Spain has, once again, topped the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) list on travel and tourism competitiveness.
WEF’s biennial report is based on the theme ‘paving the way for a more sustainable and inclusive future’. France and Germany continue to be ranked second and third respectively, depicting no change from the 2015 edition.
Surprise entry in the top five countries is Japan, which is ranked at number four, a jump of five places from the last time the rankings were released.
Japan is said to have a great tourist inflow because of two-fold reasons of ‘unique cultural resources and business’.
India was ranked at 40, a considerable jump of 12 places from 2015. Asia-Pacific also emerged as the most-improved region.
War-torn country Yemen was ranked the last of the analysed nations, at 136, still a jump of two places.
African countries Burundi and Chad were ranked 134 and 135, respectively.
Azerbaijan at 71st position is one of the most improved economies this year, rising 13 places in the global rankings.
According to the report, the travel and tourism industry contributed $7.6 trillion to the global economy (10.2 per cent of global GDP) and generated 292 million jobs (1 in 10 jobs on the planet) in 2016.
