India drops 8 slots on tourism index

India dropped eight slots to the 54th position in the global Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI).

India witnessed a 2.6 per cent drop in the scores and fell from the 46th position to 54th in 2021. Malaysia saw the steepest drop at 3 per cent, followed by India, and then Mongolia at 2.1 per cent. On the other hand, Pakistan is among the countries, which has improved their TTDI scores the most since 2019. The score improved 2.9 per cent, taking the country from 89th to 83rd.

TTDI by the World Economic Forum benchmarks and measures the set of factors and policies that enable the sustainable and resilient development of the sector across countries.

On an average, TTDI scores increased by just 0.1 per cent between 2019 and 2021, with only 39 out of 117 economies improving by more than 1 per cent. Of them, 51 increased or decreased their scores within a 1 per cent range and 27 saw a decline by over 1 per cent.

The travel and tourism sector was hit hard by the pandemic. Despite a rebound, the recovery has been slow and unpredictable as international tourist arrivals in January 2022 were still 67 per cent below 2019 numbers.

The sector is a major driver of economic development and global connectivity. Therefore, supporting its development and recovery will help the global recovery and build resilience and support all of those who depend on the sector for work.

A more inclusive, sustainable and resilient sector needs to be built. However, this calls for thoughtful and effective consideration, WEF said.