ABS-CBN News Online Beta

RP improves rankings in Travel, Tourism Competitiveness Index, but trails others

---

abs-cbnnews.com | 03/07/2008 8:42 AM

Printer-friendly version | Send to friend

By Cai U. Ordinario
BusinessMirror Reporter
 
The Philippines has improved its rankings in the 2008 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), but still trailed behind most of its Asean neighbors.

The 2008 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (TTCR) recently released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) showed that the country now ranked 81st from 86th last year.

However, despite the improvement in ranking, the Philippines’ overall score of 3.70 was still lower than last year’s, which was pegged at 3.79.

The country lagged behind Singapore, which ranked 16th among 130 economies included in the report; Malaysia, 32nd; Thailand, 42nd; and Indonesia, 80th. Of the Philippines’ Asean neighbors, it was only able to move ahead of Vietnam, which ranked 96th overall.

“This year’s report, under the theme ‘Balancing Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability,’ places a particular focus on this issue, both through a reinforced environmental component of the index used to measure travel and tourism [T&T] competitiveness and through topics covered by the analytical chapters,” the report said.

“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,” the report added.

The overall ranking was based on the scores and rankings of each economy in three subindixes, T&T regulatory framework, business environment and infrastructure, and human, cultural and natural resources.   

The Philippines ranked 83rd in regulatory framework with a score of 4.14; business environment and infrastructure, 84th, with a score of 3.20; and human, cultural and natural resources, 78th, with a score of 3.75.

The three subindexes were based on the ranking and scores of countries in the 12 pillars which measured a country’s competitiveness in travel and tourism.

These 12 pillars were policy rules and regulations; environmental sustainability; safety and security; health and hygiene; prioritization of Travel & Tourism; air transport infrastructure; ground transport infrastructure; tourism infrastructure; ICT infrastructure; price competitiveness in the T&T industry; human resources; affinity for T&T; natural resources; and cultural resources.

Of all the pillars, the Philippines received its lowest rank of 113 in safety and security, with a score of 3.99.

This is based on a country’s competitiveness in the business costs of terrorism, reliability of police services, business costs of crime and violence, and road-traffic accidents. None of these indicators were considered by the report as areas where the country had a competitive advantage.

Meanwhile, the country received its highest rank of 9th in price competitiveness in the travel and tourism industry, with a score of 5.47.

Price competitiveness is based on ticket taxes and airport charges, purchasing-power parity, extent and effect of taxation, fuel-price levels, and hotel price index. Of these indicators, the report did not consider the extent and effect of taxation as an area where the country had a competitive advantage.

The top 5 in the global survey were Switzerland, with a score of 5.63, followed by Austria, 5.43; Germany, 5.41; Australia, 5.34; and Spain, 5.30.

The data used for the report came from the WEF’s Executive Opinion Survey. Respondents were asked to rank from a scale of 1 to 7, 1 being the lowest and 7 the highest, countries according to 51 indicators.

These responses were averaged to come up with the actual score, which is the basis used for the rankings.

This is second edition of the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report. which presented the WEF’s latest opinion on travel and tourism competitiveness.

as of 03/07/2008 8:42 AM

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•