WEF: Azerbaijan significantly rises in international tourism ranking

Baku. 14 April. REPORT.AZ/ In last 2 years, Azerbaijan takes the 71st place, rising 13 places in "The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report".

Report informs citing "The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index" developed by the World Economic Forum, following Japan, Azerbaijan has significantly improved its performance scores from 2015 and was the 2nd. Its performance score grew by 5.98%.

Notably, Spain, France and Germany hold first 3 places in the rankings. Burundi, Chad and Yemen are the latest three. Russia holds the 43th place, following by Turkey. Georgia is a step higher than Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s liberalization of its visa regime has led to an improvement in the nation’s openness (77th). At the same time the country has made efforts to enhance its natural and cultural resources by increasing the total size of protected areas (83rd) and actively promoting its oral and intangible cultural expressions (14th). Azerbaijan is the 31st in price competitiveness ranking due to the depreciation of the national currency. Iran is the cheapest country, while the most expensive Switzerland.

Azerbaijan’s relatively safe environment ranked 35th, flexible labour market 20th and positive health conditions 37th. The country's T&T competiveness currently ranked 77th for transport infrastructure. Russia ranks 109th, Turkey 116th, Kazakhstan 58th, Ukraine 1278th in WEF safety. Finland, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iceland, Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore, Norway, Switzerland, Rwanda and Qatar remain the safest destinations globally among 136 countries. Yemen and Columbia are the latest.

Azerbaijan ranks 89th for tourism services infrastructure. According to the WEF report, international tourist arrival in Azerbaijan made 1,921,925 in 2016. International tourism inbound receipts amounts to 2.3 mln USD, average receipts per arrival 1,201.7 USD.