Lebanon Ranked 94th Globally in Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI)

In its annual Travel and Tourism Competitiveness (TTC) 2013-2014 report, published under the theme “Growth through Shocks”, the World Economic Forum ranked Lebanon 94^th globally (Spain being 1^st) out of 141 countries and 11th regionally. The estimated tourism accounted for 9.5% of World GDP in 2014 and provided 226 million direct and indirect jobs during the year.

The TTCI index is divided into four main categories; “Enabling Conditions”, “Enabling Environment”, “Travel & Tourism (T&T) Policy and Enabling Conditions” ,“Infrastructure” and the “T&T human, cultural, and natural resources”. These sub-indices are further divided into 14 pillars which are in turn composed of numerous variables like property rights, price competitiveness, safety and security, health and hygiene, labor market and quality of the natural environment.

For instance, Lebanon ranked 93^rd in “Enabling Environment” category. This is on the back of the country ranking a lowly 108 in Property Rights, in addition to “Safety and Security” being placed 130. However, Lebanon would have been ranked much lower if it weren’t for its competitiveness in “Health and Hygiene”, where it ranked 1^st in “HIV Prevalence” and “Access to Improved Drinking Water”. Meanwhile, in  “Qualification of the Labor Force” Lebanon ranked in the 97^th position.

Lebanon retained the 88^th place in the “T&T Policy and Enabling Conditions” category. It was good in terms of “Prioritization of T&T” and “Price Competitiveness”, in which Lebanon respectively ranked 29^th and 59^th. Worth mentioning, that in “Prioritization of T&T”, the country was placed first in a previous report published in 2013. On the contrary, Lebanon showed poor drive in regarding “Environmental Sustainability” ranking 129^th  out of 141 countries.

In “Infrastructure” category, Lebanon was placed 69^th as it ranked in “Tourist Service and Infrastructure” at 33^rd position and yet “Airport Infrastructure” pushed the ranking downwards, as it was placed in the 80^th position.

Moreover, Lebanon ranked 133 in the “Natural and Cultural Resources” category. This was mainly due to the poor ranking to the country in the “Natural Resource” sub category at  140 out of 141 countries.

Lebanon’s Global Competitiveness Index Ranking 2013-2014