Competitiveness of Philippine tourism slips
THE PHILIPPINES slipped five spots down to rank 79th in the World Economic Forum’s biannual report that measured the relative health of the tourism sector in 136 countries.
The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 — which has Spain, France and Germany in the top spots — also showed the Philippines trailing behind regional peers like Malaysia (26th), Thailand (34th), Indonesia (42nd) and Vietnam (67th).
Released on Thursday, the report noted that the Philippines registered a lower competitiveness performance from 2015 de- spite continuously developing its rich natural resources and high price competitiveness at a time when arrivals remain growing.
The factors that pulled down the country’s ranking are a more restrictive visa policy that reduces its openness performance (60th), a reduction of the government budget dedicated to the development of the sector by almost half, and reduced efficiency of ground transport (107th, down 14 places).
“These factors may not have had their full effect yet, and may reduce tourism activity in the future,” said the report, which was produced by the Forum in collaboration with its data partners.
“In addition, security concerns remain high ( 126th) and diminished protection of property rights, less effective judicial system and stricter rules on FDIs (foreign direct investments) have reduced the conduciveness of the business environment (82nd),” it added.
“At the same time, environmental policy has improved but remains low ( 118th), risking to undermine natural resources, the main asset for attracting tourists in the country.”
It said that although the Philippines’ travel and tourism potential remains high, “there are several areas where policy interventions could help to regain competitiveness.”
The Philippines scored 3.6 on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 being the most desirable outcome. In 2015, it also scored 3.6 but ranked 74th out of 141 countries.
The country’s performance comes at a time when Forum heralded Asia as having a tourism and travel sector whose time is “arriving.”
Japan, China, South Korea and India boost the region’s tourismfriendliness.
“Asia has most improved its tourism- friendliness of all regions,” Forum said in a statement that introduced the report.
This year, Singapore came out in 13th place, a drop of two places against 2015, but still at Southeast Asia’s helm. China ranked 15th, up two spots; Japan is fourth, up five places; India at 40th showed the biggest improvement with a climb of 12 places.
“While advanced economies still hold the top spots in the
ranking, 12 of the top 15 most improved countries are emerging markets, with Asia’s as exponents,” the Forum said.
Asian countries compare with the United States ( sixth, down two places) and Switzerland (10th, down four).
“The travel and tourism sector in many countries around the world remain a bright spot in economic and job growth,” the Forum said in its report, adding, however, that “technological and sustainability challenges are growing.”