Thailand’s ranking in the World Economic Forum’s just-released Tourism Development Index 2021 has slipped to 36th from 35th last year, placing it third in Southeast Asia behind Singapore and Indonesia. The ranking shows that the decline was mainly due to a deterioration in safety and security ratings, as well as a deterioration in travel and tourism policies and favorable conditions. Among 117 countries, Thailand dropped one spot with 4.3 out of 7. Conversely, Indonesia jumped from 44th to 32nd in the index, surpassing Thailand. Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos also improved their rankings, while…
Thailand Ranking 2021 Tourism Development Index The just-released World Economic Forum slips to 36th from 35th It ranked third in Southeast Asia the year before, after Singapore and Indonesia.
The ranking shows that the decline was mainly due to a deterioration in safety and security ratings, as well as a deterioration in travel and tourism policies and favorable conditions.
Among 117 countries, Thailand dropped one spot with 4.3 out of 7. Conversely, Indonesia went from 44th to 32nd In the index, it surpassed Thailand. Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos also improved their rankings, while the Philippines and Malaysia dropped nine places.
Vietnam rose from 60th to 52ndwhile Singapore remains in ninth place.
The index is based on a score from 1 to 7, with 1 being the worst performer.
Poor safety and hygiene ranking
Ranked 92nd in Thailand for safety and securitynd With a score of 4.3, it lags the ASEAN average of 5.4. Thailand’s health and hygiene ranking is 74th, with a score of 4.3. In terms of travel and tourism policy and favourable conditions, the priority of travel and tourism dropped to 88th 3.7 points, the lowest in the region, with an average of 4.4 points.
The categories that improved were infrastructure and tourism sustainability, while tourism and tourism demand drivers remained the same. However, while Thailand’s sustainability score improved, its environmental sustainability was the lowest in the region at 3.6 and ranked 97thth comprehensive.
Thailand has the highest score for price competitiveness at 5.6, but is still below the sub-regional average of 5.8.
Outdated laws and inefficient enforcement
“The root of the problem is outdated laws and poor enforcement. On environmental issues, we may have launched many sustainable policies over the past few years, but in practice they are still too slow,” Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of the Thai Hotels Association, told Bangkok Post.
Other concerns, she added, were the lower priority of travel in public policy and general compliance with rules and regulations in the hospitality industry.
Ongoing issues with safety and security have plagued the country’s reputation for years, Nunbhakdi said, noting that the government should take the issue more seriously to avoid repeating unpleasant outcomes.
In the overall ranking, Japan tops the tourism index, followed by the US, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, the UK, Singapore and Italy. At the bottom of the ranking are Angola, Sierra Leone, Mali, Yemen and Chad.
