it’s something we pride ourselves on (along with our 8th place finish).

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