Türkiye became the best-developing country in Southern Europe for travel and tourism, according to a report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in collaboration with the University of Surrey on Tuesday.
The country has climbed eight spots to rank 29th among 119 countries, according to the Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI) 2024 report.
With a score of 4.39%, it surpassed the global average by 10.6% and the European average by 3%, positioning itself as one of the best-performing countries in both the world and Europe.
With this rise, Türkiye became the leading country in the Southern Europe category, which also includes Croatia, Italy, Malta and Spain.
The improvement in the index measuring also marked a 3.1% increase when compared to 2019, the WEF report showed.
Like this, along with some other emerging economies, Türkiye improved its standing, raising to the top quartile of the TTDI.
The report issued for the second time comprises a series of metrics, showcasing the countries' tourism standards, based on regions.
First introduced in 2022, the TTDI benchmarks and measures the set of factors and policies that enable the sustainable and resilient development of the Travel & Tourism (T&T) sector, which in turn contributes to the development of a country.
Türkiye also made a notable 14% improvement in the travel and tourism prioritization indicator, jumping 18 places to become the world's second-highest in this metric. At the same time, the country also showed substantial progress in air transport infrastructure, rising 10 places to rank eighth globally.
Türkiye maintained 13th place in the report’s cultural assets indicator and advanced seven spots in non-leisure resources, reaching 16th place. In the natural resources criterion, Türkiye surged 24 places to rank 32nd.
The WEF updated the index in 2022, changing its name from the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) to the Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI), with a stronger emphasis on sustainability.
Driven by the lifting of pandemic-related travel and other restrictions and strong pent-up demand, international tourist arrivals are expected to reach pre-pandemic levels in 2024, reaching 88% of the 2019 level in 2023 while at $9.9 trillion, T&T’s contribution to global gross domestic product (GDP) is nearly at pre-pandemic levels, according to the report.
The Middle East had the highest recovery rates in international tourist arrivals (20% above the 2019 level), while Europe, a resilient destination with strong intraregional travel flows, Africa and the Americas all showed a strong recovery of around 90% in 2023.
Price competitiveness, tourist services and infrastructure, safety and security, human resources and labor market, demand sustainability and business environment are reported as indicators where Türkiye has room for improvement.