K2 mountain range in Pakistan. PHOTO: FILE
Even as news reports of bomb blasts, street violence, flailing airlines and crumbling tourist spots keep trickling onto front pages, the World Economic Forum's Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTC1) 2013 report released on Thursday revealed that Pakistan had improved by three ranking points, up from 125 in 2011 to 122 in 2013.
Pakistan landed between Cameroon (121) and Bangladesh (123) in the overall world ranking, while neighbouring India ranked 65 on the competitiveness table.
In the regional Asia Pacific rankings, Pakistan came in at 24, in between Tajikistan (23) and Bangladesh (25).
The ranking are divided into three sub indexes, where Pakistan ranked 131 on the travel and tourism regulatory framework, 104 on the business environment and infrastructure, and 116 on travel and tourism human, cultural and natural resources.
The index was compiled by taking 14 statistically significant indicators into account including, policy rules and regulations, environmental sustainability, safety and security, health and hygiene, prioritisation of travel and tourism, airport transport infrastructure, ground transport and infrastructure, tourism infrastructure, ICT infrastructure, price competitiveness in the travel and tourism industry, human resources, affinity for travel and tourism, natural resources and cultural resources.
Improvement
According to the report, Pakistan showed improvements in the areas of human resources, where the indices on education and training have improved to the rank of 125 in 2013 as compared to 134 in 2011.
Similarly, availability of qualified labor showed an improvement, rising to 79 in 2013 as compared to 100 in 2011 -- an indication of a return of skilled labour force from the middle east and other countries.
Decline
Among the areas where Pakistan showed poor performance are policy rules and regulations, dropping from a ranking of 106 in 2011 to 120 this year. Pakistan also fell in prioritising of travel and tourism, which secured a rank of 131 in 2013 as compared to 121 in 2011.
Out of all the economies on the TTCI, the list was topped by Switzerland, while Haiti finished last.
Table ranking (bottom)
Read the full WEF report here.
Correction: An earlier version of the story used an incorrect map of Pakistan. The error is regretted.
COMMENTS (24)
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@lmao lol nothing man, ive read alot about pakistani cultures so i know alot go google it urself and u'll find out. pakistani culture dont have a culture of itself but a diversity of cultures!
emphasized texti believe it is probably asia’s most uniquest culture and attractions. ranging from variety of food to clothes to architecture to landscapes pakistan has it all. and then variation within itself, our culture ranges from persian to turkish to indian to greek to anglo to afgani to sindhi to punjabi to pushto and many more
@hamza -Dude, what have you been smoking - pls pass it around.
ALLAH has blessed Pakistan so much in all spheres of life that we can not imagine.May it be scenic beauties, diversified culture, all four seasons, all types of terrain, minerals, one of teh world's highest mountain peaks, all types of grains, fruits and vegetables and the list goes on.Only if we can think Pakistani and promote peace and harmony then i have no doubt that we can top this chart in no time and IN SHA ALLAH we will top this chart.This is a voice from hearts of all Pakistanis.Long Live Pakistan.
If I am right, Saudi Arabia is the only country where tourism is not allowed. How ever they make up the monetary loss by religious pilgrimages.
Don't worry dear friendz you know very well the potential of pakistan .. Just keep in mind "jab tak bhoto zinda hy" we will never achive our goals ..
Appreciat new people new ideas in politics ..
I once talked with an Iranian born Canadian who lamented how the peaceful and tolerant Iranians were and how they valued their heritage alongwith the religion..... But after the overthrowing of Shah regime,the Ayotullah regime is trying their best to dissociate from their Zoroastrian past and act like Arabs...
I think Pakistanis are venturing in the same path,they want to project the achievements of the Glorious Muslim empire which ruled India,but most of the places like Tajmahal,Ajmer Dargah,Jama Masjid are all in India..but they had to contend with the Mohenjodaro,Harappa,the ancient Gandhara empire,Hindu temples,Taxila, which they dont want to accept as its against their ideology of forming the nation.
If Pakistan doesnt project their pre-islamic history,then they will not develop their tourism even if the current chaos has been brought to rest...
@Imran Ahsan Mirza: @Saad Durrani: @ET My apologies!
LOL sometimes articles like this makes me laugh. first of all there are several surveys published on the same year and same topics but results vary alot so surveys are not quite a good source secondly no matter which survey it is of tourism pakistan is quite behind. the main reason is corruption and nothing else. we have such an immense attraction for tourism that i believe it is probably asia's most uniquest culture and attractions. ranging from variety of food to clothes to architecture to landscapes pakistan has it all. and then variation within itself, our culture ranges from persian to turkish to indian to greek to anglo to afgani to sindhi to punjabi to pushto and many more. pakistan has the potential to become top ten tourist destination and it can be done if our leaders know the importance of it.
we the pakistanis have been through alot of turmoil since the begining. but there is always the end. and i know it will be good. what i think is that it is important for every country to have a time period of this kind so that we can improve and make adequate laws for near future. this country have been through invasions (,before formation of pakistan) disasters earthquakes and still stands as strong as a metal.our city karachi is going through one of its most rough period but still stands up against the worlds giants. its stock market is still one of the top in the world i encourage u all to pray for pakistan and eradicate terrorism not only in pakistan but all over the world so that the world could live in peace!
Why does Ivory Coast rank below Pakistan? It is such a lovely country! I love Abidjan.
No place in the world can compete Pakistan in terms of beauty, healthy resorts, seasonal climate, hospitable people. We just need to get rid of extremist groups and corrupt politicians to make this ranking better.
I like having my head attached to the rest of me. No thank you.
@Namaloum Afraad: I am not originally from Pak I am from India settled abroad. But then like you said, who is stopping me from coming over. If I am destined to die in some heist or bombing or firing in Pak, then perhaps yes, my destiny will bring me over on some pretext. What I am saying is that bomings, firings, kidnappings have increased a lot in Pak giving instability and unpredictability to the economy and security of the country.
Uganda, Ghana, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Cameroon are all African nations and are above Pakistan.....
Non-state actors in Pakistan have organized non-state activities. Both North and South Waziristan, have these "tourists" on a large scale. They are called "strategic assets" by some state actors, and their passports are not stamped!!. Their strategic activities, take place in every corner of the country, at the time of their choosing, at the location of their choosing. Perhaps Pakistan state actors has its hands full of these "tourists" and does not need to scale the greasy pole, to become Number one tourist country after all. We after all have a "soft image" which we wish to maintain, don't we ???
@Stranger: Ok, then go ahead. You are granted "chance" for doing it.
@G. Din: Bhuttan, mate.
Hi , given a chance I would love to visit Pak - the Mohanjodaro civilisations , the Murree mountain area, The deserts of Balouch Jhang - where Heer Ranjha was written , some of our Hindu temples which are more than 1000 years old , Mashallah what nice places Pak has . Unfortunately it does not provide security. At least in this birth I can forget visiting Pak for tourism.
@G. Din: Perhaps, it is Bhutan.
By the way, there is a paragraph where one can find two varieties of spelling of the word, "labor".
Is that a big Himalayan lake between India and Tibet, or is it a piece of Myanmarese territory? Or is it ET's cartographic mischief? Can't just help yourself, can you?
Pakistan now comes in the category of Africa in terms of comparison, Africa is hindered with decades of oppression depression hunger and violence since decades. Wake up People of Pakistan its our responsibility too to do something for our country in an any way we could.
Who are other 18? Err
Thanks God.............. there are 18 countries blow us.... not bad at all
Only if our government had focused on establishing peace throughout the country...Pakistan has everything to bring it back on the way to development. We only lack peace and good leaders. Had some hope in PTI but recent news about PTI isn't good either. Hopefully they'll sort it out soon!
Inshallah things will get better. Keep performing your duties. Be the part of a change. The change which youth of Pakistan will bring.