Skift Take
Lots of complex geopolitical forces are at play when it comes to future developments in the global travel economy, and rankings such as these show how the historical incumbents are being challenged by all types of local, regional, global and digital changes.
Every two years the World Economic Forum comes out with an in-depth analysis of the travel and tourism competitiveness of economies around the world.
This year’s report ranks 141 countries across 14 separate dimensions, with an eye on benchmarking these countries on how well they are able to deliver sustainable economic and societal benefits through their travel and tourism sector. The report also identifies areas where the tourism-oriented economies could do better in adapting to changing global trends as well as growing market segments.
The charts below are the top rankings of various countries along the selected criteria, and for the first time since the rankings started nine years ago, Spain topped the overall ranking and is a positive sign for the country’s nascent recovery. Traditional strong travel and tourism destinations such as France, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Italy, Japan, and Canada complete the top 10.
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Photo credit: The top competitive tourism economies in the world in 2015.