Spain tops global list of the best countries to visit as a tourist, followed by France, Germany and the UK
The World Economic Forum study looks at everything from safety and hygiene to culture and cost of living in 136 countries
SPAIN is the best country in the world to spend a holiday, according to a prestigious report.
The study, which looks at everything from price competitiveness to security and hygiene, put the Mediterranean destination at the top of a list of 136 countries, with the UK following not too far behind in 5th place.
The World Economic Forum’s is released every two years.
It looks at a number of factors, including business environment, safety and security, health and hygiene, price competitiveness, international openness, tourist service, transport infrastructure and natural resources.
Spain has topped the rankings for the second time, followed by France, Germany, Japan and Britain.
Rounding out the top ten are the United States, down two places from No.4, Australia, Italy, Canada and Switzerland.
Like the last report two years ago, Europe is once again the region that is most attractive to tourists.
It boasts six of the 10 most competitive countries in the study, and attracted 620 million of the 1.2 billion international visitors who travelled the globe in 2016.
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Strong health and hygiene conditions, cultural richness and safety are common positive factors across the majority of European countries, despite the recent terrorist attacks.
While security has been a big negative factor in these countries, that has been balanced out by improvements in price competitiveness.
Spain maintains its 1st place globally thanks to its unique offering of both cultural and natural resources, combined with sound tourism service infrastructure and air transport connectivity .
Its tourism industry also benefited from diverted tourism from the security troubled Middle East.
France remains in 2nd position, withstanding the effects of the terrorist attacks of 2015 and 2016.
Although it lost ground on safety and security, international arrivals have remained stable, with cultural resources and air connectivity continuing to drive its competitiveness.
Declines in security were compensated by a significant reduction in the prices of hotels and ticket taxes, which have led to an improvement in France’s price competitiveness.
