Bangladesh has made three steps ahead in the Global Travel and Tourism Development Index-2021. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), Bangladesh ranks 100th out of 117 countries in the world.
The index was released on May 24 by the WEF in a report titled ‘ The Travel and Tourism Development Index-2021: Rebuilding for a Sustainable and Resilient Future’. The index is based on a variety of important factors, such as the development of countries’ travel and tourism industries, sustainable systems, and security and resilience.
While Bangladesh has improved in this global index, neighbouring India has declined by 6 steps. The country ranked 47th in the index in 2020, but ranked 54th in the latest ranking of 2021.
Sri Lanka and Pakistan are in a relatively good position among the South Asian countries in the WEF’s Travel and Tourism Development Index. Sri Lanka is ranked 74th and Pakistan is ranked 73rd. On the other hand, Nepal is two steps behind Bangladesh; the country ranks 102nd. Japan tops the index and African nation Chad (116th) is in the bottom of the ranking.
According to the WEF report, the tourism industry, which has been plagued by the Covid-19 epidemic for two years, is showing signs of turning around in many parts of the world. The United States, Japan, Spain, France, and Germany are at the top of the list. But overall, international tourism and business travel are still far behind being in the pre-epidemic stage.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the sector has gained momentum due to high vaccination rates, more open travel returns and growing demand for domestic and nature-based tourism.
Japan is at the top of the index. In addition, Australia and Singapore, one of the strongest economies in the region, are ranked 7th and 9th respectively. Italy (10th) has entered the top ten of this index with 12 steps improvement compared to 2019. Last year, Canada was in 10th place in this index, but this time it has dropped to 13th place. Apart from the United States (2nd), the top 10 countries are Europe, Eurasia or the Asia-Pacific high-income economies. The top 10 countries include Spain (3rd), France (4th), Germany (5th), Switzerland (6th) and the United Kingdom (8th). However, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Maldives did not find a place in this year’s index.
