With over 104 million international arrivals in 2015 and a mean growth rate of 8%, Southeast Asia’s travel and tourism industry has incredible potential to assist generate economic growth, create jobs and enable regional development.
But which countries are best capable of profit from this industry? You won’t be surprised to learn that stunning natural landscapes like Halong Bay and iconic cultural sites like Angkor Wat aren’t the one aspects that make a destination competitive.
Every yr, the World Economic Forum publishes the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, which ranks countries based on a variety of policies in place to enable the sector to develop sustainably. Factors taken under consideration within the report include the convenience of doing business in a given country, specific travel and tourism policies, infrastructure, and natural and cultural resources.
The report not only provides a platform for multi-stakeholder dialogue on the national level to formulate appropriate policies and actions. It also takes a world approach by analyzing industry trends and offers unique perspectives from global industry leaders, international organizations and governments on the important thing issues that should be addressed to make sure the long-term competitiveness of travel and tourism.
So which countries in Southeast Asia are probably the most competitive? And more importantly, what do all of them have in common?
Looking on the result, Singapore is a pacesetter amongst probably the most tourism-friendly destinations. Globally, the country ranks thirteenthvol a position that can also be probably the most open economy on the planet, supported by extremely strong travel and tourism policies.
Malaysia took 2II place and ranks twenty sixth on the planet rating. Malaysia has successfully improved its scores in absolute terms, rising from 4.41 in 2015 to 4.50 in the present edition of the report. The country stays a pretty travel destination because of its price competitiveness, good air connections and exquisite natural resources.
Vietnam made significant progress, rising eight places on the planet rankings to succeed in 67th position. The country, which is already endowed with exceptional natural and cultural resources, has benefited significantly from improvements in human resources and the labor market. Vietnam has also made exceptional improvements in its capabilities and use of knowledge and communication technologies.
Most countries within the region depend on wealthy natural resources and good prices to draw tourists. Thanks to their visa policies, also they are normally open internationally. Governments within the region recognize the strategic role that tourism plays in job creation and are proactively supporting the sector.
However, there remains to be a big gap in infrastructure (air infrastructure, roads, tourism services) and ICT readiness between probably the most advanced within the subregion, especially Singapore, and to a lesser extent Malaysia and Thailand in comparison with the remaining.
Source : weforum.org || Report on the competitiveness of the travel and tourism industry 2017
