The Travel & Tourism (T&T) industry has become a key sector in the world economy and a major driver of economic growth and employment worldwide. As one of the fastest-growing industries in terms of foreign exchange earnings and job creation, healthy T&T sectors provide important opportunities for countries to raise living standards, and—particularly in the developing world—to tackle poverty alleviation.

Given the importance of the sector, three years ago the World Economic Forum embarked on an effort to better understand the drivers of T&T competitiveness and the challenges that face the industry at the present time.This second edition of the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report presents our latest thinking on the topic, with the goal of providing a useful tool for governments and business leaders in overcoming the obstacles to T&T competitiveness, in order to benefit fully from the sector’s development.

The dependence of tourism on the quality of the natural environment places it in a special position in terms of environmental sustainability, leading national governments and the tourism industry to focus increasingly on environmental protection. Environmental conservation is now firmly at the center of discussions on national T&T competitiveness, given its importance for achieving long-term sustainable growth in the sector.

In this context, this year’s Report, under the theme “Balancing Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability,” places a particular focus on the issue, both through a reinforced environmental component of the Index used to measure T&T competitiveness and through the topics covered by the analytical chapters.

The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index A principal aim of this Report is to measure the competitiveness of individual economies’T&T competitiveness, using the comprehensive vehicle that has been developed for this purpose, the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), described in detail in Chapter 1.1.

The TTCI was produced by the World Economic Forum in close collaboration with Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).We have also received important feedback from a number of key companies that are industry partners in the effort: Abercrombie & Kent, Bombardier, British Airways, Carlson, Emirates Airline, Hertz, Silversea Cruises Group, Swiss International Airlines, and Travelport. Several thought leaders from these companies and organizations have also contributed insightful papers addressing various aspects of T&T competitiveness, with a particular focus on environmental sustainability, which are described below.

The TTCI aims to measure the factors and policies that make it attractive to develop the T&T sector in different countries.The TTCI is composed of a number of “pillars” of T&T competitiveness, of which there are 14 in all.

These are:
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
14. Cultural resources

The pillars are organized into three subindexes that capture broad categories of variables that facilitate or drive T&T competitiveness.These categories are (1) T&T regulatory framework, (2) T&T business environment and infrastructure, and (3) T&T human, cultural, and natural resources.The first subindex captures those elements that are policy related and generally under the purview of the government (policy rules and regulations, environmental sustainability, safety and security, health and hygiene, and prioritization of Travel & Tourism); the second subindex captures elements of the business environment and the infrastructure of each economy (air transport infrastructure, ground transport infrastructure, tourism infrastructure, ICT infrastructure, and price competitiveness); and the third subindex captures the human and cultural elements of each country’s resource endowments (human resources, affinity for Travel & Tourism, natural resources, and cultural resources).

Each of the pillars is made up of a number of individual variables, of which there are over 70 in all.The dataset includes both hard data and Survey data from the World Economic Forum’s annual Executive Opinion Survey.The hard data were obtained from publicly available sources, international T&T institutions, and T&T experts (for example, the IATA, the IUCN, UNESCO, the UNWTO, and the WTTC).The Survey is carried out among CEOs and top business leaders in all economies covered by our research—these are the people making the investment decisions in their respective economies.The Survey provides unique data on many qualitative institutional and business environment issues.The exact methodology underlying the construction of the TTCI is described in Chapter 1.1. (Executive Summary)

Read Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008 Online

TOP 10 List:

1. Switzerland
2. Austria
3. Germany
4. Australia
5. Spain
6. United Kingdom
7. United States
8. Sweden
9. Canada
10. France  

Visit Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008 Website

PREFACE:
KLAUS SCHWAB,
Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum

Over recent decades,Travel & Tourism has taken its place among the key industries in the world economy, now accounting for a significant share of global gross domestic product (GDP) and employment, and providing an opportunity for developing countries to move up the value chain toward the production of higher value added services. Given the importance of the Travel & Tourism (T&T) industry for industrialized and developing countries alike, the fundamental objective of the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report (TTCR) is to explore the factors driving T&T competitiveness worldwide.

Over the past three years, the World Economic Forum has engaged key industry and thought leaders through its Aviation,Travel and Tourism Industry Partnership Programme to carry out an in-depth analysis of the T&T competitiveness of economies around the world.The goal is to construct a platform for multistakeholder dialogue to ensure the development of strong and sustainable national T&T industries capable of contributing effectively to international economic development.

The theme of this second edition of the TTCR, “Balancing Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability,” reflects the increasing focus on ensuring the industry’s sustained growth while protecting the natural environment upon which it so greatly depends.The goal of achieving a sustainable T&T industry is certainly not new. However, the industry’s need to demonstrate strong leadership in this area has become important only in recent years, primarily as a result of increased global awareness of the impact of global climate change and pollution on tourist destinations.

This year’s report includes the second edition of the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), which is at the core of this Report.The aim of the TTCI, which covers 130 economies this year, is to provide a comprehensive strategic tool for measuring “the factors and policies that make it attractive to develop the Travel & Tourism sector in different countries.” By providing detailed assessments of the T&T environments in countries worldwide, the results can be used by all stakeholders to work together to improve the industry’s competitiveness in their national economies, thereby contributing to national growth and prosperity.This year’s Index has been reinforced to better capture the extent to which the sector is developed in an environmentally sustainable way.

The Report contains detailed profiles for each of the 130 economies featured in the study, as well as an extensive
section of data tables with global rankings covering the more than 70 indicators included in the TTCI. In
addition, the Report includes insightful contributions from a number of industry experts, with a particular
focus on this year’s theme of environmental sustainability.

These essay contributions explore issues such as identifying useful mechanisms for inducing travel-related emission reductions, the way in which green strategies will change how the tourism industry will operate in the future, and how environmental sustainability has more generally become a key driver of tourism competitiveness.

The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report could not have been put together without the distinguished thinkers who have shared with us their knowledge and experience.We are grateful to our Strategic Design Partner, Booz Allen Hamilton, and our Data Partners: Deloitte, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) for helping us to design and develop the TTCI and for providing much of the industry-relevant data used in its calculation.We thank our Industry Partners in this Report—Abercrombie & Kent, Bombardier, British Airways, Carlson, Emirates Airline, Hertz, Silversea Cruises Group, Swiss International Airlines, and Travelport—for their support in this important venture.We also wish to thank the editors of the Report, Jennifer Blanke and Thea Chiesa, for their energy and their commitment to the project.

Appreciation also goes to Fiona Paua, Head of Strategic Insight Teams, and the other members of the competitiveness team: Ciara Browne, Agustina Ciocia, Margareta Drzeniek Hanouz,Thierry Geiger, Irene Mia, Pearl Samandari, and Eva Trujillo. Finally, we would like to commend our network of 142 Partner Institutes worldwide, without whose enthusiasm and hard work the annual administration of the Executive Opinion Survey and this Report would not be possible.

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