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MANILA - (UPDATED 1:44 p.m.) The Philippines climbed 12 notches in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013 of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the back of the country's "It's More Fun in the Philippines" campaign.
The country ranked 82nd, an improvement from 94th in 2011, but still places the Philippines in the bottom half of the list that covers 140 countries.
"The Philippines is included among the rising stars in emerging market economies in terms of travel and tourism competitiveness... on the back of policy improvements supporting the industry," the Makati Business Club (MBC) said in a statement on Thursday. MBC is a partner-institute of the WEF under the Global Benchmarking Network.
Released in Geneva, Switzerland, the WEF report noted that the Philippines is the "most improved country" in the Asia, ranking 16th in the region.
"Among the country’s comparative strengths are its natural resources (44th), its price competitiveness (24th), and a very strong—and improving—prioritization of the travel and tourism industry (this indicator ranks 15th, as government spending on the sector as a percentage of GDP [gross domestic product] is now first in the world, and tourism marketing and branding campaigns are seen to be increasingly effective)," the report said.
In addition, the Philippines is making sure that other aspects of its policy rules and regulations are conducive to the development of the travel and tourism industry, such as better protection of property rights; more openness toward foreign investments; and few visa requirements for foreign visitors (ranked 7th).
The government, however, needs to work on some areas such as difficulty of starting a business in the country, in both cost and length of the process (ranked 94th and 117th, respectively), the report said.
On top of this, the country has to address safety and security concerns (ranked 103rd); inadequate health and hygiene (94th); and underdeveloped ground transport, tourism, and ICT [information and communications technology] infrastructure. According to the biennial report, these factors are all holding back the potential of the economy’s travel and tourism competitiveness.
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