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.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS