Despite Improvement, Pakistan Still Ranks Among Bottom 20 for Travel & Tourism

The incumbent PTI government’s efforts to promote tourism are gradually bearing fruit as more and more foreign tourists are visiting Pakistan. In addition, domestic tourism is also on the rise in the country.

According to the latest edition of the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum, Pakistan has improved from 124th in 2017 to 121st in 2019. Although the ranking hasn’t improved drastically, the data shows a positive trend. Pakistan ended up one spot below Bangladesh in the list.

Spain topped the list of 140 countries with an impressive score of 5.4. France, Germany, and Japan also scored 5.4 as the global average stood at 3.8.

Methodology

The countries were ranked based on the following factors and sub-factors:

1. Environment – (25% weight)
   1. Business Environment – (5% weight)
   2. Safety and Security – (5% weight)
   3. Health and Hygiene – (5% weight)
   4. Human Resources and Labour Market – (5% weight)
   5. ICT Readiness – (5% weight)
2. Policy and Enabling Conditions – (25% weight)
   1. Prioritization of Travel & Tourism – (6.25% weight)
   2. International Openness – (6.25% weight)
   3. Price Competitiveness – (6.25% weight)
   4. Environmental Sustainability – (6.25% weight)
3. Infrastructure – (25% weight)
   1. Air Transport Infrastructure – (8.33% weight)
   2. Ground and Port Infrastructure – (8.33% weight)
   3. Tourist Service Infrastructure – (8.33% weight)
4. Natural and Cultural Resources – (25% weight)
   1. Natural Resources – (12.5% weight)
   2. Cultural Resources and Business Travel – (12.5% weight)

Pakistan’s Rank

The data for Pakistan has been taken from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). Pakistan scored 3.1 on a scale of 1-7 with 7 being the most desirable countries for tourism. The country scored 2.8 in 2017 edition of the report.

Here are the key indicators for Pakistan:

Top 10 Countries

Here are the top 10 countries on the list:

Rank	Country	Score
1	Spain	5.4
2	France	5.4
3	Germany	5.4
4	Japan	5.4
5	US	5.4
6	UK	5.2
7	Australia	5.1
8	Italy	5.1
9	Canada	5.1
10	Switzerland	5.0

Worst 10 Countries

According to the Index, these are the worst 10 cities for tourism:

Rank	Country	Score
140	Yemen	2.4
139	Chad	2.5
138	Liberia	2.6
137	Burundi	2.7
136	The Democratic Republic of Congo	2.7
135	Mauritania	2.7
134	Angola	2.7
133	Haiti	2.8
132	Burkina Faso	2.8
131	Sierra Leone	2.8

You can read the full report here.

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