Traveling abroad may be expensive, but some destinations are much pricier than others and the key to stress-free holidays often lies in the reasonable budgeting. But there are many other factors that determine whether a city or a country is good for tourism, or not – health and hygiene, transport infrastructure, tourist service, and so on. And one of the latest reports by the World Economic Forum ranks the UAE among the best performers in the world and the most travel and tourism competitive country in MENA.
In its Global Travel & Tourism Report, the World Economic Forum analyses the travel and tourism industries in 141 countries across the world and ranks them based on several major indicators – price competitiveness, tourist service infrastructure, safety and security, business environment, health and hygiene, international openness, environmental sustainability, natural resources, human resources and labour market, ground and port infrastructure, air transport infrastructure, prioritization of travel and tourism, cultural resources and business travel, and ICT readiness. The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index also analyzes each country or territory’s performance on various aspects of these indicators. The UAE has been ranked as the top performer in the Middles East and North Africa (MENA) region, while it’s also high in the overall list at number 24. Regionally, it’s followed by Qatar (43rd), Bahrain (60th), Morocco (62nd) and Saudi Arabia (64th).
Overall, the UAE ranks 3rd in the world when it comes to its air transport infrastructure and the safety and security it offers, while it’s also 4th best in its business environment. However, the country is a top performer in many of the sub-indicators – profit tax rate, quality of roads, ease of hiring foreign labour, access to improved drinking water, sustainability of travel and tourism development, and many others. Interestingly, the UAE enjoys the highest government prioritization of this industry, as well as the highest effectiveness of marketing and branding in attracting tourists. However, WEF’s analysts say that the UAE still needs to work on international openness and its cultural resources and business travel.
Meanwhile, Spain tops the ranking for the first time in 2015, becoming the most travel and tourism competitive country in the world. It’s followed by other traditional leaders in the industry – France, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Italy, Japan, and Canada. However, when we speak of competitiveness, we should also mention the most expensive countries for tourists – places where you will spend several times more than you might have expected.
The most expensive countries to visit in 2015:
Switzerland- United Kingdom
- France
- Australia
- Norway
- Israel
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Italy
- Austria
This top 10 list is based on data from the WEF and the World Bank and includes costs of living, average cost of flight to and from that destination, average cost for hotel accommodation, fuel prices, as well as purchasing power parity. And while these 10 are among the top popular tourist spots, other countries that are also quite expensive are not necessary traditional vacation destinations. These include Senegal, Netherlands, Barbados, Iceland, Hong Kong, Germany, Myanmar, Canada, Seychelles, Ireland, and Finland.
