WEF Travel & Tourism Report Focuses on Reducing
Barriers to Economic Growth and Job Creation. Analyzing, Pakistan’s performance
among 140 countries on the travel and tourism competitiveness index on a
biennial basis.
Pakistan has shown slight improvement on the Travel and Tourism
Competitiveness Report 2013. The biennial report, published under the theme, Reducing
Barriers to Economic Growth and Job Creation, sees considerable movement in
the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index’s 14 pillars in terms of
Pakistan’s performance according to the fifth Travel & Tourism
Competitiveness Report, released today by the World Economic Forum.
Amongst the areas, where Pakistan showed poor performance are policy
rules and regulations dropping ranking from 106 in 2011 to 120 this year and prioritizing
of travel & tourism, which secured 131 in 2013 as compared to 121 in 2011.
Pakistan showed improvements in the areas of human resources, where the
indices on education and training have improved to the rank of 125 this year to
134 in 2011, similarly availability of qualified labor showed an improvement of
79 in 2013 as compared to 100 in 2011, an indication of a return of skilled
labour force from middle east and other countries.
Other area where policy, rules & regulations impacted Pakistan was
the business impact of rules on FDI ranking, which deteriorated from 73 in 2011
to 94 in 2013
The war on terror has impacted the countries travel and tourism
competitiveness, in terms of the safety and security pillar; Pakistan was
ranked at business costs of crime and violence (128), road traffic accidents/100,000
population (101) and business costs of terrorism (139).
Pakistan showed lack of attention and prioritization of the travel and
tourism in 2011/12, ranking 131 out of 140. The poor performance of railways
and the quality of railroad infrastructure also deteriorated in the last two
years where Pakistan scored 65 this year as compared to 55 in 2011.
Government’s policy on the information technology and telecommunications
also showed lack of focus as the Report signifies that the ICT use for business-to-business
has dropped from 103 to 115 from 211 to 2013 respectively. The performance of
the regulatory body for ICT also showed an alarming figure, where Pakistan’s
lost 20 ranks in 2013 as of 119 as compared to 99 two years ago.
In an effort to improve the revenue stream, governments in Pakistan have
also the mid-to-long term interest of the travel and tourism industry, the
price competitiveness in terms of the extent and effect of taxation the country
lost 23 ranks in the last two years and ranking on 68 now.
The quality of education system showed an improvement by ranking 74 this
year as compared to 87 in 2011 among 140 countries globally. The country also
showed flexibility in hiring and firing practices, thus showing a
competitiveness advantage by securing the ranking of 21.
On the cultural resources pillar, although Pakistan still maintains its
competitiveness advantage, Pakistan lost its ranking of 29 to 39 in 2011 and
2013 respectively on the no. of world heritage sites. Similarly Pakistan’s
position on number of international fairs and exhibitions at 88 in 2011 has
been dropped to 117.
Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan, the country
partner institute of the Center for Global Competitiveness and Performance,
World Economic Forum said, that “the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index
covers 140 countries and uses a combination of data from publicly available
sources, international travel and tourism institutions and experts”. It also
incorporates the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive
annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum and its network of partner
institutes. Mishal being the country partner institute of the Center for Global
Competitiveness and Performance of the World Economic Forum works closely with
the Forum for data on Pakistan. The survey provides data on many qualitative
institutional and business environment issues.
As well as providing insight into how countries are fostering the
development of their travel & tourism industry, the report also offers a
snapshot on the health of the industry and its role in driving global economic
growth. With travel and tourism accounting for one
in 11 jobs globally, the report highlights that the industry has proven
resilient during the global economic downturn and can be a key factor in paving
the way for developing and emerging markets to diversify into higher value
economic activities.
Switzerland, Germany and Austria lead the world in terms of their travel
and tourism industry competitiveness with Spain, the United Kingdom, the United
States, France, Canada, Sweden and Singapore completing the top 10.
Among developed economies, New Zealand and Japan improved strongly; the
former climbing to12th from 19th and the latter moving up eight positions to
14th. Emerging market economies reported mixed levels of progress, with India
being the only BRIC nation to move up in the rankings. In this category, rising
stars include Panama, climbing from 56th to 37th, and the Philippines, which
climbed from 94th to 82nd on the back of policy improvements supporting the
industry.
“Industry resilience has been driven by the growth of the middle class
in emerging markets, although advanced economies too are displaying positive
momentum. Better policies, harnessing technology and facilitating the movement
of people over borders will allow the industry to capitalize on this tailwind
and support rising prosperity into the future,” said Jennifer Blanke, Chief
Economist and Head of the Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Network at
the World Economic Forum.
“The travel and tourism industry has weathered the global downturn and
is now playing an important role in helping tackle serious global challenges,
including youth unemployment, economic development and environmental
sustainability. The challenge for the industry and its stakeholders today is to
maintain this powerful contribution to economic growth and employment, while
continuing to proactively pursue the shared goals of facilitating global travel
and tourism and protecting host cultures, identities and environments,” said
Thea Chiesa, Director, Head of Aviation, Travel & Tourism Industries, World
Economic Forum.
The report’s cross-country analysis of the drivers of competitiveness in
travel and tourism provides comparative information that is useful in business
decision-making and supporting policies of governments wishing to improve their
travel and tourism environments.
In addition, the report includes contributions from industry experts.
Several chapters explore issues such as how visa facilitation can play a role
in stimulating economic growth; the importance for policy-makers to leverage
local competitive advantages to thrive in a volatile environment; the impact of
the tourism sector on employment creation; and how the connectivity that
aviation sector creates sustains economic development.
The report also contains detailed country profiles for the 140 economies
featured in the study, including a comprehensive summary of their overall
positions in the Index and a guide to the most prominent travel and tourism
competitive advantages and disadvantages of each. Also included is an extensive
section of data tables covering each indicator used in the Index’s computation.
The World Economic Forum produced the report in close collaboration with
its Strategic Design Partner, Booz & Company, and its Data Partners, which
include Deloitte, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Tourism Organization
(UNWTO), Mishal Pakistan and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The
Forum also received important feedback from Industry Partners in the effort,
namely Airbus/EADS, BAE Systems, Bahrain Economic Development Board,
Bombardier, Delta, Deutsche Lufthansa/Swiss, Embraer, Etihad Airways, Jet
Airways, Hilton, Lockheed Martin, Marriott, Safran, Starwood Hotels &
Resorts and VISA.
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization
committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political,
academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry
agendas.
Incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1971 and headquartered in
Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is tied to no political, partisan or national
interests (www.weforum.org).
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