Government efforts to promote the tourism industry suffered a blow yesterday, with a global survey showing Taiwan plunging 22 places to 52nd and falling three notches to seventh in Asia in a world ranking of competitiveness.
The Geneva-based World Economic Forum's (WEF) Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008 showed Taiwan not only lagged behind many Western countries, but had also been overtaken by regional competitors, such as South Korea (31), Malaysia (32) and Thailand (42).
The WEF launched its Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report last year, when Taiwan, scoring 4.82 on the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), ranked 30th out of 124 countries, and fourth in Asia, after Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.
However, in this year's results, Taiwan scored 4.23 and lagged behind Asian neighbors such as Hong Kong (14), Singapore (16) and Japan (23). China ranked 62nd, an improvement from last year's 71st position.
Switzerland maintained top spot in this year's report, followed by Austria and Germany, while Australia, Spain, the UK, the US, Sweden, Canada and France rounded out the top 10 in that order.
The WEF gauged areas and countries' travel and tourism potential based on three major criteria -- travel and tourism regulatory framework; business environment and infrastructure; and human, cultural and natural resources.
The nation ranked 29th in terms of "business environment and infrastructure," but suffered huge drops in the "regulatory framework" and "human, cultural and natural resources" indexes, falling from 28th to 69th and 23rd to 79th respectively.
Based on the report's 14 "pillars," Taiwan was strong in "information and communication technology infrastructure," placing 10th, and in "ground transport infrastructure and human resources," ranking 13th.
However, weaknesses in "health and hygiene" (ranking 101st) and natural resources (103rd) pulled the nation's ranking down.
"Environmental sustainability" was given greater importance this year, underlining the fact that environmental conservation was firmly at the center of discussion on national travel and tourism competitiveness and in light of its importance in achieving long-term sustainable growth in the sector.
Taiwan fared poorly in the index of environmental sustainability, ranking 75th in environmental-related policies, compared with 21st last year.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS