Macedonia’s tourism has become more uncompetitive during the last two years, according to the new Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019 released by the World Economic Forum.
Compared to the last report in 2017, the country’s ranking declines by 12 positions (from 89th to 101st) out of 140 countries reviewed in the report.
The numbers in the new report are disastrous: Macedonia was the only country in the subregion to decline in T&T competitiveness (89th to 101st). The nation’s business environment (40th to 84th), human resources and labour market (83rd to 108th), safety and security (56th to 95th), T&T prioritization (85th to 114th), international openness (93rd to 119th) and ground infrastructure (62nd to 104th) all deteriorated substantially.
The TTC report is published biannually by the World Economic Forum, a non-profit organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. The WEF aims for the report to be used by policy-makers, companies and stakeholders for future developments in the tourism sector.
The report is compiled by analyzing data from the World Bank and the World Tourism Organization. It is mostly focused on factors affecting investments rather than countries’ attraction as tourist destination.
The 7-point competitiveness assessment is drawn from an index including the following three indicators: 1) legal framework; 2) enabling environment and infrastructure of doing business; 3) human, cultural and natural resources.
Macedonia’s tourism industry was estimated at 3.4 points (3.5 in 2017 and 2013). Of the South-European countries, Albania gained rank 86 (3.6), while Bosnia and Herzegovina gained 8 positions and is now ranked 105th (3.3). BiH is the only country in the region ranked behind Macedonia.
The rest of the region fared better: Greece (ranked 25th; 4.5 points), Croatia (27th; 4.5 points), Montenegro (67th; 3.9 points) and Serbia (83rd; 3.6 points).
