India has moved up six places to rank 34th on world travel and tourism competitiveness index, driven by rich natural and cultural resources and strong price competitiveness, a WEF report said on Wednesday. India’s ranking improved from 40th to 34th, the greatest improvement over 2017 among the top 25 per cent of all countries ranked in the report. “India, which accounts for the majority of South Asia’s T&T (travel and tourism) GDP, remains the sub-region’s most competitive T&T economy, moving up six places to rank 34th globally,” the report said.
As per the report, China, Mexico, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil, and India — which are not high-income economies but rank in the top 35 in the overall list — stand out in the Cultural Resources and Business Travel Pillar through their combination of rich natural and cultural resources and strong price competitiveness. Spain held on to the top spot in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (TTCR), which ranked 140 countries on their relative strengths in global tourism and travel.
Spain was followed by France, Germany, and Japan, with the United States replacing the UK in the top five. Others in the top 10 list include the United Kingdom at the 6th place, Australia (7th), Italy (8th), Canada (9th) and Switzerland (10th).