Taiwan took 30th place in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) seventh Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017, up two notches from the previous report.
The report, issued every two years, ranks nations in friendliness toward tourism, covering regulatory framework, business environment and infrastructure, as well as human, cultural and natural resources.
The report, which is seen as an indicator of the sustainable economic and societal benefits that nations could realize through their travel industries, assessed 136 economies, the WEF said.
The report ranked Taiwan as the seventh-most tourism-friendly nation in Asia, 16th in ground transportation and port facilities, 26th in cultural resources and business travel and 28th for safety, the WEF said.
It said that Europe continued to dominate, with Spain, France and Germany taking the top three spots, even at a time when the region faces terrorism threats.
Japan ranked as the fourth-most tourism-friendly nation, followed by the UK, the US, Australia, Italy, Canada and Switzerland.
However, despite European dominance, Asia made a particularly strong showing in the latest ranking, the WEF said.
Following Japan, Hong Kong came in 11th in the world, ahead of Singapore (13th), China (15th), South Korea (19th) and Malaysia (26th), while India rose 12 notches from the previous report to take 40th place, it said.
The WEF said that the increasing importance of demand from emerging markets and of technology is quickly changing the tourism landscape.
Among other studies, WEF statistics show that global travel and tourism make up 10 percent of the world’s GDP and grows faster than many other sectors, driving economic growth and creating jobs.
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