Travel and tourism competitiveness: Phl up to 82nd place

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has moved up 12 notches to 82nd spot in the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness 2013 report, owing to the government’s strong push for tourism.

Citing the WEF report released in Switzerland yesterday, the Makati Business Club (MBC) said the country was among the rising stars in the emerging market economies in terms of travel and tourism competitiveness, as its rank among 140 countries “climbed from 94th (in 2011) to 82nd this year, on the back of policy improvements supporting the industry.”

The MBC is a partner institute of the WEF under the Global Benchmarking Network.

“The Philippines is the most improved country in the region, ranking 16th regionally and 82nd overall, up 12 places since the last edition,” the WEF report said. 

Among the country’s comparative strengths are its natural resources, price competitiveness, and its very strong and improving prioritization of the travel and tourism (T&T) industry.

The WEF said the government’s spending on the travel and tourism sector as a percentage of GDP is now the highest in the world.

The government’s tourism and branding campaigns are likewise seen to be effective.

“In addition, the country has been ensuring that several aspects of its policy rules and regulations regime are conducive to the development of the T&T sector,” the WEF said.

These include better protection of property rights, more openness toward foreign investments, and fewer visa requirements for foreign visitors.

The difficulty of setting up business in the country, however, remains a challenge.

Safety and security concerns, inadequate health and hygiene, and underdeveloped ground transport, as well information communication technology infrastructure are also seen to be holding back the potential of the economy’s T&T competitiveness.

The government, which launched the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” tourism campaign, is aiming to attract 10 million foreign visitors by 2016.

Foreign tourist arrivals reached 4.273 million last year, or 9.07 percent higher than in 2011.