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THE
Philippines has improved its rankings in the 2008 Travel
and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), but still
trailed behind most of its Asean neighbors.
The 2008
Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (TTCR)
recently released by the World Economic Forum (WEF)
showed that the country now ranked 81st from 86th last
year.
However,
despite the improvement in ranking, the Philippines’
overall score of 3.70 was still lower than last year’s,
which was pegged at 3.79.
The
country lagged behind
Singapore,
which ranked 16th among 130 economies included in the
report; Malaysia, 32nd; Thailand, 42nd; and Indonesia,
80th. Of the Philippines’ Asean neighbors, it was only
able to move ahead of
Vietnam,
which ranked 96th overall.
“This
year’s report, under the theme ‘Balancing Economic
Development and Environmental Sustainability,’ places a
particular focus on this issue, both through a
reinforced environmental component of the index used to
measure travel and tourism [T&T] competitiveness and
through topics covered by the analytical chapters,” the
report said.
“The
dependence of tourism on the quality of the natural
environment places it in a special position in terms of
environmental sustainability, leading national
governments and the tourism industry to focus
increasingly on environmental protection. Environmental
conservation is now firmly at the center of discussions
on national T&T competitiveness, given its importance
for achieving long-term sustainable growth in the
sector,” the report added.
The
overall ranking was based on the scores and rankings of
each economy in three subindixes, T&T regulatory
framework, business environment and infrastructure, and
human, cultural and natural resources.
The
Philippines ranked 83rd in regulatory framework with a
score of 4.14; business environment and infrastructure,
84th, with a score of 3.20; and human, cultural and
natural resources, 78th, with a score of 3.75.
The
three subindexes were based on the ranking and scores of
countries in the 12 pillars which measured a country’s
competitiveness in travel and tourism.
These 12
pillars were policy rules and regulations; environmental
sustainability; safety and security; health and hygiene;
prioritization of Travel & Tourism; air transport
infrastructure; ground transport infrastructure; tourism
infrastructure; ICT infrastructure; price
competitiveness in the T&T industry; human resources;
affinity for T&T; natural resources; and cultural
resources.
Of all
the pillars, the
Philippines
received its lowest rank of 113 in safety and security,
with a score of 3.99.
This is
based on a country’s competitiveness in the business
costs of terrorism, reliability of police services,
business costs of crime and violence, and road-traffic
accidents. None of these indicators were considered by
the report as areas where the country had a competitive
advantage.
Meanwhile, the country received its highest rank of 9th
in price competitiveness in the travel and tourism
industry, with a score of 5.47.
Price
competitiveness is based on ticket taxes and airport
charges, purchasing-power parity, extent and effect of
taxation, fuel-price levels, and hotel price index. Of
these indicators, the report did not consider the extent
and effect of taxation as an area where the country had
a competitive advantage.
The top
5 in the global survey were Switzerland, with a score of
5.63, followed by Austria, 5.43; Germany, 5.41;
Australia, 5.34; and Spain, 5.30.
The data
used for the report came from the WEF’s Executive
Opinion Survey. Respondents were asked to rank from a
scale of 1 to 7, 1 being the lowest and 7 the highest,
countries according to 51 indicators.
These
responses were averaged to come up with the actual
score, which is the basis used for the rankings.
This is
second edition of the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness
Report. which presented the WEF’s latest opinion on
travel and tourism competitiveness. |
