Philippine travel rank down eight notches

THE Philippines’ world ranking on competitiveness in the travel and tourism industry fell eight notches this year mostly because of concern on safety and security, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) study released on Monday.

In its Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2011, the Swiss-based forum reported that the country ranked 94th among 139countries in the world. It scored 3.69 points in the overall travel and tourism competitiveness index.
In 2009, the country was in 86th place.

The Philippines ranked 18th regionally and 94th overall because of weaker performance across most areas measured by the Index.

Among the country’s strengths are aspects of its natural resources — it is ranked 24th for the number of World Heritage natural sites and 40th for the total known species in the country.

The Philippines also benefits from excellent price competitiveness, ranked 20th, with low prices overall, particularly hotel prices, and low-ticket taxes and airport charges.

“There are also some aspects of the policy rules and regulations regime that are conducive to the development of the sector, such as few visa requirements for foreign visitors [ranked third] and bilateral Air Service Agreements that are assessed as comparatively open [29th],” WEF said.

The report noted that other areas such as the protection of property rights, rules related to foreign investment and the difficulty of starting a business in the country remained a challenge.

Other matters of concern are safety and security, ranked 109th; health and hygiene levels, 97th; and transport, tourism, and ICT infrastructures that require upgrading.

The Philippines was behind Singapore, 10th place; Malaysia, 35th; Thailand, 41st; Indonesia, 74th; and Vietnam, 80th.

“Our report measures the many factors that make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism industry of individual countries,” Jennifer Blanke, lead economist and director of the WEF’s Centre for Global Competitiveness and Performance said.

She added that the top rankings of Switzerland, Germany, France and Austria 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 and tourism sector.

The index uses a combination of data from publicly available sources, international travel and tourism institutions and experts, as well as the results of the executive opinion survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum.

The forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agenda.

Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the organization is non-profit, with no political, partisan or national interests. –Darwin G. Amojelar, Senior Reporter, Manila Times