Taiwan climbed six places from last year in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report released March 7, reflecting public and private sector efforts aimed at promoting the nation as a leading international destination.
Conducted by the World Economic Forum, the report ranked Taiwan 37th out of 133 economies. Switzerland remained No. 1, followed by Germany and France. Singapore was the only Asian nation to make it into the top 10.
The biennial report, which assesses the overall competitiveness of an economy’s travel and tourism sector, covers 14 key areas such as regulatory framework, business environment, infrastructure, and cultural, human and natural resources.
Of the 73 items that make up the report’s benchmark index, Taiwan fared well in information communication technology and ground transportation infrastructure. But, the country was in the bottom 10 percentile for ease of hiring foreign labor and the number of World Heritage cultural sites.
According to the Tourism Bureau, Taiwan’s rise in the report should be even higher given that it was compiled using 2009 data.
Bureau statistics show that post-2009 promotion campaigns have delivered vast improvements in the country’s travel and tourism infrastructure. In addition, the number of foreigners visiting Taiwan is up 27 percent year on year for 2010.
“Taiwan’s 12th-place ranking in timely travel and tourism data reporting is the best indicator of government efforts to promote Taiwan as a global travel destination,” an unnamed bureau official said. “We believe these efforts should translate into an even better ranking in the next report.” (JSM)
Write to Meg Chang at meg.chang@mail.gio.gov.tw