Taiwan's Tourism Competitiveness Up 6 to 8th in Asia-Pacific in 2011

Taiwan is 37th among 139 economies in terms of tourism competitiveness, moving up six positions to No. 8 in the Asia-Pacific, according to the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2011 recently released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), a Switzerland-based independent international organization.

But among Asia’s four little dragons, Taiwan still lags behind Singapore’s No. 10, Hong Kong’s No. 12, and South Korea’s No. 32, with the rankings based on factors including government policies, environmental protection, social security & order, infrastructure, sanitary facilities, human resources, natural resources, cultural resources, etc.

Also the World Tourism Barometer released in August by the World Tourism Organization under the United Nations (UNWTO) shows Taiwan’s international tourism revenue grew an annual 32.6% in the first quarter of this year, lower than Singapore’s 41.9%, but higher than South Korea’s 31.3% and Hong Kong’s 20%.

The Barometer estimates the world’s international tourist arrivals have grown by 4.5% in the first half, yet lower than the 6.6% registered in 2010.

Driven by rising tourists from China and Japan, Taiwan witnessed 4.29 million tourist arrivals in the first nine months, the highest ever recorded.

Last year Taiwan’s international tourism revenue came to US$8.6 billion, still less than S. Korea’s US$9.8 billion and far behind that of Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and China, whose revenues totaled US$13.1 billion, US$19.7 billion, US$22.2 billion, and US$45.8 billion, respectively.

Source - cens.com