Spain has World’s most competitive tourist industry

According to the World Economic Forum, Spain has held on to its crown for the second year running as most competitive tourism sector. Spain has long been the go to place for everything from package holidays from the high street through to attracting the rich and famous.

The group’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017: Paving the Way for a More Sustainable & Inclusive Future, which covers 136 economies, grants Spain a top score of 5.4 on 7 on its Competitiveness Index, ranking higher than France and Germany who fell second and third respectively.

The report is published every two years and looks at infrastructure, security, and rich cultural resources.  Spain has been climbing up the ladder to take the title pretty quickly as in 2011 it ranked 8^th and 2013 it ranked 4^th. In 2015 Spain took the crown and has now reclaimed it for a second year.

The report analyses 14 key areas and whist Spain didn’t top the charts in each of those areas, its overall high score in all of the categories made it the winner. Two of the lowest scoring areas in the report where price competitiveness and business environment.

Not being the cheapest destination is not really a worrying factor as there is something in Spain for every budget and being too cheap would perhaps no longer attract the rich and famous and those wealthy individuals that push lots of money into the tourism spend whilst they are here.

Another category analysed was Spain’s air infrastructure. In this category Spain is amongst the top 9 countries, although the ground transportation infrastructure is only in the top 15 which suggests a little modernisation is required.

Spain holds this crown quite simply because as a tourist destination it delivers. Much of this has to do with climate and things to do as well as being an easy commute for Europeans, but one thing the report implies is that Spain cannot sit on its laurels if it wants to keep the top spot.