India slips 10 spots on WEF’s travel and tourism index

India slipped 10 places to 39th in the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Development Index since the last pre-covid survey in 2019, amid shortcomings in infrastructure, skilled workforce development, and health and hygiene standards.

Despite the Asia-Pacific region’s strong performance, ranking second highest among regions, India scored 4.25 on a scale from 1 to 7.

India topped the region, beating Sri Lanka (76), Pakistan (101), Nepal (105), and Bangladesh (109).

Its natural resources, cultural heritage, competitive pricing, and business offerings beyond traditional leisure activities significantly boosted India’s overall score.

“Countries such as China, Japan and India are home to some of the largest tourism economies in the world and all three rank near the top for natural, cultural and non-leisure assets,” the report pointed out.

In contrast, high-income Asia-Pacific economies such as Japan, Australia, South Korea, and Singapore excelled in the rankings due to their well-developed transportation and digital infrastructure, trade and investment openness, and a business environment prioritizing safety, security, and a skilled workforce.

The region, along with Europe, dominated the rankings, with 26 of the top 30 being high-income countries. The regional breakdown shows a clear advantage: 19 in Europe, 7 in Asia-Pacific, 3 in the Americas, and just 1 in the Middle East and North Africa.

Leading the pack in 2024 were the US, Spain, Japan, France, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Italy, and Switzerland.

These top performers shared several key strengths, as per the report, including a welcoming business environment, open travel policies, and well-developed infrastructure across transportation, tourism facilities, and information technology.

Their natural beauty, cultural richness, and diverse offerings beyond traditional leisure activities further solidified their dominance, according to the report.

Not surprisingly, these top 30 countries accounted for over 75% of the global GDP from travel and tourism in 2022 and contributed significantly to its growth (70% of GDP growth between 2020 and 2022).

India, as an emerging South Asian economy with the region’s largest travel and tourism sector, offered competitive pricing.

It, however, lagged in developing its transportation, tourism facilities, and information and communication technology infrastructure. Moreover, its business environment needs to better support tourism, the report said.