Bangkok Post Article: Date: 12-03-2007
Travel Monitor
'Beauty contest' competitiveness study flawed
By Imtiaz Muqbil
Countries will soon be parading in yet another international beauty contest following the release of the World Economic Forum's first Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) last week at ITB Berlin, the world's largest travel trade show.
Designed to provide benchmarks to identify key obstacles to competitiveness, and to promote dialogue among government, business and social groups on how to remove them, the report reflects the Davos-based organisation's recognition of tourism's importance to the global economy.
According to World Travel and Tourism Council figures quoted in the report, in 2006, travel and tourism accounted for 10.3% of world gross domestic product and 234 million jobs, or 8.2% of total employment worldwide.
The report ranks the travel and tourism industries of 124 global economies based on 13 factors: 1. Policy rules and regulations; 2. Environmental regulation; 3. Safety and security; 4. Health and hygiene; 5. Prioritisation of travel and tourism; 6. Air transport infrastructure; 7. Ground transport infrastructure; 8. Tourism infrastructure; 9. ICT infrastructure; 10. Price competitiveness; 11. Human resources; 12. National tourism perception; 13. Natural and cultural resources.
Thailand is ranked 43rd in the TTCI, just behind South Korea.
Says the report: ``Thailand benefits from a very friendly attitude toward tourists (ranked 6th), and the sector is indeed prioritised by the government (14th) with, similar to Malaysia, excellent destination marketing campaigns. ... However, important weaknesses remain, particularly regarding the quality of transport and tourism infrastructure, both of which remain relatively underdeveloped.''
The report also ranks Thailand 104th on foreign ownership restrictions and 102nd on risk of malaria and yellow fever.
Switzerland tops the rankings, praised for safety, environmental regulation, human resources, air and ground transport and tourism infrastructure, and natural and cultural resources.
Others in the top 10 are: Austria, Germany, Iceland, US, Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. In Asia the top 10 are: Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, India and China. Strangely, Hong Kong is listed as a separate ``country''.
The report draws on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), World Trade Organisation (WTO), World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) as well as WEF executive survey data for which the Thailand input was provided by the National Economic and Social Development Board.
The consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton was the ``strategic design partner'' and funding support came from the UNWTO, WTTC, Bombardier, Carlson Group, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, Silversea Cruises, Swiss International Airlines and Visa International.
Although the report quotes WEF senior economist Jennifer Blanke as saying it is ``not a `beauty contest','' a closer look signals a largely unrealistic ``apples versus oranges'' comparison with a clear aim to drive the globalisation agenda and business interests of its backers.
An unduly high proportion of the criteria relate to airport and aviation infrastructure, including a very obvious reference to ``openness of bilateral air services agreements'' as a category deserving its own ranking. The category ``Tourism Infrastructure'' contains sub-categories such as, ``ATMs accepting Visa cards'' and ``presence of major car rental companies''.
The over-arching theme is that anything that is good for business, is good for both the people and the countries concerned.
However, if the rankings, biases, corporate agendas and numerous errors are set aside, the report does have its uses. It provides a comprehensive global state-of-play that many investors and policymakers will find useful.
Even so, policymakers will need to resist the pressure to make decisions just in order to rise in the rankings. Academics could also find it extremely useful as a template to develop a counter-index of corporate behaviour by multinationals in the travel and tourism sector.The full three-part report of nearly 500 pages is downloadable for free: http://
www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/TravelandTourismReport/index.htm
Imtiaz Muqbil is executive editor of Travel Impact Newswire, an e-mailed feature and analysis service focusing on the Asia-Pacific travel industry.
