Thailand’s place on a list of countries ranked for travel and tourism development has fallen a notch below where it stood last year. Thailand fell from it’s spot in 35th place out of 117 countries in 2021, to 36th place, on the Travel and Tourism Development Index.
The index is based on scores from 1-7, where 1 is the worst performance, and 7 is the best. For “Travel and Tourism Policy” and “Enabling Conditions”, Thailand’s prioritisation of travel and tourism dropped to 88th place with a score of 3.7 points, the lowest in the region. The ASEAN region had an average score in this area of 4.4 points.
The president of the Thai Hotels Association, Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, said that Thailand’s problems with safety and security have been hurting the country’s reputation for many years. In the category of “Enabling Environment”, Thailand’s safety and security ranking is now 92nd place out of the 117 countries, with a score of 4.3. The ASEAN average was 5.4.
On the (slightly) bright side, Thailand improved in “Infrastructure” and “Travel and Tourism Sustainability”. But even though the Thai sustainability score improved, its environmental sustainability was the lowest in the region at 3.6 points, ranking 97th place overall. Marissa said that certain policies prevent small and medium-sized hotels from properly registering, leading to issues.
“This prevents state authorities from mandating compliance with the rules, whether safety and environmental regulations or charging taxes that can help develop the city.”
Thailand’s best score was in price competitiveness. The country earned 5.6 points in this category, which was still lower than the regional average, which stood at 5.8.
Last month, Thailand slid into 8th place in a survey of 1,500 Americans on the world’s safest travel destinations but is still in the world’s top 10.
SOURCE: The Bangkok Post