colombia travel & tourism white paper 2010

COMMITTED TO IMPROVING THE STATE

OF THE WORLD

Irene Mia, World Economic ForumEva Trujillo Herrera, World Economic ForumThea Chiesa, World Economic ForumMariana Torres Montoya, World Economic Forum

Gauging the Competitiveness of the Travel & Tourism Sector in Colombia Insights from the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index

White Paper

Colombia.front.r4:Document 7 6/29/10 11:29 AM Page i

This White Paper is published by the World Economic Forum within the framework of the Global Competitiveness Network.

Professor Klaus Schwab Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum

Robert GreenhillChief Business Officer, World Economic Forum

GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS NETWORK

Jennifer Blanke, Head of the Global Competitiveness Network and Senior EconomistCiara Browne, Associate DirectorMargareta Drzeniek Hanouz, Director and Senior EconomistThierry Geiger, Associate Director and Economist, Global Leadership FellowIrene Mia, Director and Senior EconomistCarissa Sahli, Team CoordinatorPearl Samandari, Community ManagerEva Trujillo Herrera, Research Assistant

MOBILITY INDUSTRIES

John Moavenzadeh, Senior Director, Head of Sustainable Mobility and StrategyStefano Ammirati, Associate Director, Head of Automotive IndustryJulia Bennett, Team CoordinatorThea Chiesa, Associate Director, Head of Aviation, Travel & Tourism IndustriesSean Doherty, Associate Director, Head of Logistics & Transport IndustriesKaterina Soulounia, Team CoordinatorMariana Torres Montoya, Community Manager

A special thank you to Hope Steele for her superb editing work and Neil Weinberg for his excellent graphic design and layout.

World Economic Forum91-93 route de la CapiteCH-1223 Cologny/GenevaSwitzerlandTel.: +41 (0)22 869 1212Fax: +41 (0) 22 786 2744E-mail: [email protected]

© 2010 World Economic Forum

All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise without the prior permission of the World Economic Forum.

ISBN-13: 978-92-95044-86-9ISBN-10: 92-95044-86-X

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Contents

Part 1: Gauging the Competitiveness of the 1Travel & Tourism Sector in Colombia

Insights from the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness 3Indexby Irene Mia, Eva Trujillo Herrera, Thea Chiesa, and Mariana Torres Montoya, World Economic Forum

Technical Appendix 30

Part 2: Country Profiles 33

How to Read the Country Profiles 35

List of Countries 37

Colombia's Country Profile 38

Comparator Country Profiles 40Brazil ........................................................................................40Chile .........................................................................................42Costa Rica................................................................................44Ecuador ....................................................................................46Egypt........................................................................................48Peru..........................................................................................50South Africa .............................................................................52Thailand....................................................................................54

Technical Notes and Sources 57

Acknowledgments 63

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Part 1 Gauging the Competitiveness of theTravel & Tourism Sector in Colombia

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Insights from the Travel &Tourism Competitiveness IndexIRENE MIA, World Economic Forum

EVA TRUJILLO HERRERA, World Economic Forum

THEA CHIESA, World Economic Forum

MARIANA TORRES MONTOYA, World Economic Forum

Recent decades have witnessed a stellar increase intourism activities across the world, with the Travel &Tourism (T&T) sector acquiring an increasingly impor-tant weight in the global economy and in many nationalcompetitiveness and development strategies.1 Internationaltourist arrivals reached the record number of 924 millionin 2008 (up from just 20 million in 1950), while thesector’s direct and indirect activities accounted for anestimated 9.9 percent of global GDP, 10.9 percent ofworld exports, and 9.4 percent of world investment.2

As such data suggest, the T&T industry has becomeone of the main industries in many countries, and it isone of the fastest-growing economic sectors in terms of foreign exchange earnings and job creation accordingto the United Nations World Tourism Organization(UNWTO).

In addition, the T&T sector can play a major role inpoverty reduction efforts and contribute to improvingthe overall country brand for economies that have imageproblems due to recent histories of political instability,civil unrest, and natural disasters, among other elements.

Tourism represents a sector of enormous potentialfor Colombia given the country’s extraordinary bio-diversity, natural beauty, and cultural richness.3 Now thatimpressive strides toward social stability have been taken,tourism can play a key role in enhancing competitive-ness, sustaining growth, and increasing foreign directinvestment (FDI) in the aftermath of the major globaleconomic crisis that began in 2008. In that year, theT&T sector represented only 1.9 percent and 1.8 percent of Colombia’s GDP and total employment,respectively.4 While this compares well with some relevant comparators in the region, it is a far cry fromcountries with similar features when it comes totourism, such as Egypt or Thailand (see Table 1). Such a comparison provides a sense of the opportunities forgrowth that lie in this area, and it is particularly perti-nent given that tourists in Colombia tend to spend agreat deal. Indeed, the country’s US$1,477 per touristmakes Colombia the most lucrative tourism sector pertourist within the entire comparator group in Table 1.

Moreover, the number of international arrivals doubled between 2003 (624,909) and 2009 (1,354,000),as shown in Figure 1, while by 2007 the tourism sectorhad become Colombia’s third biggest export sector, after oil and coal.5 This points to the sector’s recentdynamism and to a significant potential for furtherdevelopment.

Colombia’s government is well aware of the impor-tance of the T&T sector for national growth and devel-opment and has been increasingly integrating the sectorinto the general competitiveness agenda. Concomitantly,since the adoption of a country-brand strategy “Colombiaes pasión” (Colombia is passion) in 2005, greaterresources have been allocated to tourism promotion,financed through the creation of a tourism tax, amongother initiatives. Further, an international promotion


campaign entitled “Colombia, el riesgo es que te quierasquedar” (Colombia, the risk is that you will want tostay) was launched in 2007.6 The government’s objectiveis to make Colombia the fifth-largest tourist destinationin Latin America—and to double the T&T sector’s contribution to national GDP—by 2010.

In this context, an assessment of Colombia’s competitive strengths and weaknesses with respect to its T&T sector appears particularly timely. It could assistpolicymakers and all relevant national stakeholders toprioritize policies and design effective strategies in orderto develop the T&T sector to its full potential and trans-form it into a lever of enhanced competitiveness andprosperity for the benefit of all Colombians. The Travel& Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) represents a powerful tool that can shed light on the complex setsof factors and policies that make it attractive to develop the T&T sector in a given country.7 It can thereforeeffectively support the process of taking stock ofColombia’s performance in promoting its T&T sector as well as in identifying existing hurdles and obstacleshindering its full development.

This White Paper will provide a comprehensivesnapshot of the competitiveness landscape of Colombia’sT&T sector, building on the findings of the most recentTTCI, featured in the World Economic Forum’s Travel& Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009. Through the lensof the TTCI, areas that should be given priority in thedesign of national strategies toward increased T&T com-petitiveness will be highlighted. After a brief outline ofthe TTCI methodological framework, the paper willfocus on Colombia’s performance in the 14 pillars ofT&T competitiveness included in the Index, based onthe results of the most recent TTCI computation.Comparisons with relevant countries and regions willbe carried out to set Colombia’s results into a more textured context.

A framework for measuring T&T competitiveness: The TTCI 2009Although the T&T sector is an important driver ofnational growth and prosperity, it has not yet beendeveloped to its full potential in many countries.Therefore, in 2007 the World Economic Forum, togetherwith its partners from the aviation, travel, and tourismindustries and other industry experts, embarked on aresearch project aimed at identifying the regulatory andbusiness environment impediments and weaknesses pre-venting countries from building competitive T&T sectors.8

The resulting TTCI measures the factors and policies thatmake it attractive to develop the T&T sector in different countries.It provides a unique methodological framework map-ping out the factors enabling T&T competitiveness and,through its subindexes, pillars, and variables, offers a toolfor policymakers and all relevant stakeholders to identifystrengths and shortcomings related to the national T&Tenvironment. The TTCI also provides an opportunity toidentify priority areas when drafting strategies and poli-cies aimed at enhanced T&T competitiveness. TheIndex’s methodological framework (Figure 2) identifies14 drivers or pillars of T&T competitiveness, composedof 73 individual variables overall. The pillars are:

1. Policy rules and regulations2. Environmental sustainability3. Safety and security4. Health and hygiene5. Prioritization of Travel & Tourism6. Air transport infrastructure7. Ground transport infrastructure8. Tourism infrastructure9. Information and communication technologies

(ICT) infrastructure10. Price competitiveness in the T&T industry11. Human resources12. Affinity for Travel & Tourism13. Natural resources14. Cultural resources

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Table 1: Key Indicators for T&T: Colombia and relevant comparators, 2009

International International Tourism receiptstourist arrivals tourism receipts per tourist US$ Percent Jobs Percent

Country (thousands) (US$ millions) (US$) millions total (thousands) total

Brazil 5,050 5,305 1,050 38,847 2.4 2,179 2.3Chile 2,713 1,568 578 2,242 1.3 108 1.6Colombia 1,354 2,000 1,477 4,194 1.8 341 1.6

Costa Rica 1,923 2,075 1,079 1,695 5.8 119 6.0Ecuador 970 742 765 931 1.6 83 1.4Egypt 11,914 10,755 903 14,033 7.4 1,448 6.3Peru 2,140 2,046 956 3,754 2.9 367 2.8South Africa 7,012 7,543 1,076 8,481 2.9 389 2.9Thailand 14,091 15,901 1,128 16,388 6.2 1,869 4.9

Source: United Nations World Tourism Organization; World Travel & Tourism Council, TSA research 2010.

Tourism industry GDPTourism industryemployment


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Figure 1: Colombia’s international tourist arrivals, 1995–2009

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

1997 19991995 20011998 20001996 2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2008 20092006

Source: United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Source: World Economic Forum, 2009.

International tourist arrivals (thousands)

Figure 2: The TTCI methodological framework and the 14 pillars of T&T competitiveness

Subindex A:T&T regulatory framework

Health and hygiene

Safety and security

Environmental sustainability

Policy rules and regulations

Prioritization of Travel & Tourism

Subindex B: T&T business environment

and infrastructure

ICT infrastructure

Tourism infrastructure

Ground transport infrastructure

Air transport infrastructure

Price competitiveness in the T&T industry

Subindex C: T&T human, cultural, and

natural resources

Human resources

Affinity for Travel & Tourism

Cultural resources

Natural resources

Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index


The 14 pillars are organized into three subindexesthat deal with:

• policy-related dimensions, by and large under thepurview of government (the T&T regulatoryframework subindex);

• aspects of the country’s “hard” infrastructure andbusiness environment (the T&T business environ-ment and infrastructure subindex); and

• aspects of the country’s “soft” assets, includinghuman, cultural, and natural resources (the T&Thuman, cultural, and natural resources subindex).

At each level of aggregation of the TTCI, the finalscore is a simple average of the composing elements: thisapplies to the scores of the TTCI as well as its compos-ing subindexes and pillars. The underlying assumption is that all components have a similar importance for thecompetitiveness of the T&T sector of a given country.

In line with the World Economic Forum’s competi-tiveness work, the Index is made up of a mixture ofhard data and survey data, capturing both quantitativeand qualitative elements relevant for T&T competitive-ness. As shown in Figure 3, the TTCI is intensive inhard data: of the 73 variables, 45 are hard data obtainedby publicly available sources, including internationalorganizations (e.g., IATA, the IUCN, the UNWTO, theWTTC, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization [UNESCO], and the WorldHealth Organization), as well as T&T institutions andexperts (e.g., the International Congress andConvention Association [ICCA], Booz & Company,Deloitte, and Visa).

The remaining 28 variables come from the WorldEconomic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey, carriedout every year in each country covered by the Report toprovide insights on important dimensions of the T&Tcompetitiveness environment for which no hard data are available, or at least not for a sufficient number ofcountries. The Survey was compiled by over 12,000 topbusiness executives in 2008 across more than 130economies. The Survey allows us to capture key T&Tcompetitiveness aspects such as the degree of prioritiza-tion of the T&T sector in the government agenda, thesustainability of the development of the T&T industry,and national attitudes toward foreign visitors, amongother factors.9

The Technical Appendix at the end of this paperprovides a full description of the variables, subindexes,and pillars composing the TTCI as well as of the computation methodology.

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Figure 3: Hard and Survey data composition of the TTCI 2009

� Survey data, 28 variables (38%)

� Hard data, 45 variables (62%)



Measuring the competitiveness of Colombia’s T&T sector in an international context: The findings of theTTCI 2009The analysis carried out in this section builds on theresults of the latest available TTCI computation, featuredin The Travel &Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009. Inorder to place Colombia’s strengths and weaknesses intocontext, comparisons are made with selected countriesfrom the region (i.e., Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador,and Peru), and the average for Latin America and theCaribbean. In addition, other relevant economies areincluded from outside the region (i.e., Egypt, SouthAfrica, and Thailand); these either share features similarto Colombia’s or have faced similar challenges and/orpresent elements of interest in their T&T landscapes andstrategies.

Table 1 benchmarks Colombia’s current perform-ance on a number of key T&T indicators with respectto the comparator group. As noted above, the first threecolumns of the table highlight the fact that, althoughColombia’s tourist arrivals are still low compared withinternational peers such as Egypt and Thailand, its T&Tsector is the most lucrative in the sample (each touristto Colombia brings in US$1,477, compared withUS$578 for the “least lucrative” country within thecomparator group, Chile). Similarly, the remaining fourcolumns demonstrate the large untapped potential ofthe T&T industry for the country in terms of its overallcontribution to GDP and employment: at present, theindustry represents only 1.9 and 1.6 percent of total

GDP and employment. These figures compare fairlypoorly with the T&T industry contribution to GDPand employment in Egypt, Thailand, or Costa Rica. Insum, all data above show that Colombia is not benefit-ing from the tourism industry to the extent that onemight expect given the country’s important natural andcultural assets, as well as its diverse and favorable geo-graphical location. Despite the important potential forcultural and environmental tourism development in thecountry, a number of obstacles are hindering the furtherdevelopment of the T&T sector.

The TTCI provides insight into the T&T competi-tiveness landscape in Colombia, highlighting those areasrequiring attention to improve the outlook for the sec-tor going forward. Figure 4 provides a snapshot ofColombia’s performance in 2008 and 2009 by pillar,10

while Tables 2 through 5 compare Colombia’s rankingsand scores with those of selected comparators in the2009 TTCI and each composing subindex and pillar.Last but not least, Table 6 features the TTCI “heatmap,”which complements and expands on the informationprovided in Tables 2 through 5 by indicating the relativedistance of Colombia’s performance from the compara-tors in each pillar as measured by the differences inscore (Table 6a) and rank (Table 6b). Blue- and gray-shaded cells indicate that Colombia fares better or worsethan the specific comparator, respectively: the darker theshading, the greater the difference in performance. Noshading, in turn, signals that there is no significant dif-ference with the comparator.

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Figure 4: Colombia’s performance in the TTCI, 2008 and 2009

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Source: World Economic Forum, 2008, 2009.

� 2009

� 2008Policy rules and regulationsEnvironmental sustainability

Safety and securityHealth and hygiene

Prioritization of Travel & TourismAir transport infrastructure

Ground transport infrastructureTourism infrastructure

ICT infrastructurePrice competitiveness in the T&T industry

Human capitalAffinity for Travel & Tourism

Natural resourcesCultural resources


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Table 2: TTCI 2009: Colombia and selected comparators

T&T business environment T&T human, cultural, TTCI 2009 T&T regulatory framework and infrastructure and natural resources

Country Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score

Thailand 39 4.45 70 4.46 40 4.14 19 4.74Costa Rica 42 4.42 48 4.94 55 3.77 31 4.54Brazil 45 4.35 95 4.12 69 3.53 4 5.40Chile 57 4.18 49 4.87 58 3.76 64 3.92South Africa 61 4.10 82 4.31 52 3.81 49 4.17Egypt 64 4.09 52 4.84 65 3.59 73 3.84Colombia 72 3.89 91 4.18 88 3.08 34 4.43Peru 74 3.88 89 4.24 92 2.96 33 4.43Ecuador 96 3.62 103 4.01 97 2.91 62 3.93

Latin America and the Caribbean — 3.91 — 4.36 — 3.34 — 4.01


Table 3: T&T regulatory framework: Colombia and selected comparators

T&T REGULATORY 1. Policy rules 2. Environmental 3. Safety and 4. Health and 5. Prioritization of FRAMEWORK and regulations sustainability security hygiene Travel & Tourism

Country Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score

Costa Rica 48 4.94 48 4.75 27 5.13 72 5.08 65 4.59 29 5.16Chile 49 4.87 19 5.24 64 4.56 38 5.79 66 4.58 77 4.15Egypt 52 4.84 55 4.60 103 4.08 67 5.13 64 4.59 9 5.81Thailand 70 4.46 62 4.48 99 4.13 118 3.94 71 4.42 22 5.34South Africa 82 4.31 36 4.96 44 4.83 128 3.51 94 3.80 60 4.45Peru 89 4.24 63 4.47 85 4.26 108 4.26 96 3.56 53 4.64Colombia 91 4.18 60 4.53 84 4.26 125 3.72 86 4.07 67 4.30Brazil 95 4.12 94 3.97 33 4.96 130 3.36 80 4.20 84 4.11Ecuador 103 4.01 126 3.20 86 4.24 99 4.54 73 4.40 106 3.65

Latin America and the Caribbean — 4.36 — 4.29 — 4.41 — 4.58 — 4.24 — 4.31


Table 4: T&T business environment and infrastructure: Colombia and selected comparators

T&T BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT 6. Air transport 7. Ground transport 8. Tourism 9. ICT 10. Price competitiveness AND INFRASTRUCTURE infrastructure infrastructure infrastructure infrastructure in T&T industry

Country Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score

Thailand 40 4.14 25 4.54 56 3.82 39 4.27 71 2.74 19 5.35South Africa 52 3.81 43 3.87 64 3.58 46 3.96 80 2.58 38 5.03Costa Rica 55 3.77 42 3.88 103 2.72 33 4.48 61 2.96 57 4.82Chile 58 3.76 51 3.51 57 3.80 69 3.21 49 3.41 53 4.86Egypt 65 3.59 58 3.32 79 3.19 74 2.97 84 2.43 1 6.02Brazil 69 3.53 46 3.76 110 2.59 45 4.00 60 3.06 91 4.24Colombia 88 3.08 65 3.06 108 2.66 93 2.03 65 2.90 66 4.74Peru 92 2.96 92 2.58 125 2.24 78 2.50 81 2.52 47 4.94Ecuador 97 2.91 86 2.67 119 2.36 89 2.10 85 2.41 40 5.03

Latin America and the Caribbean — 3.34 — 3.09 — 3.06 — 2.90 — 2.79 — 4.87


Table 5: T&T human, cultural, and natural resources: Colombia and selected comparators

T&T HUMAN, CULTURAL, 11. Human 12. Affinity for 13. Natural 14. Cultural AND NATURAL RESOURCES capital Travel & Tourism resources resources

Country Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score

Brazil 4 5.40 55 5.17 108 4.41 2 6.37 14 5.64

Thailand 19 4.74 57 5.16 22 5.41 24 4.54 33 3.84

Costa Rica 31 4.54 24 5.63 27 5.36 6 5.42 89 1.77

Peru 33 4.43 71 5.03 85 4.57 8 5.21 42 2.92

Colombia 34 4.43 64 5.09 104 4.44 5 5.51 56 2.66

South Africa 49 4.17 112 4.23 43 5.00 22 4.59 45 2.87

Ecuador 62 3.93 98 4.59 117 4.24 19 4.71 71 2.16

Chile 64 3.92 47 5.23 111 4.39 63 3.20 48 2.87

Egypt 73 3.84 83 4.90 20 5.44 109 2.49 60 2.53

Latin America and the Caribbean — 4.01 — 4.97 — 4.74 — 4.01 — 2.33



Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2009

Subindex A: T&T regulatory framework

Subindex B: T&T business environment and infrastructure

Subindex C: T&T human, cultural, and natural resources



Safety and security

Health and hygiene





ICT infrastructure


Human capital


Natural resources

Cultural resources

Count of pillars where Colombia scores higher

Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2009



Subindex C: T&T human, cultural, and natural resources



Safety and security

Health and hygiene





ICT infrastructure


Human capital


Natural resources

Cultural resources

Count of pillars where Colombia scores higher

� < 1.0 � < 0.5 � < 0.1

Colombia scores higher

� < –5 � < –10 � < –20

Comparator scores higher

Score difference

� < 1.0 � < 0.5 � < 0.1

Colombia ranks higher

� < –5 � < –10 � < –20

Comparator ranks higher

Rank difference

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Table 6: The TCCI heatmap for Colombia

6a: Difference in scores

6b: Difference in ranks

Country/Economy

Colombia 72 91 88 34 60 84 125 86 67 65 108 93 65 66 64 104 5 56

Rank difference with

Thailand –33 –21 –48 –15 +2 +15 –7 –15 –45 –40 –52 –54 +6 –47 –7 –82 +19 –23 4

Costa Rica –30 –43 –33 –3 –12 –57 –53 –21 –38 –23 –5 –60 –4 –9 –40 –77 +1 +33 2

Brazil –27 +4 –19 –30 +34 –51 +5 –6 +17 –19 +2 –48 –5 +25 –9 +4 –3 –42 6

Chile –15 –42 –30 +30 –41 –20 –87 –20 +10 –14 –51 –24 –16 –13 –17 +7 +58 –8 3

South Africa –11 –9 –36 +15 –24 –40 +3 +8 –7 –22 –44 –47 +15 –28 +48 –61 +17 –11 5

Egypt –8 –39 –23 +39 –5 +19 –58 –22 –58 –7 –29 –19 +19 –65 +19 –84 +104 +4 5

Latin America* –1 –9 –11 +29 –1 –3.5 –23.5 –5 +4.5 +3.5 –7 –20.5 +6.5 –13.5 +11.5 –18.5 +35.5 +23.5 6

Peru +2 –2 +4 –1 +3 +1 –17 +10 –14 +27 +17 –15 +16 –19 +7 –19 +3 –14 8

Ecuador +24 +12 +9 +28 +66 +2 –26 –13 +39 +21 +11 –4 +20 –26 +34 +13 +14 +15 10

Source: World Economic Forum, 2009.* Median rank; includes Caribbean.Note: See text for details.

Country/Economy

Colombia 3.89 4.18 3.08 4.43 4.53 4.26 3.72 4.07 4.30 3.06 2.66 2.03 2.90 4.74 5.09 4.44 5.51 2.66

Score difference with

Thailand –0.55 –0.28 –1.07 –0.31 +0.05 +0.13 –0.22 –0.35 –1.04 –1.47 –1.15 –0.71 +0.16 –0.61 –0.06 –0.97 +0.97 –1.18 4

Costa Rica –0.52 –0.76 –0.69 –0.12 –0.22 –0.86 –1.35 –0.52 –0.86 –0.82 –0.06 –0.93 –0.06 –0.08 –0.54 –0.92 +0.10 +0.89 2

Brazil –0.45 +0.06 –0.45 –0.97 +0.56 –0.70 +0.36 –0.13 +0.20 –0.70 +0.07 –1.04 –0.17 +0.50 –0.07 +0.03 –0.86 –2.98 6

Chile –0.29 –0.69 –0.68 +0.51 –0.71 –0.30 –2.06 –0.50 +0.15 –0.45 –1.14 –1.38 –0.51 –0.12 –0.13 +0.05 +2.32 –0.21 3

South Africa –0.20 –0.13 –0.73 +0.25 –0.42 –0.56 +0.21 +0.27 –0.14 –0.81 –0.92 –0.56 +0.31 –0.29 +0.86 –0.56 +0.92 –0.21 5

Egypt –0.20 –0.66 –0.51 +0.59 –0.07 +0.19 –1.40 –0.52 –1.50 –0.26 –0.53 –0.41 +0.46 –1.28 +0.19 –1.00 +3.03 +0.13 5

Latin America* –0.01 –0.19 –0.27 +0.42 +0.24 –0.15 –0.85 –0.17 –0.00 –0.03 –0.40 –0.77 +0.10 –0.13 +0.12 –0.30 +1.51 +0.33 5

Peru +0.02 –0.06 +0.12 –0.01 +0.06 +0.00 –0.54 +0.52 –0.34 +0.48 +0.42 –0.49 +0.38 –0.20 +0.07 –0.13 +0.31 –0.27 8

Ecuador +0.28 +0.17 +0.16 +0.50 +1.33 +0.02 –0.82 –0.33 +0.65 +0.39 +0.30 –0.39 +0.48 –0.29 +0.50 +0.20 +0.80 +0.50 10

Source: World Economic Forum, 2009.*Average score; includes Caribbean.


Colombia ranks 72nd out of 133 economies in the 2009 TTCI, fairly stable from the previous year butlagging behind most of the comparator group (with theexception of Peru and Ecuador, ranked 74th and 96th,respectively) and the regional average (3.89 vs. 3.91 forLatin America and the Caribbean). This gap is furthercorroborated by the heatmap’s assessment of Colombia’scomparative showing: the country outperforms onlyPeru and Ecuador in more than 8 pillars, while it islargely outperformed by the rest of the comparatorcountries/regions in a larger number of pillars. In par-ticular, Costa Rica and Chile display a better perform-ance than Colombia in 12 and 11 pillars, respectively.

The Index highlights as especially problematic elements of Colombia’s T&T competitiveness, the levelsof safety and security and health and hygiene prevailingin the country (125th and 86th, respectively), the qualityof its ground transport and tourism infrastructure (108thand 93rd, respectively), as well as the affinity for Travel &Tourism of the country as a whole (104th). Moreover, asshown by Figure 4, the country has seen a comparativedecline in some dimensions—such as its tourism andtransport infrastructure, health and hygiene, affinity forTravel & Tourism, and price competitiveness dimensions.Given that this is a comparative assessment, it is possiblylinked to Colombia’s lack of progress compared withother countries that are improving more quickly in theseareas.

On a more positive note, Figure 4 highlights someareas of significant improvement since 2008: notably the increased prioritization of the T&T sector in thegovernment’s agenda (an impressive 32-rank jump, from99th in 2008 to 67th in 2009), the greater focus on thesustainable development of the sector, a more supportivepolicy environment, and better ICT infrastructure andhuman capital. These improvements bode well for thecountry’s capacity to better leverage the T&T sector’spotential for increased overall competitiveness goinginto the future. Moreover, the Index points to importantcompetitive advantages on which Colombia can buildits T&T sector, in particular its first-class naturalresources (5th), its cultural assets (56th), policy rules and regulations (60th), human capital (64th), ICT andair transport infrastructure (both 65th), and price com-petitiveness (66th).

In the rest of this section, we will delve intoColombia’s performance in the three subindexes and 14 pillars of the TTCI, identifying the main competitiveadvantages and shortcomings in each area. Comparisonswill primarily be drawn with the countries shown in thetables in this paper and additional country comparisonsof the full 133-country sample will also be made whenrelevant.

T&T regulatory frameworkThe government plays a crucial role in establishing andfostering an environment conducive to the development

of the T&T industry. The T&T regulatory frameworksubindex gauges the various and diverse T&T driversunder the purview and influence of the government,including those rules and regulations affecting the T&T sector, the extent to which the sector is beingdeveloped in an environmentally sustainable way, safetyand security, health and hygiene, and, last but not least,the degree of prioritization of the T&T sector in thenational agenda.

Colombia posts its worst showing across the threesubindexes in the T&T regulatory framework. With arank of 91st, the country trails behind most of the comparators except Brazil (95th) and Ecuador (103rd),clustering with Peru (89th) and separated by a 43-placegap from regional and comparator best-performer CostaRica (48th).

Policy rules and regulationsThe policy rules and regulations pillar captures theextent to which the regulatory environment in a givencountry fosters and enables the development of theT&T sector. Government actions and regulations cansignificantly impact the attractiveness of the T&T sectorboth by making the general business environment moreinvestor friendly and by specifically facilitating T&Tactivities. In this context, the pillar includes measures ofprevalence of foreign ownership, the business impact ofFDI rules, property rights protection, measures of the easeof doing business, visa requirements, and the openness ofthe bilateral Air Service Agreements into which thecountry has entered.

With a score of 4.53, Colombia ranks 60th in thispillar—its third-best performance across the 14 pillars of T&T competitiveness.11 The country has still a longway to go to catch up with globally top rankedSingapore (currently separated by a large score gap of1.71), as well the best performers in the comparatorsample, Chile (19th) and South Africa (36th). However,it largely outperforms laggards Ecuador (126th) andBrazil (94th), as well as two countries with a higheroverall rank: Thailand (62nd) and Peru (63rd).

While Colombia does well with regard to tourism-specific policies, most elements of the general businessenvironment are not supportive of the T&T sectordevelopment. In terms of strengths, Colombia displays afairly liberal visa regime (14th): in 2008, citizens from 87 out of the 192 United Nations (UN) members (around45 percent) were exempt from obtaining a visitor visa or could obtain one upon arrival. Within the comparatorgroup, only Peru (10th, 94 countries) and Costa Rica(12th, 89 countries) have slightly more open visa regula-tions (see Table 7). This reflects the government’s recentefforts toward progressively eliminating visa requirementsfrom selected countries, coupled with the country’sabsence of a passport requirement for citizens of Brazil,Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru.

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The bilateral Air Service Agreements into whichthe country had entered until 2005 are deemed to befairly open, fostering competition in the sector (41st).Indeed, an important element of Colombia’s efforts toimprove air connectivity between 2002 and 2010 hasbeen a focus on improving and expanding bilateral airagreements. Not only are there existing agreements with Aruba, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, the UnitedKingdom, and the United States, but new agreementshave also been signed with the United Arab Emirates,Singapore, and Barbados.12

On a less positive note, the regulations impactingforeign ownership and FDI are perceived as restrictivein Colombia (it is ranked 86th for the prevalence of for-eign ownership and 80th for the business impact ofrules on FDI). Moreover, although Colombia has beenamong the world’s 10 biggest reformers a number oftimes in the last seven years in the World Bank’s DoingBusiness report, the 2008 data used for the TTCI calcu-lation for time required to start a business and cost tostart a business placed the country quite low, at 95th and 72nd, respectively. Nevertheless, the encouragingresults obtained in the latest Doing Business 2010 reportreflect the government’s commitment and success in

improving the business environment and reducing redtape and inefficiencies. Indeed, according to this report,Colombia has made strides in seven of the ten areasassessed, having facilitated business start-up, access tocredit, trade, investor protection, construction permits,property registration, and tax payments.13 Similarly, thelegal framework for FDI has been remarkably strength-ened over recent years, notably with Law 963 in 2005,enabling the government to conclude 20-year stabilitypacts with investors.14 In 2008, the amount of FDIinflows to Colombia amounted to US$10,564 millionaccording to UNCTAD.15 Figure 5 shows the evolutionof FDI inflows for Colombia and the comparators from2005 to 2008.

Environmental sustainabilityEnvironmental sustainability is a key dimension of anypolicy ensuring an equitable distribution of resourcesbetween the current and future generations. It is espe-cially crucial for the T&T sector, since the long-termattractiveness of the sector for tourists and investors alike depends on it being developed in a sustainable way.The TTCI’s evaluation of environmental sustainabilitycaptures two main dimensions: environmental policiesand regulations (i.e., stringency and enforcement ofenvironmental regulations, environmental treaty ratifica-tion, and the sustainability of the T&T industry develop-ment) and the actual state of the environment in anygiven country (i.e., carbon dioxide emissions, particulatematter concentration, and number of threatenedspecies).

Although improving from last year, Colombiaremains poorly assessed at 84th for its degree of environmental sustainability, largely lagging behind thebest performers in the sample Costa Rica (27th), Brazil(33rd), and South Africa (44th), and even the regionalaverage (4.26 for Colombia vs. 4.41 for the LatinAmerican and the Caribbean average). This is particular-ly worrisome considering that Colombia has one of thehighest levels of biodiversity in the world (Table 8),home to the second highest number of total knownspecies (2,954 in 2008).

Taking a closer look at Colombia’s performance inthe pillar, the country fares relatively well in the vari-ables relating to the quality of its environment (42nd for carbon dioxide emissions and 32nd for particulatematter concentration). At the same time and veryencouragingly, the sustainable development of the T&Tsector appears to be a growing priority for the govern-ment (53rd, 18 places up from 2008). In this sense, within the framework of its 2002 Política Nacional deCambio Climático (National Policy of Climate Change),the government has adopted important policies on bio-diversity and ecotourism, targeting 28 out of the 49areas of the National Park System for ecotourism devel-opment among other actions.16 Moreover, a number ofprograms were implemented, including the publication

Table 7: Visa requirements: Colombia and selectedcomparators, 2008

Number of UNEconomy Rank countries exempt Percent

Malaysia 1 163 84.9Singapore 2 162 84.4Philippines 3 147 76.6Hong Kong SAR 4 144 75.0Barbados 5 110 57.3Korea, Rep. 6 104 54.2Dominican Republic 7 98 51.0Jamaica 8 97.5 50.8Mauritius 8 97.5 50.8Cambodia 10 94 49.0Peru 10 94 49.0Costa Rica 12 89 46.4Colombia 14 87 45.3Chile 20 80 41.7South Africa 28 70 36.5Egypt 38 60.5 31.5Brazil 67 58 30.2Ecuador 70 55 28.6Thailand 75 52.5 27.3

Source: United Nations World Tourism Organization.Note: This variable is based on visitor visa requirements of all UN countries.The score refers to the number of UN countries whose citizens are exemptfrom obtaining a visa to enter each country. In compiling the data, eachcountry that requires no visa at all receives a “1” and each country forwhich it is possible to obtain a visa upon arrival receives “0.5”. Thosecountries for which a visa is required prior to departure would receive a“0.” The sum across all UN countries produces the final score shown in thetable. Blue indicates comparators discussed in the text and for whichcountry profiles are included in this paper; black indicates the top 10economies in this variable, other than the comparators.

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and distribution of 10,000 copies of a Guide on NaturalTourism; and the adoption of a program for posadas turísticas, which included the establishment of a dedicatedofficial webpage (http://www.posadasturisticasdecolombia.com) and the production of special guides and digitalcatalogues with information on the tourism offeringsavailable in the surrounding areas of each posada.17 Alsothe Politica para el Desarrollo del Ecoturismo (Policyfor Ecotourism Development) established the ComitéInterinstitucional de Ecoturismo (InterinstitutionalEcotourism Committee) tasked to establish, evaluate,articulate, and implement plans, programs, and projectsthat strengthen the country’s value proposition on eco-tourism.18

On the other hand, worrisome features are thelarge number of threatened species (11.92 percent of thetotal known species for mammals, birds, and amphibians,placing the country 120th),19 and Colombia’s ratificationof few environmental treaties (only 13 ratified treaties ofthe 25 considered in this measure, placing the country121st) in 2008. So few ratifications contrasts with thegeneral trend in the comparator sample: Table 9 showsthat all comparator countries appear within the top halfof the rankings for this indicator, with the exception ofThailand (104th, with 15 ratified treaties).

In addition, the stringency and enforcement ofenvironmental regulations is still not perceived as beingin line with international best practice (ranked 66th and76th, respectively). Box 1 provides a more detailedanalysis of the importance of a sustainable T&T policy

Figure 5: FDI Inflows: Colombia and selected comparators, 2005–08

–10,000

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

Chile ThailandBrazil Colombia Costa Rica Ecuador Egypt Peru South Africa

Source: UNCTAD, Foreign Direct Investment database.

� 2005 � 2006 � 2007 � 2008

US dollars

Table 8: Total known species: Colombia and selectedcomparators, 2008

Country Rank Value

Brazil 1 3,129Colombia 2 2,954Peru 3 2,701Indonesia 4 2,595Ecuador 5 2,418China 6 2,122Venezuela 7 2,019Bolivia 8 2,010Mexico 9 1,965India 10 1,842Thailand 17 1,371Costa Rica 19 1,268South Africa 24 1,175Chile 55 645Egypt 70 495

Source: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Red List ofThreatened Species 2008.

Note: Blue indicates comparators discussed in the text and for which countryprofiles are included in this paper; black indicates the top 10 economies inthis variable other than the comparators.

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for Colombia and some examples of best practices inthe region, notably from Costa Rica.

A continued focus on developing the sector in an environmentally sustainable way should be priori-tized, notably with an emphasis on the adoption andenforcement of more stringent environmental regula-tions and increased participation in the internationalinstruments aimed at environmental protection.

Safety and securityPhysical safety is an important precondition for makingthe T&T sector of a given country attractive to bothtourists and investors: when selecting a destination,tourists may be deterred from traveling to a country or region they perceive as dangerous, while investorsmay be reticent to invest and develop the T&T sector in countries lacking physical security. Dimensions covered in the safety and security pillar are the businesscosts generated by the threat of terrorism, the reliabilityof police services, the business costs of crime and violence (all from the World Economic Forum’sExecutive Opinion Survey), and the number of roadtraffic accidents.

The improvement of safety and security conditions,and public perception of such characteristics, requiresspecial attention for countries such as Colombia thathave a recent history of civil unrest and violence. Despiteimportant advances made in the war against terrorismand drug-trafficking and toward social pacification inrecent years, this remains Colombia’s weakest assessmentout of the 14 pillars of T&T competitiveness. At a disap-pointingly low 125th position, Colombia clusters withthe absolute laggards in the comparator sample, Brazil(130th) and South Africa (128th), displaying an 87-placegap with respect to sample best-performer Chile (38th).20

While the perceived reliability of police services (77th)is merely mediocre, Colombia fares very poorly in theremaining variables: 133rd for the cost of terrorism,118th for the business costs of crime and violence, and109th for the estimated deaths per 100,000 populationcaused by road traffic accidents.

Considering that most of the variables included inthis pillar capture the perception of the business com-munity in the country, it is possible that this is a case of perception lagging behind reality with respect to theactual achievements in physical safety in the country.21

The Politica de Defensa y de Seguridad Democrática(Defense and Democratic Safety Policy) adopted by theUribe administration in 2003 to usher in a more activerole for civil society, alongside the government, in thefight against terrorism,22 was accompanied by thetourism promotion campaign “Vive Colombia viaja porella” (Live Colombia, travel in it). 23 This campaign wasvery successful in restoring the free movement ofColombians and tourists alike throughout the country,notably through the creation of 2,234 rutas seguras (saferoads), with an important surge in domestic tourism and

improved national cohesion.24 On a partially relatednote, the ministry of commerce, industry and trade hasearmarked 400 million Colombian pesos for a programto train and upgrade the capabilities of the tourismpolice.25

Further improving security conditions and thesecurity perception both inside and outside the countryis a key priority for consolidating Colombia’s T&Tcompetitiveness together with its country brand moregenerally.

Health and hygieneGood general hygiene conditions and the satisfactoryavailability of healthcare services are, together withphysical security, another important basic factor for aTravel & Tourism–conducive environment. The healthand hygiene pillar captures this concept through meas-

Table 9: Environmental treaty ratification: Colombia andselected comparators, 2008

No. of treatiesCountry Rank (out of 25)

Sweden 1 24Australia 2 23France 2 23Greece 2 23Netherlands 2 23New Zealand 2 23Norway 2 23Spain 2 23United Kingdom 2 23Belgium 10 22Denmark 10 22Finland 10 22Germany 10 22India 10 22Ireland 10 22Japan 10 22Kenya 10 22Portugal 10 22Senegal 10 22Slovenia 10 22Brazil 21 21Chile 21 21Ecuador 34 20Egypt 34 20South Africa 34 20Costa Rica 52 19Peru 52 19Thailand 104 15Colombia 121 13

Source: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)Environmental Law Centre ELIS Treaty Database.

Note: This variable measures the total number of international treaties from a set of 25 for which a state is a participant. See the Technical Notes andSources at the end of Part 2 for more details on this variable. Blue indicatescomparators discussed in the text and for which country profiles areincluded in this paper; black indicates the top 10 economies in this variable.

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ures such as the percentage of the population withaccess to improved sanitation and drinking water (as aproxy for hygiene conditions) as well as the number ofphysicians per 1,000 population and hospital beds per10,000 population (as a proxy for healthcare availability).

Colombia ranks a poor 86th place for its health and hygiene conditions, trailing behind most of thecomparators, although with a smaller gap than in other

pillars. The exceptions are South Africa (94th) and Peru (96th). Indeed, health and hygiene seems to be aconcern also for sample top performers in the overallIndex, Thailand and Costa Rica—ranked 71st and 65th,respectively, in this pillar. Although a fairly high percent-age (93 percent) of Colombians have access to improveddrinking water, this still places the country only at 68thplace, while only 78 percent have access to improved

Box 1: Opportunities to boost Colombia’s competitive advantage in sustainability

As discussed in the text, Colombia’s natural resources are aclear competitive advantage, placing the country a high 5thoverall on this pillar. This is echoed by the 2010 EnvironmentalPerformance Index (EPI), which ranks 163 countries and pro-vides a measurement of how close countries are to establishedenvironmental policy goals, and where Colombia ranks 10th.1

Given the pristine beauty and diversity of its territory and thecountry’s highly favorable ranking in World Heritage natural and cultural sites, Colombia has a unique opportunity to makesustainability a key component of its T&T value proposition.

While the country ranks fairly well for the quality of itsenvironment, however, there is much room for improvement interms of preservation through environmental regulation andenforcement, as demonstrated by Colombia’s lower ranking of84th in the area of environmental sustainability. Prioritizing such a framework is important, since strong and well-enforcedregulation ensures that current development needs are metwithout compromising the ability to enjoy such resources in thefuture. Within this context, managing and preserving Colombia’sworld heritage must be understood as an essential componentof the country’s competitive advantages in tourism both nowand for the future.

Costa Rica, which is the best performer for environmentalsustainability in the TTCI among comparator countries and thethird-best-ranked country globally in the EPI, provides an inter-esting case study on regulatory incentives. Among other efforts,Costa Rica adopted a rating and incentives system that allows itto successfully develop its T&T sector in a manner consistentwith the preservation of its natural and cultural resources.

Costa Rica’s Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST)program ranks businesses in the tourism sector based on thedegree to which they comply with a sustainable model of natu-ral, cultural, and social resource management.2 Based on theirrankings, companies then have access to a series of benefitsincluding international and national publicity and promotion;personnel training; and priority participation in various worldtourism fairs and events, among others. Benefits for each company are proportional to its ranking, and increase as therating increases.

The CST allows Costa Rica to advance in four areas key topromoting the development of a sustainable T&T sector:

Establishing a long-term strategy: Providing the adequateincentives for investors in the T&T sector in Costa Rica allowsthe country to foster the healthy development of the sector inthe long term. Since the CST is meant to encourage companiesto advance toward a model of sustainability, companies inter-ested in entering the lucrative tourism business in Costa Ricawill strive to rank as high as possible in order to access themultiple benefits allotted to leading companies in sustainability.

Regulatory framework: The CST complements Costa Rica’sstandards regulatory framework by evaluating companiesagainst key sustainability measures. These measures includeimportant factors related to biodiversity, use and managementof key resources such as energy and water, waste handlingpolicies, and its ability to encourage employment opportunitiesand other social benefits for the local communities.

Enforcement: The CST is a voluntary program and thereforecompanies are not required to meet the program’s criteria.However, participating companies are evaluated on a periodicbasis, which allows for verification that sustainability measurespreviously identified are in fact part of the company’s long-termoperational policy.

Awareness: The CST incentive system generates awarenessamong businesses in the T&T sector on the importance andbenefits of adopting sustainable practices. It also contributes toraising the general public’s awareness of environmental issuesby establishing, as one of the evaluation criteria, how well thecompany engages its customers as active contributors to thecompany’s policies of sustainability.

Notes1 2010 Environmental Performance Index. Available at

http://epi.yale.edu/Countries.

2 Certification for Sustainable Tourism. Available at http://www.turismo-sostenible.co.cr/en/cst/about-cst/what-implications-does-the-cst-have.php.

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sanitation (80th). As for the availability of healthcareservices, with only 1.35 physicians per 1,000 people (as opposed to 5 for globally top ranked Greece) and 12hospital beds per 10,000 people (as opposed to 141 forglobal best performer Japan), Colombia seems to have alarge margin for improvement to catch up with interna-tional best practices. At the same time, one must pointout that the coverage of the healthcare system has con-sistently improved over the years, increasing from 23percent of the population in 1990 to 80 percent in2002, with the objective of reaching universal coveragein 2009.26

Prioritization of Travel & TourismCountries that have consistently prioritized the develop-ment of the T&T sector in their national agenda haveoften made great strides in substantially boosting theirT&T competitiveness. By making it clear that Travel &Tourism is a key pillar of the national competitivenessstrategy, and by reflecting this in its budget priorities, the government can channel needed funds to essentialdevelopment projects as well as attract further privateinvestment in the sector by signaling its importance toinvestors.

This pillar attempts to gauge the extent of T&Tprioritization in the government agenda by analyzingquantitative elements, such as government expenditureon the T&T sector as a percentage of the total budget,the country’s presence at T&T fairs worldwide (out of13 major tourism fairs taken into consideration by thevariable), and the perceived priority assigned by thegovernment to the sector and the effectiveness of mar-keting and branding to attract tourists.

With a score of 4.30, a showing in line with theLatin American average (4.31), Colombia is ranked 67th for the prioritization of its T&T sector. Althoughthe country still displays a large gap with respect to thesample’s best performers Egypt (9th) and Thailand(22nd), it outperforms comparators such as Ecuador(106th), Brazil (84th), and Chile (77th). Moreover,Colombia posted its largest improvement in this pillaracross the board since the previous year, up 32 places.This promising trend reflects the increasing prioritygiven to the sector’s development in the country’snational competitiveness strategy. As mentioned in theintroduction to this paper, recognizing the T&T sector’s importance for overall economic growth andcompetitiveness as well as for the design and consolida-tion of a new, positive country brand, the governmenthas progressively put more emphasis on and resourcesinto the sector, with the adoption of the “Colombia es pasión” country brand in 2005 and the internationalpromotion campaign “Colombia, el riesgo es que tequieras quedar” in 2007, among others. As part of thislatter campaign, the country also established a moreactive presence in its largest T&T markets, namelyMexico, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina,

Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, the United Kingdom,Germany, Spain, Italy, and Poland.27

Colombia improved its showing in all the variablesincluded in the pillar. In particular, it has leaped animpressive 52 places for its attendance at major tourismfairs (6 out of the 13 assessed, corresponding to a 41strank). Important advances have also been posted for theeffectiveness of marketing and branding (from 62nd in2008 to 54th) and the government’s prioritization of the T&T industry (from 78th in 2008 to 67th). On a lesspositive note, the country’s greater focus on the T&Tsector has not yet translated into a notable increase ofgovernment expenditure on Travel & Tourism, whichremained quite low at 2.04 percent of the total budgetin 2008, corresponding to 99th place. This comparesquite poorly not only with the 21.24 percent of thebudget of the Dominican Republic, the country invest-ing the biggest budget portion in Travel & Tourism, butalso with comparators such as Egypt (6.66 percent, 20th)and Costa Rica (6.15, 22nd). Indeed, as shown in Table10, Colombia is the second-to-last country in the com-parator sample for the amount of government resourcesinvested in the sector: only South Africa invests less, at0.54 percent (124th).

Going forward, it will be important to reinforce themessage to the public and the business community of theimportance of the T&T industry for the developmentand overall competitiveness of Colombia’s economy.

T&T business environment and infrastructureThe presence of extensive and efficient hard infra-structure (including air and ground transport as well as tourism and ICT infrastructure) is an essential pre-condition for the development of the T&T sector. Atthe same time, elements of the business environment,such as its price competitiveness, play a special role infostering a country’s attractiveness for tourism.

Colombia ranks a disappointing 88th place for itsT&T business environment and infrastructure, trailing at the back of the comparator group, higher only thanPeru (92nd) and Ecuador (97th). Also, the large 48-placedivide from best-ranked comparator Thailand (40th)points to the long way Colombia has to go to upgradeand develop its infrastructure, as well as increase its pricecompetitiveness, to optimal levels.

Air transport infrastructureHigh-quality and well-developed air transport infra-structure provides easy access to and from third countries,as well as to destinations within countries. To provide acomprehensive assessment of the air transport infrastruc-ture, this pillar measures both its quantity and quality.The quantity aspect is captured by indicators such as theavailable seat kilometers (domestic and international),the number of departures per 1,000 population, airportdensity, and number of operating airlines in the country.In turn, the quality of air transport is assessed by two

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variables from the Survey both for international andnational flights.

At 65th, Colombia receives a worse assessment inthis pillar than most comparator countries, the exceptionsbeing Ecuador (86th) and Peru (92nd). Moreover, thecountry is separated by a 40-place gap from top-rankedThailand (25th). Thailand is in a league of its own forthe quality of its air transport infrastructure amongcomparators: the next-ranked country, Costa Rica, isplaced at a fairly distant 42nd position.

The evaluation of air transport quality appears to bethe comparatively more problematic aspect of Colombia’sgeneral performance in this pillar: the quality of airtransport infrastructure and the international air trans-port network are ranked 64th and 72nd, respectively. Onthe other hand, several aspects related to the quantity ofavailable air transport in Colombia are relatively wellassessed. The country ranks 27th for the scheduled available seat kilometers originating in the country and51st for those originating abroad; it also benefits from1.13 airports per million population, placing 41st for its airport density, second only to Costa Rica in thecomparator sample (see Table 11). Indeed, Colombia can count on 47 airports, of which 9 are international.

On a more negative note, the number of operatingairlines (25.5), ranked 68th, compares quite poorly withother comparators such as Thailand (92 operating air-lines, 13th) and Egypt (71.5, 20th), as displayed in Table12. Also the departures per 1,000 population at 3.84

(55th) are a far cry from the 93.6 of globally top rankedLuxembourg.

To address this shortcoming, the country has pro-gressively extended the number and frequency of inter-national flights: from 2007 and 2008 and from 2008 to2009, respectively, an additional 101 and 47 internationalflights were established, connecting destinations that hadpreviously benefited from no direct international flights,such as Panama-Bucaramanga, Barcelona-Medellin, andBogotà-Caracas, among others. Moreover, a third nationalairline company is now catering to national and interna-tional routes, expanding national offers, reducing prices,and transporting more travelers.28

Clearly, upgrading the quality of the air transportnetwork and further improving the connectivity to key overseas markets should be a priority for laying thefoundation of T&T development in Colombia.

Ground transport infrastructureExtensive and high-quality ground transport networksplay a vital role in easing the movement of people andgoods across a country, as well as promoting regionaltourism. This pillar provides a qualitative assessment ofroads, railroads, port, and ground transport infrastructure(including the extent to which the overall ground trans-port system offers efficient, accessible transportation tokey business centers and tourist attractions within thecountry), together with a quantitative measurement ofroad density (kilometers of road per 100 square kilome-ters of land).

Table 10: T&T government expenditure as a percentageof total budget: Colombia and selected comparators,2008

Country Rank Value

Dominican Republic 1 21.24Jamaica 2 16.82Mauritius 3 16.05Barbados 4 15.83Iceland 5 11.45Malta 6 11.25Jordan 7 10.41Singapore 8 10.18Gambia, The 9 9.51Cambodia 10 9.23Egypt 20 6.66Costa Rica 22 6.15Chile 46 4.12Ecuador 53 3.78Brazil 77 2.82Thailand 79 2.72Peru 81 2.68Colombia 99 2.04South Africa 124 0.54

Source: World Travel & Tourism Council, Tourism Satellite AccountingResearch, 2008.

Note: Blue indicates comparators discussed in the text and for which countryprofiles are included in this paper; black indicates the top 10 economies inthis variable.

Table 11: Number of airports per million population:Colombia and selected comparators, 2007

Country Rank Value

Iceland 1 28.94Norway 2 10.62Canada 3 7.85Australia 4 7.33Panama 5 6.58New Zealand 6 6.39Mongolia 7 5.74Malta 8 4.89Sweden 9 4.48Finland 10 4.16Costa Rica 12 3.81Colombia 41 1.13Chile 42 1.08Ecuador 44 1.05Peru 73 0.61Brazil 78 0.56Thailand 85 0.47South Africa 90 0.42Egypt 117 0.19

Source: International Air Transport Association, SRS Analyser; nationalsources.


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As mentioned above, movement within Colombiawas quite challenging in the recent past, given the difficult security situation. Although extraordinaryprogress on this front has been made in the last decade,the country’s ground transport infrastructure remains aweakness. Colombia posts its second-worst showing(108th) across the 14 pillars of T&T competitiveness forits ground transport infrastructure. This seems to be aproblem shared by other countries from the LatinAmerican region, with only Chile ranking in the tophalf of the general rakings of 133 countries (57th), andCosta Rica (103rd), Brazil (110th), Ecuador (119th), andPeru (125th) all positioned at the bottom. This consider-ation also applies, though to a lesser extent, to the extra-regional comparators: Thailand, the relative best per-former, is ranked a far-from-impressive 56th, followedby South Africa (64th) and Egypt (79th).

The quality of ports, railroad infrastructure, androads are particularly poor in Colombia, ranked at108th, 99th, and 91st, respectively, while the overalldomestic transport network is assessed slightly better at62nd. Also road density, at 14.39 kilometers per 100square kilometers of land (62nd) is a far cry from that of best global performer Malta (704.4 kilometers) andregional best performer Barbados (372.1 kilometers, 5th).

Tourism infrastructureEqually important for supporting T&T sector develop-ment, besides general transport infrastructure, is thetourism-specific one, including hospitality conditions

(proxied by the number of hotel rooms per 100 pop-ulation) as well as the presence and extent of Travel &Tourism–specific services (proxied by the presence ofmajor rental companies and the number of automatedteller machines [ATMs] accepting Visa credit cards permillion population).

At 93rd, Colombia is ranked last in the comparatorsample for the quality of its tourism infrastructure, 60places behind best-ranked comparator Costa Rica(33rd). This is also the country’s worst showing in theT&T business and infrastructure subindex. The poorranking points to the need to seriously upgrade thecountry’s tourism-specific infrastructure in order toeffectively respond to the need of an increasing numberof tourists. In particular, Tables 13 and 14 show howColombia’s hotel and ATM infrastructure compares with the top 10 countries for each measure, as well asthe selected comparator group. Although Colombia,with 0.16 rooms per 100 population (83rd), outperformsSouth Africa (0.13 rooms, ranked 91st) and it is notmuch behind sample best-performer Costa Rica inabsolute terms (0.92), it still has a long way to go to catch up with global top performers Cyprus and Malta(5.62 and 4.92 rooms per 100 population, respectively).Further, the ATM infrastructure for cash withdrawalneeds to be strengthened for Colombia to bridge thedivide with global best performers Spain and the UnitedStates: only 155.2 ATMs per million population acceptedVisa cards in Colombia in 2007 (65th) vs. 1,355.53 and1,314.58 in Spain and the United States, respectively.

Table 12: Number of operating airlines: Colombia andselected comparators, January and July 2008 average

Economy Rank Value

United States 1 188.00United Kingdom 2 185.00France 3 184.00Germany 4 166.50Italy 5 158.00Spain 6 134.50Canada 7 112.50Russian Federation 8 112.00Switzerland 9 103.50China 10 95.50Thailand 13 92.00Egypt 20 71.50South Africa 30 54.00Brazil 32 50.00Colombia 68 25.50Chile 70 22.50Costa Rica 75 20.50Peru 78 20.00Ecuador 81 18.50

Source: International Air Transport Association, SRS Analyser.Note: Blue indicates comparators discussed in the text and for which countryprofiles are included in this paper; black indicates the top 10 economies inthis variable.

Table 13: Number of hotel rooms per 100 population:Colombia and selected comparators, 2007

Economy Rank Value

Cyprus 1 5.62Malta 2 4.92Austria 3 3.48Greece 4 3.29Iceland 5 2.79Barbados 6 2.30Spain 7 1.88Italy 8 1.82Bulgaria 9 1.80Switzerland 10 1.75Costa Rica 29 0.92Thailand 48 0.59Peru 54 0.50Chile 58 0.38Ecuador 59 0.38Egypt 74 0.25Colombia 83 0.16South Africa 91 0.13Brazil n/a n/a

Source: United Nations World Tourism Organization.Note: Blue indicates comparators discussed in the text and for which countryprofiles are included in this paper; black indicates the top 10 economies inthis variable.

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Finally, out of seven major international rental car companies, only three are present in Colombia (whichcorresponds to a dismal 95th position), as opposed to sixin Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico, all ranked 23rd andtopping this ranking within the comparator group.

An important effort to improve infrastructure con-ditions in the most popular tourism destinations in thecountry has been deployed more recently. In particular,over the last three years, important projects to supportT&T development have been initiated. These projectsinclude the construction and upgrading of conventioncenters in many locations, including Armenia, Cali,Barranquillas, and Pereira; tourism ports Nuqui, SantaMarta, and Acandi, among others; tourism piers such asCartagena, Santa Marta, and San Andrés; and thematicparks in Aratoca and Pereira, among others.29

ICT infrastructureICT has evolved into an industry-wide enabling infrastructure and is particularly important for the T&Tindustry. An extensive and efficient ICT infrastructurefor planning itineraries and purchasing travel andaccommodations, among other activities, is increasinglybecoming a key element for a competitive T&T sector.

This pillar gauges the quality and extension of theICT infrastructure by measuring the extent of businessInternet use, as well as penetration rates for the mainICT—for example, the number of Internet users, fixedtelephone lines, broadband Internet subscribers, andmobile telephone subscribers per 100 population. At

65th, improving five places since the previous assess-ment, Colombia is among the best performers in thecomparator sample, clustering with countries the likes of Brazil (60th) and Costa Rica (61st), after top-rankedChile (49th). It outperforms the Latin American andCaribbean average (2.90 for Colombia vs. 2.79 for theregion) as well as the rest of the comparator economies.Colombia’s ICT prowess and capacity to leverage ICTadvances for increased growth and development are also confirmed by the results over time of the WorldEconomic Forum’s Networked Readiness Index. Thisindex, featured in The Global Information TechnologyReport series, assesses the national capacity to fully harness ICT advances in the general competitivenessstrategy. Ranked 60th out of 133 economies in 2009,Colombia has not only followed a consistently upwardtrend in the last three years (9 positions up from 2007),but it is among the countries that progressed the mostin a decile-rank analysis performed across time, going up by 3 decile ranks between 2001 and 2009.30

Colombia’s performance in this pillar is boosted bya fairly high and rapidly growing number of Internetusers and broadband Internet subscribers (26.22 and2.62 per 100 population, corresponding to a 56th and63rd position, respectively),31 reflected in the businesssector’s propensity to use the Internet in its daily trans-actions and operations (61st for extent of businessInternet use). Telephony penetration is somewhat lesssatisfactory, with 17 telephone lines and 73.54 mobiletelephone subscribers per 100 population, corresponding

Table 14: ATMs accepting Visa cards per million population: Colombia and selected comparators, 2007

Economy Rank Value

Spain 1 1,355.55United States 2 1,314.58Portugal 3 1,101.51Austria 4 1,063.29Switzerland 5 929.45Luxembourg 6 880.00Slovenia 7 826.50Iceland 8 816.67France 9 793.58Australia 10 792.43Thailand 34 343.72South Africa 45 283.54Costa Rica 46 278.89Chile 62 194.40Colombia 65 155.19Brazil 68 140.45Ecuador 79 86.84Peru 92 39.65Egypt 96 29.41

Source: Visa International.Note: Blue indicates comparators discussed in the text and for which countryprofiles are included in this paper; black indicates the top 10 economies inthis variable.

Table 15: Mobile telephone subscribers per 100 population: Colombia and selected comparators, 2007

Economy Rank Value

United Arab Emirates 1 173.37Qatar 2 150.41Estonia 3 148.42Bahrain 4 148.28Hong Kong SAR 5 146.41Lithuania 6 144.90Italy 7 135.14Bulgaria 8 129.57Luxembourg 9 129.50Israel 10 128.50South Africa 55 87.08Chile 59 83.89Thailand 66 80.42Ecuador 71 75.60Colombia 74 73.54Brazil 82 63.08Peru 87 55.25Egypt 96 39.82Costa Rica 104 33.76

Source: International Telecommunication Union, World TelecommunicationIndicators 2008.


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to 72nd and 74th positions, respectively. In particularwith respect to mobile telephone subscribers—Colombia’s worst comparative showing in the pillar—Table 15 shows how the country still has a long way togo before reaching the levels displayed by top performersin the global sample or best-ranked comparator SouthAfrica, which has 87 subscribers per 100 population.

The overall situation points to a promising trendtoward the better leveraging of ICT in Colombia’s society and economy, but it also identifies the need toreinforce efforts in this regard, something that wouldbenefit the development of the T&T industry as well asthe country’s overall productivity and competitiveness.

Price competitiveness in the T&T industryPrice competitiveness, or an economy’s comparativeprice level with respect to the rest of the world, is animportant feature of the T&T business environment in acountry, since lower costs can increase the attractivenessof a destination for many travelers, all other things beingequal.

This pillar captures the most relevant dimensions of the price environment in a given country that have abearing on the T&T industry. In this sense, more specifictourism-related aspects—such as the relative cost ofaccess to international air transport services (ticket taxesand airport charges), fuel price levels, and average roomrates (i.e., the hotel price index)—are taken into account,together with more general measures such as the

comparative cost of goods (as reflected by purchasingpower parity) and the extent and effect of taxation.

At 66th, Colombia holds the penultimate rank inthe comparator sample, just ahead of Brazil (91st).Moreover, the price gap with global best-performerEgypt (1st) and Thailand (19th) is very large. Although,as shown in Tables 16 and 17, Colombia displays lowfuel prices (57 US cents per liter, 28th) and affordableaverage room rates (US$112.46 per average room calculated for first-class branded hotels), the ticket taxesand airport charges are extremely high (117th), whichincreases the cost of airline tickets. This, coupled withdistortive taxes (103rd) and a fairly high comparativeprice level (58th for its purchasing power parity), nega-tively impacts the country’s general price competitive-ness.

To summarize, despite low fuel prices and afford-able hotel rooms, Colombia appears to be a fairlyexpensive tourist destination. This is attributable in partto a number of taxation and T&T policy-related issues,which, if addressed, could improve the country’s overallprice competitiveness. Given the high spending pertourist, there does seem to be some room for loweringprices without having a significant impact on tourismreceipts.

T&T human, cultural, and natural resourcesHuman, cultural, and natural assets are essential elementsof a country’s tourism attractiveness and a prerequisitefor the development of a healthy T&T industry. In this

Table 16: Retail diesel fuel prices (US cents per liter):Colombia and selected comparators, 2006

Economy Rank Score

Venezuela 1 2Saudi Arabia 2 7Egypt 3 12Bahrain 4 13Libya 4 13Syria 4 13Algeria 7 19Qatar 7 19Kuwait 9 21Trinidad and Tobago 10 24Ecuador 12 39Colombia 28 57Thailand 39 65Costa Rica 42 67Brazil 62 84South Africa 62 84Chile 66 86Peru 66 86

Source: The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2008.Note: Blue indicates comparators discussed in the text and for which countryprofiles are included in this paper; black indicates the top 10 economies inthis variable other than the comparators.

Table 17: Hotel price index: Colombia and selectedcomparators, 2007

Economy Rank Score

Gambia, The 1 34.18

Nepal 2 52.74

Bolivia 3 60.76

Egypt 4 65.35

Sri Lanka 5 73.29

Malaysia 6 74.19

Indonesia 7 74.32

El Salvador 8 74.84

Ghana 9 77.83

Moldova 10 79.06

Ecuador 13 82.83

Peru 18 93.49

Chile 26 108.14

Thailand 27 108.79

Colombia 33 112.46

South Africa 38 115.82

Brazil 49 129.10

Costa Rica 89 173.12

Source: Deloitte.Note: Blue indicates comparators discussed in the text and for which countryprofiles are included in this paper; black indicates the top 10 economies inthis variable other than the comparators.

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Figure 6: Colombia's T&T jobs, 1990–2010

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2008200620042002200019981996199419921990 2010

Source: WTTC, Economic Data Research Tool database.

� T&T economy employment

� T&T direct industry employment

Percent of total employment

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20context, the quality of human capital and the country’saffinity for Travel & Tourism, together with the avail-ability of natural and cultural resources, are taken intoaccount. In particular, although the availability of qualified and healthy workers are an important elementof catering to the needs of the T&T sector, citizens’openness and welcoming attitude to foreign visitors and the presence and variety of cultural and naturalassets are major foundations on which countries’ T&Tcompetitiveness is built.

Colombia displays what is by far its best showingacross the three subindexes in this area, for which itranks 34th, clustering with Costa Rica (31st) and Peru(33rd). Although it is behind top-ranked Brazil (4th), itoutperforms comparators such as Egypt (73rd), Chile(64th), and Ecuador (62nd) by a significant margin.Colombia’s natural and cultural endowments are nodoubt outstanding and have provided a good basis forthe country’s recent efforts to develop the T&T sector.

Human capitalBecause of the service-oriented and human resource–intensive nature of the T&T sector, the availability of askilled and healthy labor force able to fulfill the needs ofthe industry is crucial for ensuring its development. Inthis respect, T&T industry experts have identified severalchronic vulnerabilities harming the overall quality of thelabor force in the tourism sector: among these are theseasonality of the work, low levels of training, and thesignificant participation of young people and women

with fewer skills—between 60 and 70 percent of workers in the T&T sector are women. The lack of necessary qualifications is often blamed on a generalassumption by managers in the sector that minimal skills are required to perform tasks—particularly at lowerlevels—which limits private-sector incentives to trainworkers.32

The human capital pillar aims at capturing the critical elements that shape the quality of a country’shuman capital, taking into account two broad dimensions:the quality and quantity of education and training andthe availability of qualified labor. The first subpillar gaugesquantitative elements such as primary and secondaryenrollment rates, together with qualitative variables such as the quality of the educational system, the localavailability of specialized research and training services,and the extent of staff training. The availability of quali-fied labor subpillar, in turn, measures the flexibility ofthe labor market with specific emphasis on the ease ofhiring foreign workers together with the general healthconditions of the labor force in a given country (usingthe prevalence and business impact of HIV and lifeexpectancy as proxies).

In 2009, the T&T industry directly accounted for1.7 percent of Colombia’s total employment. Takinginto account the indirect as well as direct importance ofthe sector, it accounted for 447,000 jobs, or 5.1 percentof total employment. Figure 6 shows the evolution ofT&T workers in Colombia over the last 20 years.33 Toput these figures into perspective, the direct and indirect


Table 18: T&T human capital: Colombia and selected comparators

Education Availability ofT&T human resources HUMAN CAPITAL and training qualified labor

Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score

Costa Rica 24 5.63 31 5.34 10 5.91Chile 47 5.23 63 4.77 25 5.68Brazil 55 5.17 40 5.05 87 5.28Colombia 64 5.09 72 4.57 37 5.61

Peru 71 5.03 77 4.52 50 5.53Ecuador 98 4.59 101 4.05 97 5.14Thailand 57 5.16 60 4.80 56 5.52Egypt 83 4.90 83 4.41 75 5.39South Africa 112 4.23 48 4.98 131 3.48

Latin America and the Caribbean 76 4.97 77 4.54 67 5.41


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impact of T&T represented an average 6.4 percent ofemployment during the same period for the LatinAmerican and the Caribbean region, with Costa Ricaand Peru leading the way with figures as high as 13.6and 6.8 percent, respectively.34

The general assessment of Colombia’s humanresources, at 64th, is fairly positive. However, eventhough the country outperforms neighboring countriesEcuador (98th) and Peru (71st), it is still far behind thetop-ranked comparator Costa Rica (24th) and, to a lesser extent, Chile (47th) and Brazil (55th). The overallpillar rank conceals a rather uneven performance in itstwo composing subpillars: while the country gets goodmarks for the availability of qualified labor (37th), theassessment is lower for the quality of education andtraining (72nd).

With respect to the former, Colombia’s satisfactoryrank is boosted by the national labor market’s opennessto foreign workers (33rd for the ease of hiring foreignworkers) and reasonably high life expectancy (74 years,corresponding to a 50th rank). As a matter of fact, uni-versal healthcare coverage was set as a goal for 2009,which is expected to have a positive impact on workers’well-being and productivity.35 The comparator countriespresent mixed results in this area. While Costa Rica andChile are ranked 10th and 25th, respectively, for theavailability of qualified labor, South Africa (131st),Ecuador (97th), Brazil (87th), and Egypt (75th) lagbehind at the bottom of the pillar’s rankings (see Table18 for the details of the comparator countries’ perform-ances on the human capital pillar and com-posing subpillars).

On a more negative note, Colombia’s fairly poorquality of education and training is mainly the result oflow primary and secondary enrollment rates (88.50 and82.23 percent, respectively, corresponding to a 95th and

83rd rank), coupled with limited staff training (91st). Infact, as part of the country’s 2008–10 tourism strategy,the Colombian government highlighted the urgency ofdeveloping a “tourism culture” among workers in theT&T industry to foster competitiveness. In addition, thegovernment adopted the Plan Indicativo de Formaciónen Turismo (the Indicative Plan of Tourism Training) in2009 as an attempt to improve workers’ skills, providingthem with specific training to work in tourism-relatedactivities, including language skills and capabilities forusing the latest technology and applying it to the T&Tsector. Ultimately, this initiative is expected not only tohave positive effects on Colombia’s T&T competitivenessbut also to improve the industry’s innovation potentialand capacity for knowledge sharing and provision.36

Clearly, this effort to develop specific T&T skills isto be praised, and should be accompanied by efforts toincrease enrollment rates in the formal educational sys-tem as well as to ensure continuous on-the-job trainingto better equip the Colombian labor force to work inthe T&T sector. Box 2 looks at the challenges involvedin developing a national workforce strategy for the T&Tsector and highlights some best practices in this respectaround the world.

Affinity for Travel & TourismThe attitude and openness of a country, and its society,to tourism and foreign visitors is an important compo-nent of a Travel & Tourism–friendly environment andhas important implications for the competitiveness and attractiveness of national T&T sectors. This pillar is an attempt to capture countries’ affinity for Travel &Tourism as defined above, taking into account tourismopenness (i.e., the ratio of the sum of internationaltourism expenditures and receipts to GDP) and the attitude of citizens toward foreign visitors as well as the


likelihood that they would recommend that visitors onbusiness trips extend their stay for leisure tourism in thecountry.

Colombia gets poor marks for its affinity for Travel& Tourism, with a rank of 104th. This, sadly, seems to bea common feature for Latin America and the Caribbean.With the exception of Costa Rica (27th), which notablybenefits from a high degree of tourism openness (24th)and the welcoming attitude of its population toward visitors (31st), the rest of the regional comparators are to be found at the bottom of the rankings: Peru at 85th,Brazil at 108th, Chile at 111th, and Ecuador at 117th.The low affinity for Travel & Tourism is something par-tially connected to the scarce availability and nurturingof proper T&T skills and training, which again appear tobe a recurring problem in the region. The poor resultsfor the region in this pillar contrast with the good performance of the extra-regional comparators: Egypt,Thailand, and South Africa are ranked respectively 20th,22nd, and 43rd, and can no doubt provide a source ofbest practice and inspiration for Colombia in thisdomain. Another good source of inspiration, outside the comparator sample, is India’s “Devo Bhavah” (theGuest Is God) social awareness campaign, adopted inparallel with the recent “Incredible !ndia” campaign.This represented a pioneering attempt to raise theawareness of workers at every level of the T&T valuechain (from taxi drivers to tour guides) of the impor-tance of tourism for the economy through a process oftraining and orientation. The campaign aimed also at

sensitizing nationals about the preservation of India’srich heritage and culture, cleanliness, and warm hospi-tality. T&T workers covered in the training included taxidrivers, baggage handlers at the airport, tourist guides,hotel staff, employees of tour operators, and immigrationand customs officials, among others. Upon completionof the program, the workers are issued a 6-month certificate. Retraining is offered twice a year.37

Looking at Colombia’s performance in the pillar,although the country displays a fairly friendly attitudetoward foreign visitors (57th), business leaders do notdemonstrate a strong willingness to suggest to theirbusiness contacts that they might extend their businesstrips for tourism in the country (85th). Although onemight think this is the legacy of a recent past of vio-lence and social unrest, South Africa, a country that hasfaced similar difficulties, is ranked a very high 8th onthis measure.

Moreover, Colombia ranks a dismal 117th for itstourism openness, with its T&T expenditures andreceipts accounting for just 1.87 percent of GDP.Although this is broadly in line with the regional performance (with the exception of Costa Rica),38 acomparison with global top performer Barbados (31.24percent) or even best sample performers Costa Rica andEgypt (10.14 and 9.18 percent, respectively) shows theextent of the gap compared with countries placing thehighest emphasis on developing their T&T sectors (seeTable 19).

On a more positive note, with an 11 percent rise in 2009, Colombia’s T&T exports—including visitorsand other types of exports including goods for touristconsumption, such as aircraft and cruise ships—made asignificant contribution to the country’s total exports,and therefore to national GDP. Building on these results,as already mentioned, the government’s goal is to placeColombia among the top five destinations in the region,receiving an average of 4 million visitors and doublingthe country’s T&T annual earnings by US$4 billion by2010.39

Natural resourcesCountries endowed with natural assets are clearly moreattractive to visitors and have a competitive advantagewith regard to developing their T&T industries. Asmentioned in the environmental sustainability pillar, for natural assets to be durable competitive advantages in the long run, they need to be adequately protectedand managed, striking a balance between the needs ofpresent and future generations.

The natural resources pillar aims at capturing thequality and presence of natural assets in any given coun-try by taking into account aspects such as the number of natural World Heritage sites, protected land area as a percentage of total land area, the number of knownspecies (mammals, birds, and amphibians), and the quali-ty of the natural environment.

Table 19: Tourism openness: Colombia and selectedcomparators, 2007

Economy Rank Value

Barbados 1 31.24Albania 2 24.83Mauritius 3 23.78Montenegro 4 22.41Jordan 5 19.95Croatia 6 19.93Cyprus 7 19.48Jamaica 8 18.98Malta 9 17.48Luxembourg 10 15.06Costa Rica 24 10.14Egypt 27 9.18Thailand 31 8.47South Africa 78 4.36Peru 103 2.70Ecuador 109 2.47Chile 115 1.94Colombia 117 1.87Brazil 128 1.00

Source: United Nations World Tourism Organization.Note: Blue indicates comparators discussed in the text and for which countryprofiles are included in this paper; black indicates the top 10 economies inthis variable.

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Box 2: Developing a tourism and hospitality workforce strategy: Building blocks and selected best practices

Among Colombia’s most pressing challenges in ensuring thesustainable development of its T&T sector is the need to provide the labor force working in the sector with appropriate,tourism-specific skills, as highlighted in the main text of thispaper. This box aims to offer some guidance for the develop-ment of a national tourism and hospitality workforce strategy in Colombia by exploring the main elements of such a strategyand pointing to relevant international best practices.1

The tourism industry as a whole suffers from a number ofweaknesses when it comes to attracting talent. The industry, by its very nature, employs a large number of part time or seasonal employees and involves, for many of them, workinghours that do not coincide with the 9-to-5, Monday-through-Friday traditional work week. These characteristics make thesector unattractive to many potential workers, with the resultthat the industry is often not able to attract the most qualifiedpeople. Moreover, the sector is composed predominantly ofsmall businesses that operate on low profit margins and cannotoften afford to pay higher wages to attract the best talent.

A national strategy to create a world-class tourism andhospitality workforce should therefore include an employmentbranding strategy, with national promotional campaigns high-lighting the importance of the industry for economic develop-ment. Specifically, the industry should be seen as a national priority for governments, providing career opportunities for talented professionals as well as jobs for immigrants and low-skilled workers. Such a “face-lifting” campaign of the industry’simage should build on the government’s experience in its destination-awareness campaigns, spreading the positive messages within the country as well as outside it, to raise theprofile of the T&T sector at a national level so that it becomesseen as one able to offer long-term career paths to high-calibertalented people, as well as employment opportunities for low-skilled labor. Concomitantly, a well-planned national policyaddressing the human-resources development and trainingrequirements of the hospitality sector, including vocationaltraining programs, should be implemented. Such a policy shouldinclude at least the following elements:

1. Effective vocational training programs, through partner-ships between virtual training companies and industrystakeholders, which can ensure that the training environ-ment matches as closely as possible the “real work environment” that students will face when entering theindustry. Moreover, governments should collaborate witheducational institutions to develop vocational educationand career campaigns that promote the opportunities thatthe industry offers to a range of potential candidates.

2. Public-private partnerships with the hospitality sector,acknowledging the critical role the private sector plays,along with the government, in fostering the development of national tourism talent. For example, the private sectorshould be incentivized, through different schemes, to enterinto partnerships with hospitality training schools or investin the development of local training academies.

3. Social inclusion and pro-poor tourism, through the government’s development of specialized training programsfor disadvantaged people (e.g., those with disabilities, welfare recipients, indigenous populations) to find new job opportunities. Once again, public-private partnershipshave proven to work very well in this context: many coun-tries have developed partnerships with the industry totrain and then hire these individuals.

4. Hospitality programs as full-time university degrees,which are key to unlocking the potential of growing alocal, well-trained workforce for the sector. Moreover,hospitality university degrees can greatly improve theimage of the sector, advancing it from that of merely providing entry-level or seasonal jobs to less-educatedworkers to acquiring a reputation for career developmentequal to that provided by other service industries.

What follows is a discussion of selected best practicesadopted in different countries around the world with respect to the elements highlighted above, as building blocks of a successful national tourism and hospitality workforce strategy.

National employment branding campaigns: Best practicesWith respect to the employment branding component of thestrategy outlined above, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has run a number of advertisement campaigns aimed at promotingto its citizens the value of jobs in the hospitality sector in theframework of its Emiratization program, building on its success-ful country branding experience.2 Among the initiatives adoptedtogether with the advertisement campaigns are an increasedparticipation of the hospitality industry in local job fairs to promote T&T careers and lifestyle to local talent, the establish-ment of national vocational training centers to ensure that thenecessary skills and knowledge are offered at a local level, andthe encouragement of internal company training programs formanagerial-level jobs.3

The New Zealand government, to take another example,has focused on promoting the tourism and hospitality industry topotential employees and key opinion leaders, positioningtourism as a significant contributor to the national economy andas a meaningful career. In this respect, several actions havebeen undertaken, including:

(cont’d.)

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• the adoption of national and regional campaigns on thebenefits of working in the industry, targeted toward groupssuch as seasonal workers, migrants, and mature workers;

• enhanced opportunities for casual and seasonal workersto move among employers, also through joint campaignswith other sectors requiring seasonal workers;

• the creation of an industry-owned, centralized job information website promoting job opportunities andpotential career pathways within the industry to potentialemployees; and

• the identification of potential sources of labor supply, fromschools and non-traditional labor pools, including retiredpeople and foreign students. This process was carried outin association with the Social Development’s Partnershipwith Industry initiative to connect with people currentlynot in the workforce but who have the potential to work,with the Department of Labor’s migrant settlement initiatives to reach migrant workers, and by working withsecondary schools and associated agencies to promotetourism and hospitality as a rewarding career to those finishing school.4

National policy for human resources development inthe tourism and hospitality sector: Best practicesStarting with the vocational training programs, Jordan is a particularly interesting case. Tourism vocational training isbeing enhanced in the country using advanced programs andcurricula that are based on international standards, whileefforts to attract more students into the field are beingincreased through initiatives launched by the Ministry of Labor,the Vocational Training Corporation, and USAID/Jordan TourismDevelopment Project II.5

In New Zealand, the New Zealand Hotel Council (NZHC)and the Hospitality Standards Institute have joined forces tolaunch a first-ever industry-wide training initiative.6 The NationalHotel Corporate Training Program offers two qualifications: theNZHC Entry Level Certificate, aimed at people starting theircareers in the hotel Industry and covering basic skills such ascomputer literacy, customer relations, housekeeping, food andbeverage, and guest services; and the NZHC National Diplomain Hotel Management, aimed at supervisors and managersalready working in the hotel industry.7

With respect to corporate partnerships with the hospitalitysector, some notable success stories are the UAE’s MaharatHospitality Training and Jumariah Academy as well as Qatar’sCasabella Hospitality Management. The Maharat HospitalityTraining is a good example of a job-linked training scheme toboost the employment of citizens in the hospitality sector.Within the framework of the Emiratization program mentioned

above, a scheme for UAE national job-seekers offering a nine-week hospitality training encompassing different aspects of thehospitality industry was developed. Many of the graduates havefound jobs in Dubai five-star hotels. The number of UAE citizensgraduating from the program increased from 15 in 2002 to 700 in2009. Hotels supporting this program include Accor, HyattInternational, Jebel Ali International, Jumairah, Rotana,Shangri-La, the Intercontinental Hotels Group, and Fairmont.

Developed by the Jumairah Group and the Ecole Hôtelièrede Lausanne, the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Managementaims at providing the best in new hospitality management per-sonnel to the industry through the integration of proven academicexcellence with Jumeirah’s world-class property managementstrengths. Last but not least, to respond to the stellar develop-ment of Qatar’s hospitality industry, the government has enteredinto an agreement with the Casabella Hospitality managementteam to develop a comprehensive local expertise in hospitalitymanagement. The courses offered cover a broad spectrum of topics on issues such as hotel management, marketing,branding, and real estate development.

A successful initiative in fostering social inclusion andpro-poor tourism is the Kuku Field Studies Centre in Kenya. TheCentre was established to offer cultural and environmental education opportunities to students of all ages and nationalities.All revenues generated through the Centre are used for educa-tional purposes and for community projects that benefit theMaasai members of the Kuku Group Ranch. The Centre acts as a model for financially self-sustainable environmental educa-tion and as an example of the potential that exists for communi-ties in Africa to benefit from their natural and culturalresources. Programs are conducted by local Maasai andinclude guided walks to observe the flora and fauna of theregion and visits to the Maasai villages and the Amboseli andTsavo National Parks. The program represents a clever attemptat weaving together ecological content, community interaction,and cross-cultural activities.8

In terms of hospitality university degrees, the UnitedStates and Switzerland offer the two most notable best prac-tices in the world. With the prestigious hospitality schools ofLausanne, Crans, and Glion/Montreaux, Switzerland offers first-class degrees in hospitality management. These schools wererecently ranked as the top three institutes for hospitality man-agement training in the world.9 The United States ranked 4thwith Cornell University, followed by New York University’sPreston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and SportsManagement. Both countries feature extremely well in thehuman resources pillar of the TTCI, with Switzerland ranking 4thoverall and the United States 7th.

All of these examples provide useful guidance forColombia in the development of its tourism workforce strategy.

Box 2: Developing a tourism and hospitality workforce strategy (cont’d.)

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Colombia’s world-class natural endowments (5th)are the country’s main competitive advantage as assessedby the TTCI, greatly contributing to the attractivenessof the country’s T&T sector. With the partial exceptionof Chile (63rd), natural resources represent an importantattribute for the region, with Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru,and Ecuador featuring among the best in the world at2nd, 6th, 8th, and 19th, respectively. Within the com-parator sample, South Africa and Thailand are alsoblessed with abundant natural resources (22nd and 24th, respectively) while Egypt, with few naturalresources (109th), stands apart from the rest. At the sametime, Egypt is an example of a country that successfullydeveloped its T&T sector even without an obviouscompetitive advantage in terms of a diverse and richnatural offering.

Colombia’s outstanding showing in this pillar isespecially boosted by its remarkable biodiversity, the second largest in the world, with nearly 3,000 different

species of birds, mammals, and amphibians (see Table 8)and by its very high proportion of protected areas (30 percent of total land, 12th). It is noteworthy thatnational parks represent around 10 percent of Colombia’sterritory.40 Moreover, two sites form part of Colombia’snatural World Heritage (23rd): Los Katíos National Parkand the Malapeo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary, which areof significant importance to the country’s landscape andtherefore to the tourism industry.41 On a less positive note,the natural environment is assessed as moderately polluted(61st), confirming the need for a more comprehensivesustainability policy in the national competitivenessagenda. As a confirmation of the above, UNESCOrecently added Los Katíos National Park to its list ofendangered national heritage sites.42

Worrisomely, the quality of the environment is aconcern also for the region and remaining comparators.Costa Rica is once again the only exception to this situation, at 9th, having long focused on the sustainablemanagement of its natural resources. Peru (76th),Ecuador (74th), and, to a lesser extent, Brazil (58th) and Chile (52nd) all appear to be in need of betterenvironmental standards, together with Thailand (104th)and Egypt (131st), if they are to ensure the future sustainability of their T&T sectors.

Cultural resourcesLast but not least, cultural richness is a critical founda-tion for diversifying T&T offerings and attractingtourists. Moreover, strong cultural resources are oftenassociated with the more profitable segments of theT&T market. In particular, a global trend toward highereducation levels and enhanced mobility has increasedinternational awareness of cultural offerings. This hasbeen reinforced by national efforts of countries to differentiate themselves in an increasingly globalizedtourism industry, prompting a growing promotion ofand interest for cultural destinations. As culture andtourism mutually benefit from their interaction, boththe availability and sustainability of cultural assets areimportant for the creation of competitive T&T strate-gies. Indeed, a deeper integration of culture into thetourism industry could reinforce and improve the country brand and help to differentiate T&T products as well as to increase innovation and creativity in theeconomy.43

This pillar aims at capturing the cultural offeringsavailable in individual countries by looking at the number of cultural World Heritage sites and creativeindustries exports (as a percentage of world exports in these industries), as well as dimensions such as thenumber of sports stadiums and the number of interna-tional fairs and exhibitions.

At 56th, Colombia posts a fairly strong showing for the quality and variety of its cultural resources,broadly in line with important comparators such asEgypt (60th), Chile (48th), and South Africa (45th).

Notes1 The importance of a well-trained national hospitality workforce

to enhance national competitiveness and reap greater economicbenefits is well recognized. Australia, for instance, has gone as far as creating a skills and labor council to advise the government on how to address issues affecting the sector,such as the creation of a highly skilled workforce, access toquality employment, and better workforce planning amongother factors.

2 This program, run by the Emiratization Task Force for Tourism (abranch of the Dubai Department of Tourism and CommerceMarketing), involved the establishment of strong partnershipswith local and international hospitality companies to attract localtalent to the T&T industry and providing training to meet itsneeds.

3 WTTC 2009b.

4 Tourism & Hospitality Workforce Strategy. 2006. Available athttp://www.tianz.org.nz/content/library/TourismHospWkbkLR.pdf.

5 USAID 2010.

6 Tourism & Hospitality Workforce Strategy. 2006. Available athttp://www.tianz.org.nz/content/library/TourismHospWkbkLR.pdf.

7 The Diploma encompasses the various hospitality sectors, including accounting, food and beverage management, hostresponsibility, staff recruitment, and departmental managementamong other areas.

8 African Pro-Poor Tourism Development Centre. Available athttp://www.propoortourism-kenya.org/success_stories.htm(accessed May 2010).

9 These rankings can be found at http://www.lesroches.edu/les_roches_bluche/en/en-en/home/news-events/file.cfm/document/ranking_Press_Release.pdf?contentid=69.

Box 2: Developing a tourism and hospitality workforce strategy (cont’d.)


Nevertheless, a rather conspicuous divide continues to separate the country from top performers within the comparator sample, Brazil (14th) and Thailand(33rd), pointing to the need for a continuous focus onpromoting and reinforcing cultural resources.44

At present, Colombia’s cultural tourism policyfocuses on promoting national heritage in order toencourage visitors to experience the country’s customsand culture.45 In 2007, the Colombian government presented a report in which the importance of thenation’s cultural heritage was highlighted as a key element for attracting tourists and fostering T&T com-petitiveness. In this regard, the government intended toimprove the country’s standing and brand as a majorcultural destination—especially in the Latin Americanregion, where other countries, such as Peru and Mexico,are better known for their cultural resources. In addition,the study identified culture as an employment generatorand an important engine of economic growth. Furtherdeveloping the cultural sector was seen as bringing ben-efits to local communities creating incentives for themaintenance of cultural assets, thus reinforcing the sus-tainability of Colombia’s T&T sector.46

In the same spirit, the Colombian government hasmade significant efforts to promote the country’s culturalassets. For instance, 1,128 monuments and locations havebeen declared focal points of cultural interest along withthe World Heritage sites recognized by UNESCO.47 SeeTable 20 for a list of Colombia’s World Heritage sites.Colombia has a fairly extensive cultural offering, reflectedin the country’s creative industry exports (40th), 380museums, and six World Heritage cultural sites (33rd).48

It is also important to mention the recent inclusion ofColombia’s Cultural Space of Palenque de San Basilioand Carnival of Barranquilla among UNESCO’s intan-gible heritage expressions. These two activities preservevaluable social, medical, religious, and oral traditions of

the Palenque society, including its compilation of musicand dances influenced by different subcultures such asthe Spanish, African, and Caribbean ones.49

ConclusionsWith its many natural and cultural endowments, a fairlyconducive regulatory environment, and the increasinglycentral place occupied by the T&T sector in the govern-ment’s competitiveness strategy, Colombia has clearstrengths to build upon in developing its national T&Tindustry. It is also faced with an extraordinary opportunityto turn the T&T sector into a key lever for sustainedand sustainable growth and development. The analysisconducted in this paper has highlighted the importantprogress Colombia has made in recent years towardreinforcing the foundations for a sustainable and com-petitive T&T sector. At the same time, the challenges tobe addressed, together with the opportunities for betterleveraging the country’s many competitive advantages,have been discussed.

Colombia has come a long way from its recent past of civil unrest and violence and, recognizing thekey role tourism can play in boosting growth and jobcreation as well as in lifting people out of poverty, thecountry has increasingly prioritized the sustainabledevelopment of the T&T sector. This paper has relatedthe many and diverse ways in which the current admin-istration has intervened with targeted policies and strate-gies aimed at strengthening the general environment fortourism (including the human and hard infrastructureand the regulatory environment, among other factors),as well as fostering the sustainable development of thesector. We have also discussed how the government’senhanced focus on the sector has already fostered anumber of improvements in important areas such asenvironmental sustainability, ICT infrastructure, and the quality of human capital, as captured by the TTCI.

However, despite these important efforts, the enormous potential of Colombia as a tourist destinationhas not yet been fully leveraged for the benefit of its cit-izens. The country continues to display a number ofimportant deficiencies in the quality of its T&T regulatoryenvironment (91st) and its T&T business environment andinfrastructure (88th). Moreover, although the generalassessment of Colombia’s T&T human, cultural, and naturalresources is far more positive at 34th, some weaknessesremain in this area as well.

Starting with the T&T regulatory environment, despitethe government’s significant efforts toward restoringpublic order and creating an effective and appealingcountry brand, the security situation in the country isstill perceived as problematic, with notably high costsimposed on businesses by the threat of terrorism andcrime and violence. Further, general hygiene conditionsare poor and the availability of healthcare servicesremain lacking, although some progress in this respect

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Table 20: Colombia’s World Heritage sites

Cultural sites Historic Centre of Santa Cruz de Mompox (1995)

National Archeological Park of Tierradentro (1995)

Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments,Cartagena (1984)

San Agustín Archaeological Park (1995)

Intangible expressions The Carnival of Barranquilla (2003)

The Cultural Space of Palenque de San Basilio

(2005)

Natural sites Los Katíos National Park (1994)

Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary (2006)

Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list.Note: Years in parentheses are the year in which the site was declared to be aWorld Heritage site. For the purposes of the TTCI, the intangible heritageexpressions are accounted among the cultural heritage sites.


is expected, given the government’s effort in extendingthe coverage of the healthcare system to all Colombians.

Last but not least, even if the government has becomeincreasingly concerned with the need to develop theT&T sector in a sustainable way, Colombia continues to lag behind international best practices in this area.Notably, further action is required to strengthen nationalenvironmental regulations as well as commitments at theinternational level, and to improve the quality of theenvironment and the protection of biodiversity.

There is also room for improvement in the T&Tbusiness environment and infrastructure. In particular, thecountry’s physical infrastructure remains underdevelopedand of poor quality after having been neglected for yearsbecause of the more compelling security issues that tookprecedence in recent years. This is especially true forground transport and tourism-specific infrastructure. Thegovernment is well aware of the need to upgrade andextend Colombia’s infrastructure, understanding that thisis a crucial enabling factor for further T&T development.Not only has it invested directly in a number of projects,but it has also adopted important policies and actions toimprove the environment for private and foreign invest-ment. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have increasinglytransformed the paradigm in infrastructure financing inthe Latin American region and beyond, allowing thefinancial burden to be shared between governments andprivate investors and allowing also for efficiency gains.Such partnerships should be encouraged and made moreprevalent in the country.50

With respect to the T&T human, cultural, and naturalresources, the quality and availability of education andtraining, both at the more general primary and second-ary levels as well as for specific T&T training, is a concern.A well-trained and skilled human resources base is anessential element for a healthy and competitive T&Tindustry. In this sense, greater action is needed toincrease enrollment rates in the general educational system and improve tourism-specific skills, includinglanguage and ICT capabilities, in line with the govern-ment’s recent plan on tourism training.

On a related note, Colombian society’s affinity and openness to Travel & Tourism is limited, whichmakes more difficult the government’s efforts to createan appealing country brand for Colombia. Although theaffinity for Travel & Tourism is bound to improve asColombians become more exposed to tourism and can,in turn, travel more easily, additional efforts should beundertaken to educate Colombia’s society on the bene-fits of tourism and the importance of developing a wel-coming attitude in order to attract growing numbers ofvisitors.

Although, as mentioned, there is widespread aware-ness of the deficiencies highlighted in this paper andencouraging remedial steps have been taken by the current administration, for Colombia to rise to its fullpotential, a joint effort from all societal actors—includ-

ing the government, the business sector, citizens, and relevant organizations from civil society—is needed topursue an effective strategy for T&T competitiveness.This effort, of course, must be matched by a concomi-tant long-term focus on action and diligent execution,regardless of changes in government administrations.This paper intends to provide a useful basis for a society-wide discussion on how to further improve the sustain-able development of the T&T sector in Colombia. Byoffering a snapshot of the country’s T&T competitive-ness and by drawing comparisons with economies withsimilar tourism profiles or that have experienced issuessimilar to those of Colombia, the paper aims to castlight on the weaknesses that should be addressed on apriority basis and point to possible solutions and bestpractices within and beyond the region.

Notes1 Although the T&T sector has been affected by the recent global

economic crisis, with a 4 percent decline in tourist arrivals from2008 to 2009, it has shown a certain resilience, as highlighted by the fact that the drop in international tourism receipts has been less dramatic than the decline in overall exports (–6 percentversus –12 percent). Tourist arrivals are forecasted to increase by3 to 4 percent in 2010. See UNTWO 2010.

2 WTTC 2009a.

3 In 2008, Colombia ranked 23rd and 33rd in the world, respectively,for the number of World Heritage natural and cultural sites.

4 WTTC 2009a.

5 UNWTO 2009.

6 For a comprehensive review of Colombia’s marketing and tourismpromotion policy, see Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo,Viceministerio de Turismo 2009a.

7 The TTCI was developed by the World Economic Forum in theframework of its Industry Partnership Programme for the Aviation,Travel &Tourism Industries.

8 Data partners of the project are Booz & Company, Deloitte, theInternational Air Transport Association (IATA), the InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the UNWTO, and theWorld Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), among others.

9 For more information on the Survey methodology, see Browne etal. 2008.

10 The results of the first ever TTCI computation in 2007 are notstrictly comparable with those of 2008 and 2009, since themethodological framework changed substantially from 2007 to2008, and it has been kept fairly stable since then.

11 Moreover, although the country is stable in relative terms com-pared with the previous year, it has significantly improved itsabsolute performance, with an increase of 0.17 in score (from4.36 to 4.53).

12 Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo 2010.

13 See http://www.doingbusiness.org/documents/Press_Releases_10/DB10_LA_PR.doc for more information onColombia’s excellent showing in the World Bank’s Doing Businessreports across the years.

14 See http://actualicese.com/editorial/recopilaciones/ABCs/LeyEstabilidadJuridica.htm for more information on this law.

15 UNCTAD, Foreign Direct Investment database, available at:http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Page.asp?intItemID=1923&lang=1. According to the UNWTO (2009), in 2008 US$2,560 million in FDI was covered by stability pacts.

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16 See Ministerio del Medio Ambiente 2002 and Ministerio deComercio, Industria y Turismo and Ministerio de Ambiente,Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial 2003.


18 Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo and Ministerio deAmbiente, Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial 2003.

19 Just to put this percentage in context, the range goes from 0 percent for top-ranked Luxembourg to 30 percent for last-rankedNew Zealand; of course it is also reflective of each country’s levelof biodiversity. Egypt is the comparator country with the lowestpercentage of threatened species: 5.45, corresponding to 80thposition. All comparator countries score very poorly in this vari-able, placing themselves at the bottom of the general rankings(see the country profiles at the end of this paper).

20 Incidentally, safety and security appears to be an issue for allcountries in the country sample with the exception of Chile (38th) and, to a lesser extent, Egypt (67th).

21 At the same time, the hard data on deaths for road traffic acci-dents point to dangerous roads in Colombia, no doubt also relatedto their poor quality and underdevelopment (the country ranks108th for the ground transport infrastructure pillar).

22 See Presidencia de la República and Ministerio de DefensaNacional 2003 for more information on this policy.

23 See http://www.presidencia.gov.co/sne/2005/diciembre/14/05142005.htm for details on the campaign for safe roads.

24 The campaign intended to claim back areas that were, at thetime, under the control of terrorist and narcotraffic groups, to citizens. It included the organization of “caravans” to points or events of touristic interest, such as festivals and folkloric manifestations, for example. The symbolic importance of thiscampaign cannot be overstated since Colombians literally couldnot move freely from one city to the other for fear of kidnapping(the infamous practice of the pesca milagrosa [the miraculousfishing]) and violent attack from the guerrilla and paramilitarygroups.


26 See UNWTO 2009

27 See UNWTO 2009.



30 For more information about the most recent findings of theNetworked Readiness Index, see Dutta et al. 2010.

31 The number of Internet users and broadband Internet subscribersper 100 population increased from 14.49 to 26.22 and from 1.36to 2.62, respectively, from 2006 to 2007. This is a significantimprovement given the importance of a widespread Internetadoption and efficient use for a modern T&T sector.

32 Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo 2009b.

33 According to the WTTC, the T&T industry captures the explicitlydefined production side “industry” contributions (i.e., directimpact only) while the T&T economy captures the broader economy-wide impact, direct and indirect, of Travel &Tourism.

34 WTTC 2009a.

35 UNWTO 2009.

36 Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo 2009b.

37 See Incredible !ndia at http://www.incredibleindia.org/newsite/atithidevobhava.htm.

38 Peru (103rd), Ecuador (109th), Chile (115th), and Brazil (128th) all cluster at a low level with Colombia for their tourism openness,lagging behind the rest of the world.

39 The Lonely Planet included Colombia in its top 10 destinations to visit in 2006; please see Lonely Planet 2005.

40 UNWTO 2009.

41 See the UNESCO World Heritage Center at http://whc.unesco.org/.

42 See UNESCO World Heritage sites at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/711.

43 OECD 2009.

44 Within the comparator sample, Ecuador (71st) and Costa Rica(89th) lag behind in terms of cultural assets. On the African continent, Egypt and South Africa are ranked 60th and 45th,respectively, while Thailand, at 33rd, has managed to successfullypromote the country’s cultural resources by hosting numerousinternational fairs (27th) and exporting its creative work (15th).

45 Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo and Ministerio deCultura 2007.


47 UNWTO 2009.


49 UNESCO 2010.

50 For a more detailed analysis of the role of PPPs in infrastructurefinancing in Latin America, see Mia et al. 2007.

ReferencesBrowne C., R. Bryden, M. Delgado, and T. Geiger. 2008. “The Executive

Opinion Survey: Capturing the Voice of the Business Community.”The Global Competitiveness Report 2008–2009. Geneva: WorldEconomic Forum. 67–77.

CST (Costa Rica Tourism Board: Certification for Sustainable TourismProgram). Available at http://www.turismo-sostenible.co.cr/en/.

Dutta S., I. Mia, T. Geiger, and E. Trujillo Herrera. 2010. “HowNetworked Is the World? Insights from the Networked ReadinessIndex 2009–2010.” The Global Information Technology Report2009–2010. Geneva: World Economic Forum. 3–30.

Lonely Planet. 2005. “Where To Go Next: Hot Spots for 2006.” PressRelease. December 28. Available at http://www.lonelyplanet.com/press-centre/press-release.cfm?press_release_id=202.

Mia I., J. Estrada, and T. Geiger. 2007. Benchmarking NationalAttractiveness for Private Investment in Latin AmericanInfrastructure. Geneva: World Economic Forum.

Ministerio de Ambiente, Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial: ParquesNacionales Naturales de Colombia, Comité Interinstitucional deEcoturismo. http://parquesnacionales.gov.co/PNN/portel/libreria/php/decide.php?patron=01.0225

Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo. 2010. Colombia DestinoTurístico de Clase Mundial. June. Bogota: Ministerio de Comercio,Industria y Turismo.

Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo and Ministerio deAmbiente, Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial. 2003. Política para elDesarrollo del Ecoturismo. Bogota: Ministerio de Comercio,Industria y Turismo and Ministerio de Ambiente, Vivienda yDesarrollo Territorial.

Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo and Ministerio de Cultura.2007. Política de Turismo Cultural: Identidad y DesarrolloCompetitivo del Patrimonio. September. Bogota: Ministerio deComercio, Industria y Turismo.

Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo, Viceministerio del Turismo.2009a. Política de Mercadeo y Promoción Turística de Colombia.September. Bogota: Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo.

———. 2009b. Plan Indicativo de Formación en Turismo, Lineamientospara su Implementación. December. Bogota: Ministerio deComercio, Industria y Turismo.

Ministerio del Medio Ambiente. 2002. Lineamientos de Política deCambio Climático. June. Bogota: Ministerio del Medio Ambiente.

OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).2009. The Impact of Culture on Tourism. Paris: OECD.

Presidencia de la República and Ministerio de Defensa Nacional. 2003.Política de Defensa y Seguridad Democrática. Bogota: Presidenciade la República and Ministerio de Defensa Nacional.


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UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization). 2010. Culture, Intangible Heritage: 2003Convention, Colombia. Available at http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php.

UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization). 2009. Colombia:De Nuevo en el mapa del turismo mundial. Madrid: UNWTO.

———. 2010. UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. January 1st. Madrid:UNWTO. Available at http://www.unwto.org/facts/eng/barometer.htm.

USAID. 2010. “Advanced Program for Vocational Training in Hotel andTourism.” Jordan Tourism Development Project II. March 22.Available at http://www.siyaha.org/v2/siyaha_news/724.

World Economic Forum. 2008. The Travel & Tourism CompetitivenessReport 2008. Geneva: World Economic Forum.

———. 2009. The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009.Geneva: World Economic Forum.

WTTC (World Travel & Tourism Council). 2009a. Travel & TourismEconomic Impact Colombia 2009. London: WTTC.

———. 2009b. “Attracting Talent to the Travel and Tourism Sector.”Presentation, September 4, New Delhi. Available athttp://www.wttc.org/bin/pdf/original_pdf_file/helliwell_emirates_presentatio.pdf.


This appendix provides details about the construction ofthe Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2009(TTCI). The TTCI is composed of three subindexes: theT&T regulatory framework subindex; the T&T businessenvironment and infrastructure subindex; and the T&Thuman, cultural, and natural resources subindex. Thesesubindexes are, in turn, composed of the 14 pillars ofT&T competitiveness shown below: namely, policy rulesand regulations, environmental sustainability, safety andsecurity, health and hygiene, prioritization of Travel &Tourism, air transport infrastructure, ground transportinfrastructure, tourism infrastructure, ICT infrastructure,price competitiveness in the T&T industry, humanresources, affinity for Travel & Tourism, naturalresources, and cultural resources. These pillars are calcu-lated on the basis of both “hard data” and “Survey data.”

The Survey data comprise the responses to theWorld Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Surveyand range from 1 to 7; the hard data were collectedfrom various sources, which are described in theTechnical Notes and Sources section at the end of Part2 of this paper. All of the data used in the calculation ofthe TTCI can be found in the Data Tables section of theTravel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009.

The hard data indicators used in the TTCI are normalized to a 1-to-7 scale in order to align them with the Executive Opinion Survey’s results.1

Each of the pillars has been calculated as anunweighted average of the individual component vari-ables. The subindexes are then calculated as unweightedaverages of the included pillars. In the case of thehuman resources pillar, which is itself composed of twosubpillars (education and training and availability ofqualified labor), the overall pillar is the unweighted average of the two subpillars. The overall TTCI is thenthe unweighted average of the three subindexes. Thevariables of each pillar and subpillar are described below.If a variable is one of hard data, this is indicated inparentheses after the description.


Pillar 1: Policy rules and regulations1.01 Prevalence of foreign ownership1.02 Property rights1.03 Business impact of rules on FDI1.04 Visa requirements (hard data)1.05 Openness of bilateral Air Service Agreements (hard

data)1.06 Transparency of government policymaking1.07 Time required to start a business (hard data) 1.08 Cost to start a business (hard data)

Pillar 2: Environmental sustainability2.01 Stringency of environmental regulation2.02 Enforcement of environmental regulation2.03 Sustainability of T&T industry development2.04 Carbon dioxide emissions (hard data) 2.05 Particulate matter concentration (hard data) 2.06 Threatened species (hard data) 2.07 Environmental treaty ratification (hard data)

Pillar 3: Safety and security3.01 Business costs of terrorism3.02 Reliability of police services3.03 Business costs of crime and violence3.04 Road traffic accidents (hard data)

Pillar 4: Health and hygiene4.01 Physician density (hard data) 4.02 Access to improved sanitation (hard data) 4.03 Access to improved drinking water (hard data) 4.04 Hospital beds (hard data)

Pillar 5: Prioritization of Travel & Tourism5.01 Government prioritization of the T&T industry5.02 T&T government expenditure (hard data) 5.03 Effectiveness of marketing and branding to attract

tourists5.04 T&T fair attendance (hard data)


Pillar 6: Air transport infrastructure6.01 Quality of air transport infrastructure6.02 Available seat kilometers, domestic (hard data)2

6.03 Available seat kilometers, international (hard data)2

6.04 Departures per 1,000 population (hard data) 6.05 Airport density (hard data)6.06 Number of operating airlines (hard data)6.07 International air transport network (hard data)

Pillar 7: Ground transport infrastructure7.01 Quality of roads7.02 Quality of railroad infrastructure7.03 Quality of port infrastructure7.04 Quality of domestic transport network7.05 Road density (hard data)

Pillar 8: Tourism infrastructure8.01 Hotel rooms (hard data)8.02 Presence of major car rental companies (hard data)8.03 ATMs accepting Visa cards (hard data)

Pillar 9: ICT infrastructure9.01 Extent of business Internet use9.02 Internet users (hard data)9.03 Telephone lines (hard data)9.04 Broadband Internet subscribers (hard data)9.05 Mobile telephone subscribers (hard data)

Pillar 10: Price competitiveness in the T&T industry10.01 Ticket taxes and airport charges (hard data)10.02 Purchasing power parity (hard data)10.03 Extent and effect of taxation10.04 Fuel price levels (hard data)10.05 Hotel price index (hard data)

(Cont’d.)

Technical Appendix: Composition of the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2009

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Subindex C: T&T human, cultural, and naturalresources

Pillar 11: Human resources

Education and training

11.01 Primary education enrollment (hard data)11.02 Secondary education enrollment (hard data)11.03 Quality of the educational system11.04 Local availability of specialized research and training

services 11.05 Extent of staff training

Availability of qualified labor

11.06 Hiring and firing practices11.07 Ease of hiring foreign labor11.08 HIV prevalence (hard data)3

11.09 Business impact of HIV/AIDS3

11.10 Life expectancy (hard data)

Pillar 12: Affinity for Travel & Tourism12.01 Tourism openness (hard data)12.02 Attitude of population toward foreign visitors12.03 Extension of business trips recommended

Pillar 13: Natural resources13.01 Number of World Heritage natural sites (hard data)13.02 Protected areas (hard data)13.03 Quality of the natural environment13.04 Total known species (hard data)

Pillar 14: Cultural resources14.01 Number of World Heritage cultural sites (hard data)14.02 Sports stadiums (hard data)14.03 Number of international fairs and exhibitions

(hard data)14.04 Creative industries exports (hard data)

Notes1 The standard formula for converting each hard data variable to the

1-to-7 scale is

6 x country score – sample minimum + 1( sample maximum – sample minimum )The sample minimum and sample maximum are the lowest andhighest scores of the overall sample, respectively. For those harddata variables for which a higher value indicates a worse outcome(e.g., road traffic accidents, fuel price levels), we rely on a normal-ization formula that, in addition to converting the series to a 1-to-7scale, reverses it, so that 1 and 7 still correspond to the worstand best possible outcomes, respectively:

–6 x country score – sample minimum + 7( sample maximum – sample minimum )In some instances, adjustments were made to account forextreme outliers in the data.

2 Variables 6.02 Available seat kilometers, domestic and 6.03Available seat kilometers, international combine to form one sin-gle variable.

3 The impact of HIV/AIDS on T&T competitiveness depends notonly on its respective incidence rate, but also on how costly it isfor business. Therefore, in order to estimate the impact ofHIV/AIDS, we combine its incidence rate with the Survey ques-tion on its perceived cost to businesses. To combine these datawe first take the ratio of each country’s incidence rate relative tothe highest incidence rate in the whole sample. The inverse ofthis ratio is then multiplied by each country’s score on the relatedSurvey question. This product is then normalized to a 1-to-7 scale.Note that countries with zero reported incidence receive a 7,regardless of their scores on the related Survey question.

Technical Appendix: Composition of the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2009 (cont’d.)

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Part 2 Country Profiles

Colombia.CP.r6:Colombia.cps 6/29/10 11:33 AM Page 33

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ColombiaKey indicatorsPopulation (millions), 2009............................................................................45.7Surface area (1,000 square kilometers) ...................................................1,141.8

Gross domestic product (US$ billions), 2009 .............................................228.8Gross domestic product (PPP, US$) per capita, 2009 .............................8,936.4Real GDP growth (percent), 2009...................................................................0.1

Environmental Performance Index, 2010 (out of 163 countries).....................10

Travel & Tourism indicators

T&T industry, 2009 estimatesGDP (US$ millions) .............................................................4,194...................1.8 ....................3.5Employment (1,000 jobs).......................................................341...................1.6 ....................2.1

T&T economy, 2009 estimatesGDP (US$ millions) ...........................................................12,577...................5.4 ....................4.0Employment (1,000 jobs).......................................................975...................4.8 ....................2.6

Source: World Travel & Tourism Council, TSA Research 2010

International tourist arrivals (thousands), 2009...................1,354International tourism receipts (US$ millions), 2009 ...........2,000

Source: United Nations World Tourism Organization


2009 Index ...........................................................................................................72 3.92008 Index............................................................................................................71 3.9T&T regulatory framework ..............................................................................91 4.2Policy rules and regulations..........................................................................60 4.5Environmental sustainability..........................................................................84 4.3Safety and security .......................................................................................125 3.7Health and hygiene .........................................................................................86 4.1Prioritization of Travel & Tourism..................................................................67 4.3

T&T business environment and infrastructure ............................................88 3.1Air transport infrastructure ..........................................................................65 3.1Ground transport infrastructure..................................................................108 2.7Tourism infrastructure ....................................................................................93 2.0ICT infrastructure ............................................................................................65 2.9Price competitiveness in the T&T industry.................................................66 4.7

T&T human, cultural, and natural resources ...............................................34 4.4Human resources ............................................................................................64 5.1Education and training .............................................................................72 4.6Availability of qualified labor...................................................................37 5.6

Affinity for Travel & Tourism ........................................................................104 4.4Natural resources .............................................................................................5 5.5Cultural resources...........................................................................................56 2.7

Rank Score(out of 133) (1–7 scale)


International tourism receipts (US$ millions)

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 20092007

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2009 –2018Percent annual growth of total (%, forecast)

This section presents two-page profiles for Colombiaand eight comparator countries, as follows: Brazil, Chile,Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Peru, South Africa, andThailand.

Left-hand page

Key indicatorsThe first section presents several key indicators that give a sense of the size of the country and its economy.Population figures come from the United NationsPopulation Fund (UNFPA)’s State of World Population2009 and surface area figures are from the World Bank’sWorld Development Indicators Online Database (May 2010).GDP numbers are from the International MonetaryFund (IMF)’s World Economic Outlook Database (April2010 edition). The Environmental Performance Indexrankings are from YCELP, Yale University and CIESIN,Columbia University.

Travel & Tourism indicatorsThe second section presents Travel & Tourism (T&T)indicators that aim to provide a measure of the past, current, and projected future activity of Travel & Tourismin each economy. This section is split into two parts:

The first part presents data from the TourismSatellite Accounting Research carried out annuallyby the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).Developed by the United Nations World TourismOrganization (UNWTO), the Organisation forEconomic Co-operation and Development (OECD),and Eurostat, the Tourism Satellite Accounting(TSA) framework is a statistical tool—includingconcepts, definitions, aggregates, classifications, andtables—that is compatible with international andnational accounting guidelines and allows for validinternational comparisons. The TSA also makesthese estimates comparable with other internation-ally recognized macroeconomic aggregates andcompilations. Using the TSA approach, WTTC esti-mates the current and projected future economiccontribution of Travel & Tourism in terms of aneconomy’s GDP and employment. WTTC definesthe T&T industry as a narrow perspective of T&Tactivity that captures the production-side industrycontribution (that is, direct impact only).The T&Teconomy is a broader perspective of Travel &

Tourism that takes into consideration the direct as well as the indirect contributions by traditionaltravel service providers and industry suppliers within the resident economy.

This latter perspective is used when one wantsto understand the total impact of Travel & Tourismon the resident economy. More information regard-ing WTTC’s TSA Research, along with details onthe methodology and data, are available athttp://www.wttc.org/eng/Tourism_Research/.

The second part of the T&T indicators presents dataon international tourist arrivals and internationaltourism receipts from 1995 to 2007. In some casesdata are missing for particular years. The graph showsall available data during this period for each economy.The data for these indicators were provided by theUNWTO.

The number of international touristarrivals, expressed in thousands, is the most com-mon unit of measure used to quantify the volumeof international tourism for statistical purposes. Itincludes exclusively overnight visitors—that is,

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tourists who stay at least one night in a collectiveor private accommodation in the country visited.Same-day visitors are not included. The number of arrivals does not necessarily correspond to thenumber of people. The same person who makesseveral trips to a given country during a given period will be counted as a new arrival each time.

International tourism receipts, expressed in millions of current US dollars, are the receiptsearned by a destination country from inboundtourism and cover all tourism receipts resultingfrom expenditures made by visitors from abroad,on, for instance, lodging, food and drinks, fuel,transport in the country, entertainment, shopping,and so on. This measure includes receipts generatedby overnight as well as by same-day trips. Receiptsfrom same-day trips can be substantial, as in thecase of countries where a lot of shopping for goodsand services takes place by visitors from neighbor-ing countries.

Travel & Tourism Competitiveness IndexThe third section of the page presents the economy’sperformance on the Travel & Tourism CompetitivenessIndex 2009 (TTCI) and its various components. For thedetailed rankings and scores for each of the variablesincluded in the TTCI, please see The Travel & TourismCompetitiveness Report 2009.

Right-hand page

Travel & Tourism competitiveness index in detailThis page presents the rank achieved by a country oneach of the indicators entering the composition of theTTCI. Indicators are organized by pillar. Please refer tothe Technical Appendix at the end of Part 1 for thedetailed structure of the TTCI.

Next to the rank, a colored square indicates whetherthe indicator constitutes an advantage (blue square) or a disadvantage (gray square) for the country. In order to identify variables as advantage or disadvantages, thefollowing rules were applied:

• For the top 10 economies in the overall TTCI, anyvariables on which the economy is ranked 10th orhigher are considered to be advantages. Any variablesranked below 10 are considered to be disadvantages.For example, a country such as Spain, ranked 6thoverall, would have the indicator “number of WorldHeritage cultural sites” (ranked 2nd) listed as anadvantage, while the indicator “stringency of envi-ronmental regulation” (36th) would be considered a disadvantage.

• For those economies ranked from 11th to 50th on the overall TTCI, any variables with a higherrank than the economy’s overall rank are considered

to be advantages. Any variables ranked equal to, or lower than, the economy’s overall rank are disadvantages. For example, Thailand ranks 39thoverall. Thus, “hotel price index,” on which thecountry ranks 27th, is an advantage, while the“business costs of crime and violence” (50th) and“environmental treaty ratification” (104th) bothconstitute disadvantages.

• For economies with an overall rank on the TTCIlower than 50, any variables for which the economyhas a rank of 50 or higher are considered to beadvantages. Any variables ranked below 50 are considered to be disadvantages. For example, ranked74th overall, Peru has the variable “T&T fair attendance” (25th) listed as an advantage, while thevariable “quality of ground transportation network”(120th) is a disadvantage.

The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index in detail � Competitive Advantage � Competitive Disadvantage

INDICATOR RANK/133

1st pillar: Policy rules and regulations1.01 Prevalence of foreign ownership .................................86 ...�1.02 Property rights..............................................................73 ...�1.03 Business impact of rules on FDI ..................................80 ...�1.04 Visa requirements* ......................................................14 ...�1.05 Openness of bilateral Air Service Agreements* ..........41 ...�1.06 Transparency of government policymaking..................48 ...�1.07 Time required to start a business*...............................95 ...�1.08 Cost to start a business* .............................................72 ...�

2nd pillar: Environmental sustainability2.01 Stringency of environmental regulation .......................66 ...�2.02 Enforcement of environmental regulation....................76 ...�2.03 Sustainability of T&T industry development.................53 ...�2.04 Carbon dioxide emissions* ..........................................42 ...�2.05 Particulate matter concentration* ................................32 ...�2.06 Threatened species* ..................................................120 ...�2.07 Environmental treaty ratification*...............................121 ...�

3rd pillar: Safety and security3.01 Business costs of terrorism .......................................133 ...�3.02 Reliability of police services .........................................77 ...�3.03 Business costs of crime and violence........................118 ...�3.04 Road traffic accidents*...............................................109 ...�

4th pillar: Health and hygiene4.01 Physician density*........................................................73 ...�4.02 Access to improved sanitation* ...................................80 ...�4.03 Access to improved drinking water*............................68 ...�4.04 Hospital beds*..............................................................99 ...�

5th pillar: Prioritization of Travel & Tourism5.01 Government prioritization of the T&T industry.............67 ...�5.02 T&T government expenditure* ....................................99 ...�5.03 Effectiveness of marketing and branding.....................54 ...�5.04 T&T fair attendance*....................................................41 ...�

6th pillar: Air transport infrastructure6.01 Quality of air transport infrastructure ...........................64 ...�6.02 Available seat kilometers, domestic*...........................27 ...�6.03 Available seat kilometers, international* ......................51 ...�6.04 Departures per 1,000 population*................................55 ...�6.05 Airport density* ............................................................41 ...�6.06 Number of operating airlines*......................................68 ...�6.07 International air transport network ...............................72 ...�

7th pillar: Ground transport infrastructure7.01 Quality of roads ............................................................91 ...�7.02 Quality of railroad infrastructure...................................99 ...�7.03 Quality of port infrastructure ......................................108 ...�7.04 Quality of ground transport network............................62 ...�7.05 Road density*...............................................................86 ...�

INDICATOR RANK/133

8th pillar: Tourism infrastructure8.01 Hotel rooms*................................................................83 ...�8.02 Presence of major car rental companies*....................95 ...�8.03 ATMs accepting Visa cards* ........................................65 ...�

9th pillar: ICT infrastructure9.01 Extent of business Internet use...................................61 ...�9.02 Internet users* .............................................................56 ...�9.03 Telephone lines*...........................................................72 ...�9.04 Broadband Internet subscribers* .................................63 ...�9.05 Mobile telephone subscribers*....................................74 ...�

10th pillar: Price competitiveness in the T&T industry10.01 Ticket taxes and airport charges*...............................117 ...�10.02 Purchasing power parity*.............................................58 ...�10.03 Extent and effect of taxation......................................103 ...�10.04 Fuel price levels* .........................................................28 ...�10.05 Hotel price index* ........................................................33 ...�

11th pillar: Human resources11.01 Primary education enrollment* ....................................95 ...�11.02 Secondary education enrollment*................................83 ...�11.03 Quality of the educational system................................61 ...�11.04 Local availability of research and training services.......61 ...�11.05 Extent of staff training..................................................91 ...�11.06 Hiring and firing practices.............................................73 ...�11.07 Ease of hiring foreign labor ..........................................33 ...�11.08 HIV prevalence* ...........................................................85 ...�11.09 Business impact of HIV/AIDS.......................................93 ...�11.10 Life expectancy* ..........................................................50 ...�

12th pillar: Affinity for Travel & Tourism12.01 Tourism openness* ....................................................117 ...�12.02 Attitude of population toward foreign visitors..............57 ...�12.03 Extension of business trips recommended .................85 ...�

13th pillar: Natural resources13.01 Number of World Heritage natural sites* ....................23 ...�13.02 Protected areas* ..........................................................12 ...�13.03 Quality of the natural environment...............................61 ...�13.04 Total known species*.....................................................2 ...�

14th pillar: Cultural resources14.01 Number of World Heritage cultural sites* ...................33 ...�14.02 Sports stadiums* .........................................................78 ...�14.03 Number of international fairs and exhibitions* ............42 ...�14.04 Creative industries exports*.........................................40 ...�

Colombia

* Hard data

Note: For further details and explanation, please refer to the section “How to Read the Country Profiles” at the beginning of this part.

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List of Co

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List of Countries

Country Page

Colombia 38Brazil 40Chile 42Costa Rica 44Ecuador 46Egypt 48Peru 50South Africa 52Thailand 54


38

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ountry Profiles Colombia

Key indicatorsPopulation (millions), 2009............................................................................45.7Surface area (1,000 square kilometers) ...................................................1,141.8










2009 Index ...........................................................................................................72 3.92008 Index............................................................................................................71 3.9T&T regulatory framework ..............................................................................91 4.2

Policy rules and regulations..........................................................................60 4.5Environmental sustainability..........................................................................84 4.3Safety and security .......................................................................................125 3.7Health and hygiene .........................................................................................86 4.1Prioritization of Travel & Tourism..................................................................67 4.3


T&T human, cultural, and natural resources ...............................................34 4.4Human resources ............................................................................................64 5.1

Education and training .............................................................................72 4.6Availability of qualified labor...................................................................37 5.6





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2,000

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 20092007

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INDICATOR RANK/133


2nd pillar: Environmental sustainability2.01 Stringency of environmental regulation .......................66 ...�2.02 Enforcement of environmental regulation....................76 ...�2.03 Sustainability of T&T industry development.................53 ...�2.04 Carbon dioxide emissions* ..........................................42 ...�2.05 Particulate matter concentration* ................................32 ...�2.06 Threatened species* ..................................................120 ...�2.07 Environmental treaty ratification*...............................121 ...�

3rd pillar: Safety and security3.01 Business costs of terrorism .......................................133 ...�3.02 Reliability of police services .........................................77 ...�3.03 Business costs of crime and violence........................118 ...�3.04 Road traffic accidents*...............................................109 ...�




7th pillar: Ground transport infrastructure7.01 Quality of roads ............................................................91 ...�7.02 Quality of railroad infrastructure...................................99 ...�7.03 Quality of port infrastructure ......................................108 ...�7.04 Quality of ground transport network............................62 ...�7.05 Road density*...............................................................86 ...�

INDICATOR RANK/133



10th pillar: Price competitiveness in the T&T industry10.01 Ticket taxes and airport charges*...............................117 ...�10.02 Purchasing power parity*.............................................58 ...�10.03 Extent and effect of taxation......................................103 ...�10.04 Fuel price levels* .........................................................28 ...�10.05 Hotel price index* ........................................................33 ...�





Colombia

* Hard data



40

Part 2: C

ountry Profiles Brazil

Key indicatorsPopulation (millions), 2009..........................................................................193.7Surface area (1,000 square kilometers) ...................................................8,514.9

Gross domestic product (US$ billions), 2009 ..........................................1,574.0Gross domestic product (PPP, US$) per capita, 2009 ...........................10,513.8Real GDP growth (percent), 2009.................................................................–0.2



T&T industry, 2009 estimatesGDP (US$ millions) ...........................................................38,847...................2.4 ....................4.2Employment (1,000 jobs)....................................................2,179...................2.3 ....................3.0

T&T economy, 2009 estimatesGDP (US$ millions) ...........................................................94,640...................5.9 ....................4.7Employment (1,000 jobs)....................................................5,250...................5.6 ....................3.3








T&T human, cultural, and natural resources .................................................4 5.4Human resources ............................................................................................55 5.2






0

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2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 20092007

1 2 3 4 5 6 7



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INDICATOR RANK/133

1st pillar: Policy rules and regulations1.01 Prevalence of foreign ownership .................................80 ...�1.02 Property rights..............................................................70 ...�1.03 Business impact of rules on FDI ..................................82 ...�1.04 Visa requirements* ......................................................67 ...�1.05 Openness of bilateral Air Service Agreements* ..........37 ...�1.06 Transparency of government policymaking................101 ...�1.07 Time required to start a business*.............................128 ...�1.08 Cost to start a business* .............................................56 ...�

2nd pillar: Environmental sustainability2.01 Stringency of environmental regulation .......................40 ...�2.02 Enforcement of environmental regulation....................51 ...�2.03 Sustainability of T&T industry development...............104 ...�2.04 Carbon dioxide emissions* ..........................................50 ...�2.05 Particulate matter concentration* ................................41 ...�2.06 Threatened species* ..................................................100 ...�2.07 Environmental treaty ratification*.................................21 ...�

3rd pillar: Safety and security3.01 Business costs of terrorism .........................................12 ...�3.02 Reliability of police services .......................................116 ...�3.03 Business costs of crime and violence........................122 ...�3.04 Road traffic accidents*...............................................123 ...�


5th pillar: Prioritization of Travel & Tourism5.01 Government prioritization of the T&T industry...........113 ...�5.02 T&T government expenditure* ....................................77 ...�5.03 Effectiveness of marketing and branding.....................95 ...�5.04 T&T fair attendance*....................................................25 ...�

6th pillar: Air transport infrastructure6.01 Quality of air transport infrastructure .........................101 ...�6.02 Available seat kilometers, domestic*.............................6 ...�6.03 Available seat kilometers, international* ......................18 ...�6.04 Departures per 1,000 population*................................62 ...�6.05 Airport density* ............................................................78 ...�6.06 Number of operating airlines*......................................32 ...�6.07 International air transport network ...............................68 ...�

7th pillar: Ground transport infrastructure7.01 Quality of roads ..........................................................110 ...�7.02 Quality of railroad infrastructure...................................86 ...�7.03 Quality of port infrastructure ......................................123 ...�7.04 Quality of ground transport network............................69 ...�7.05 Road density*...............................................................77 ...�

INDICATOR RANK/133

8th pillar: Tourism infrastructure8.01 Hotel rooms*...............................................................n/a ......8.02 Presence of major car rental companies*....................23 ...�8.03 ATMs accepting Visa cards* ........................................68 ...�


10th pillar: Price competitiveness in the T&T industry10.01 Ticket taxes and airport charges*.................................88 ...�10.02 Purchasing power parity*.............................................97 ...�10.03 Extent and effect of taxation......................................133 ...�10.04 Fuel price levels* .........................................................62 ...�10.05 Hotel price index* ........................................................49 ...�

11th pillar: Human resources11.01 Primary education enrollment* ....................................58 ...�11.02 Secondary education enrollment*................................14 ...�11.03 Quality of the educational system..............................117 ...�11.04 Local availability of research and training services.......26 ...�11.05 Extent of staff training..................................................46 ...�11.06 Hiring and firing practices...........................................111 ...�11.07 Ease of hiring foreign labor ..........................................61 ...�11.08 HIV prevalence* ...........................................................85 ...�11.09 Business impact of HIV/AIDS.......................................71 ...�11.10 Life expectancy* ..........................................................66 ...�


13th pillar: Natural resources13.01 Number of World Heritage natural sites* ......................6 ...�13.02 Protected areas* ..........................................................15 ...�13.03 Quality of the natural environment...............................58 ...�13.04 Total known species*.....................................................1 ...�


Brazil

* Hard data



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Part 2: C

ountry Profiles Chile

Key indicatorsPopulation (millions), 2009............................................................................17.0Surface area (1,000 square kilometers) ......................................................756.6

Gross domestic product (US$ billions), 2009 .............................................161.8Gross domestic product (PPP, US$) per capita, 2009 ...........................14,340.9Real GDP growth (percent), 2009.................................................................–1.5




T&T economy, 2009 estimatesGDP (US$ millions) .............................................................5,898...................3.6 ....................4.5Employment (1,000 jobs).......................................................257...................3.8 ....................1.9






Policy rules and regulations..........................................................................19 5.2Environmental sustainability..........................................................................64 4.6Safety and security .........................................................................................38 5.8Health and hygiene .........................................................................................66 4.6Prioritization of Travel & Tourism..................................................................77 4.2

T&T business environment and infrastructure ............................................58 3.8Air transport infrastructure ..........................................................................51 3.5Ground transport infrastructure....................................................................57 3.8Tourism infrastructure ....................................................................................69 3.2ICT infrastructure ............................................................................................49 3.4Price competitiveness in the T&T industry.................................................53 4.9



Affinity for Travel & Tourism ........................................................................111 4.4Natural resources ...........................................................................................63 3.2Cultural resources...........................................................................................48 2.9




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2,500

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1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 20092007

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INDICATOR RANK/133


2nd pillar: Environmental sustainability2.01 Stringency of environmental regulation .......................39 ...�2.02 Enforcement of environmental regulation....................24 ...�2.03 Sustainability of T&T industry development.................95 ...�2.04 Carbon dioxide emissions* ..........................................67 ...�2.05 Particulate matter concentration* ................................88 ...�2.06 Threatened species* ..................................................117 ...�2.07 Environmental treaty ratification*.................................21 ...�

3rd pillar: Safety and security3.01 Business costs of terrorism .........................................27 ...�3.02 Reliability of police services .........................................16 ...�3.03 Business costs of crime and violence..........................84 ...�3.04 Road traffic accidents*.................................................75 ...�


5th pillar: Prioritization of Travel & Tourism5.01 Government prioritization of the T&T industry...........109 ...�5.02 T&T government expenditure* ....................................46 ...�5.03 Effectiveness of marketing and branding.....................98 ...�5.04 T&T fair attendance*....................................................41 ...�


7th pillar: Ground transport infrastructure7.01 Quality of roads ............................................................22 ...�7.02 Quality of railroad infrastructure...................................73 ...�7.03 Quality of port infrastructure ........................................37 ...�7.04 Quality of ground transport network............................35 ...�7.05 Road density*.............................................................102 ...�

INDICATOR RANK/133



10th pillar: Price competitiveness in the T&T industry10.01 Ticket taxes and airport charges*.................................48 ...�10.02 Purchasing power parity*.............................................95 ...�10.03 Extent and effect of taxation........................................45 ...�10.04 Fuel price levels* .........................................................66 ...�10.05 Hotel price index* ........................................................26 ...�



13th pillar: Natural resources13.01 Number of World Heritage natural sites* ....................74 ...�13.02 Protected areas* ..........................................................51 ...�13.03 Quality of the natural environment...............................52 ...�13.04 Total known species*...................................................55 ...�


Chile

* Hard data



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ountry Profiles Costa Rica

Key indicatorsPopulation (millions), 2009..............................................................................4.6Surface area (1,000 square kilometers) ........................................................51.1

Gross domestic product (US$ billions), 2009 ...............................................29.3Gross domestic product (PPP, US$) per capita, 2009 ...........................10,579.3Real GDP growth (percent), 2009.................................................................–1.1

Environmental Performance Index, 2010 (out of 163 countries).......................3



T&T economy, 2009 estimatesGDP (US$ millions) .............................................................4,177.................14.4 ....................4.7Employment (1,000 jobs).......................................................277.................14.0 ....................3.4






Policy rules and regulations..........................................................................48 4.7Environmental sustainability..........................................................................27 5.1Safety and security .........................................................................................72 5.1Health and hygiene .........................................................................................65 4.6Prioritization of Travel & Tourism..................................................................29 5.2




Affinity for Travel & Tourism ..........................................................................27 5.4Natural resources .............................................................................................6 5.4Cultural resources...........................................................................................89 1.8




500

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1,500

2,000

2,500

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 20092007

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INDICATOR RANK/133

1st pillar: Policy rules and regulations1.01 Prevalence of foreign ownership .................................10 ...�1.02 Property rights..............................................................71 ...�1.03 Business impact of rules on FDI ..................................17 ...�1.04 Visa requirements* ......................................................12 ...�1.05 Openness of bilateral Air Service Agreements* ............9 ...�1.06 Transparency of government policymaking..................52 ...�1.07 Time required to start a business*.............................115 ...�1.08 Cost to start a business* .............................................85 ...�

2nd pillar: Environmental sustainability2.01 Stringency of environmental regulation .......................32 ...�2.02 Enforcement of environmental regulation....................34 ...�2.03 Sustainability of T&T industry development.................24 ...�2.04 Carbon dioxide emissions* ..........................................46 ...�2.05 Particulate matter concentration* ................................68 ...�2.06 Threatened species* ....................................................93 ...�2.07 Environmental treaty ratification*.................................52 ...�

3rd pillar: Safety and security3.01 Business costs of terrorism .........................................59 ...�3.02 Reliability of police services .........................................84 ...�3.03 Business costs of crime and violence........................108 ...�3.04 Road traffic accidents*.................................................47 ...�




7th pillar: Ground transport infrastructure7.01 Quality of roads ..........................................................118 ...�7.02 Quality of railroad infrastructure.................................113 ...�7.03 Quality of port infrastructure ......................................128 ...�7.04 Quality of ground transport network............................79 ...�7.05 Road density*...............................................................40 ...�

INDICATOR RANK/133


9th pillar: ICT infrastructure9.01 Extent of business Internet use...................................72 ...�9.02 Internet users* .............................................................45 ...�9.03 Telephone lines*...........................................................38 ...�9.04 Broadband Internet subscribers* .................................60 ...�9.05 Mobile telephone subscribers*..................................104 ...�



12th pillar: Affinity for Travel & Tourism12.01 Tourism openness* ......................................................24 ...�12.02 Attitude of population toward foreign visitors..............31 ...�12.03 Extension of business trips recommended .................53 ...�



Costa Rica

* Hard data



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ountry Profiles Ecuador


Gross domestic product (US$ billions), 2009 ...............................................57.3Gross domestic product (PPP, US$) per capita, 2009 .............................7,880.7Real GDP growth (percent), 2009...................................................................0.4



T&T industry, 2009 estimatesGDP (US$ millions) ................................................................931...................1.6 ....................4.2Employment (1,000 jobs).........................................................83...................1.4 ....................3.4

T&T economy, 2009 estimatesGDP (US$ millions) .............................................................4,180...................7.4 ....................3.3Employment (1,000 jobs).......................................................358...................6.3 ....................2.5


International tourist arrivals (thousands), 2009......................970International tourism receipts (US$ millions), 2008 ..............742



2009 Index ...........................................................................................................96 3.62008 Index............................................................................................................86 3.7T&T regulatory framework ............................................................................103 4.0

Policy rules and regulations........................................................................126 3.2Environmental sustainability..........................................................................86 4.2Safety and security .........................................................................................99 4.5Health and hygiene .........................................................................................73 4.4Prioritization of Travel & Tourism................................................................106 3.7



Education and training ...........................................................................101 4.0Availability of qualified labor...................................................................97 5.1

Affinity for Travel & Tourism ........................................................................117 4.2Natural resources ...........................................................................................19 4.7Cultural resources...........................................................................................71 2.2




200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 20092007

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INDICATOR RANK/133

1st pillar: Policy rules and regulations1.01 Prevalence of foreign ownership ...............................121 ...�1.02 Property rights............................................................125 ...�1.03 Business impact of rules on FDI ................................130 ...�1.04 Visa requirements* ......................................................70 ...�1.05 Openness of bilateral Air Service Agreements* ..........34 ...�1.06 Transparency of government policymaking................130 ...�1.07 Time required to start a business*.............................117 ...�1.08 Cost to start a business* ...........................................100 ...�

2nd pillar: Environmental sustainability2.01 Stringency of environmental regulation .....................109 ...�2.02 Enforcement of environmental regulation..................109 ...�2.03 Sustainability of T&T industry development...............110 ...�2.04 Carbon dioxide emissions* ..........................................55 ...�2.05 Particulate matter concentration* ................................40 ...�2.06 Threatened species* ..................................................118 ...�2.07 Environmental treaty ratification*.................................34 ...�

3rd pillar: Safety and security3.01 Business costs of terrorism .........................................68 ...�3.02 Reliability of police services .......................................125 ...�3.03 Business costs of crime and violence........................112 ...�3.04 Road traffic accidents*.................................................68 ...�


5th pillar: Prioritization of Travel & Tourism5.01 Government prioritization of the T&T industry...........118 ...�5.02 T&T government expenditure* ....................................53 ...�5.03 Effectiveness of marketing and branding...................106 ...�5.04 T&T fair attendance*....................................................81 ...�


7th pillar: Ground transport infrastructure7.01 Quality of roads ..........................................................100 ...�7.02 Quality of railroad infrastructure.................................116 ...�7.03 Quality of port infrastructure ......................................109 ...�7.04 Quality of ground transport network..........................109 ...�7.05 Road density*...............................................................85 ...�

INDICATOR RANK/133


9th pillar: ICT infrastructure9.01 Extent of business Internet use.................................118 ...�9.02 Internet users* .............................................................87 ...�9.03 Telephone lines*...........................................................82 ...�9.04 Broadband Internet subscribers* .................................66 ...�9.05 Mobile telephone subscribers*....................................71 ...�

10th pillar: Price competitiveness in the T&T industry10.01 Ticket taxes and airport charges*...............................123 ...�10.02 Purchasing power parity*.............................................27 ...�10.03 Extent and effect of taxation........................................91 ...�10.04 Fuel price levels* .........................................................12 ...�10.05 Hotel price index* ........................................................13 ...�

11th pillar: Human resources11.01 Primary education enrollment* ....................................36 ...�11.02 Secondary education enrollment*................................97 ...�11.03 Quality of the educational system..............................125 ...�11.04 Local availability of research and training services.....110 ...�11.05 Extent of staff training................................................119 ...�11.06 Hiring and firing practices...........................................122 ...�11.07 Ease of hiring foreign labor ..........................................90 ...�11.08 HIV prevalence* ...........................................................67 ...�11.09 Business impact of HIV/AIDS.......................................72 ...�11.10 Life expectancy* ..........................................................55 ...�

12th pillar: Affinity for Travel & Tourism12.01 Tourism openness* ....................................................109 ...�12.02 Attitude of population toward foreign visitors............107 ...�12.03 Extension of business trips recommended ...............109 ...�



Ecuador

* Hard data



48

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T&T economy, 2009 estimatesGDP (US$ millions) ...........................................................25,673.................13.6 ....................5.8Employment (1,000 jobs)....................................................2,636.................11.4 ....................3.2


International tourist arrivals (thousands), 2009.................11,914International tourism receipts (US$ millions), 2009 .........10,755




Policy rules and regulations..........................................................................55 4.6Environmental sustainability........................................................................103 4.1Safety and security .........................................................................................67 5.1Health and hygiene .........................................................................................64 4.6Prioritization of Travel & Tourism....................................................................9 5.8

T&T business environment and infrastructure ............................................65 3.6Air transport infrastructure ..........................................................................58 3.3Ground transport infrastructure....................................................................79 3.2Tourism infrastructure ....................................................................................74 3.0ICT infrastructure ............................................................................................84 2.4Price competitiveness in the T&T industry...................................................1 6.0



Affinity for Travel & Tourism ..........................................................................20 5.4Natural resources .........................................................................................109 2.5Cultural resources...........................................................................................60 2.5




0

3,000

6,000

9,000

12,000

15,000

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 20092007

1 2 3 4 5 6 7



49

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ountry Profiles


INDICATOR RANK/133


2nd pillar: Environmental sustainability2.01 Stringency of environmental regulation .....................103 ...�2.02 Enforcement of environmental regulation..................120 ...�2.03 Sustainability of T&T industry development.................38 ...�2.04 Carbon dioxide emissions* ..........................................54 ...�2.05 Particulate matter concentration* ..............................125 ...�2.06 Threatened species* ....................................................80 ...�2.07 Environmental treaty ratification*.................................34 ...�

3rd pillar: Safety and security3.01 Business costs of terrorism .........................................72 ...�3.02 Reliability of police services .........................................52 ...�3.03 Business costs of crime and violence..........................23 ...�3.04 Road traffic accidents*...............................................111 ...�


5th pillar: Prioritization of Travel & Tourism5.01 Government prioritization of the T&T industry.............33 ...�5.02 T&T government expenditure* ....................................20 ...�5.03 Effectiveness of marketing and branding.....................49 ...�5.04 T&T fair attendance*......................................................3 ...�

6th pillar: Air transport infrastructure6.01 Quality of air transport infrastructure ...........................52 ...�6.02 Available seat kilometers, domestic*...........................40 ...�6.03 Available seat kilometers, international* ......................26 ...�6.04 Departures per 1,000 population*................................99 ...�6.05 Airport density* ..........................................................117 ...�6.06 Number of operating airlines*......................................20 ...�6.07 International air transport network ...............................73 ...�

7th pillar: Ground transport infrastructure7.01 Quality of roads ............................................................74 ...�7.02 Quality of railroad infrastructure...................................54 ...�7.03 Quality of port infrastructure ........................................69 ...�7.04 Quality of ground transport network............................67 ...�7.05 Road density*.............................................................106 ...�

INDICATOR RANK/133



10th pillar: Price competitiveness in the T&T industry10.01 Ticket taxes and airport charges*.................................34 ...�10.02 Purchasing power parity*...............................................4 ...�10.03 Extent and effect of taxation........................................34 ...�10.04 Fuel price levels* ...........................................................3 ...�10.05 Hotel price index* ..........................................................4 ...�

11th pillar: Human resources11.01 Primary education enrollment* ....................................63 ...�11.02 Secondary education enrollment*................................65 ...�11.03 Quality of the educational system..............................126 ...�11.04 Local availability of research and training services.......92 ...�11.05 Extent of staff training..................................................96 ...�11.06 Hiring and firing practices.............................................91 ...�11.07 Ease of hiring foreign labor ..........................................39 ...�11.08 HIV prevalence* .............................................................1 ...�11.09 Business impact of HIV/AIDS.......................................32 ...�11.10 Life expectancy* ..........................................................89 ...�

12th pillar: Affinity for Travel & Tourism12.01 Tourism openness* ......................................................27 ...�12.02 Attitude of population toward foreign visitors..............54 ...�12.03 Extension of business trips recommended ...................6 ...�

13th pillar: Natural resources13.01 Number of World Heritage natural sites* ....................40 ...�13.02 Protected areas* ..........................................................75 ...�13.03 Quality of the natural environment.............................131 ...�13.04 Total known species*...................................................70 ...�

14th pillar: Cultural resources14.01 Number of World Heritage cultural sites* ...................26 ...�14.02 Sports stadiums* .......................................................109 ...�14.03 Number of international fairs and exhibitions* ............51 ...�14.04 Creative industries exports*........................................n/a ......

Egypt

* Hard data



50

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ountry Profiles Peru
















Affinity for Travel & Tourism ..........................................................................85 4.6Natural resources .............................................................................................8 5.2Cultural resources...........................................................................................42 2.9




0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 20092007

1 2 3 4 5 6 7



51

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ountry Profiles


INDICATOR RANK/133

1st pillar: Policy rules and regulations1.01 Prevalence of foreign ownership .................................19 ...�1.02 Property rights............................................................102 ...�1.03 Business impact of rules on FDI ..................................30 ...�1.04 Visa requirements* ......................................................10 ...�1.05 Openness of bilateral Air Service Agreements* ............7 ...�1.06 Transparency of government policymaking..................96 ...�1.07 Time required to start a business*.............................117 ...�1.08 Cost to start a business* .............................................88 ...�

2nd pillar: Environmental sustainability2.01 Stringency of environmental regulation .......................95 ...�2.02 Enforcement of environmental regulation..................102 ...�2.03 Sustainability of T&T industry development.................70 ...�2.04 Carbon dioxide emissions* ..........................................38 ...�2.05 Particulate matter concentration* ................................93 ...�2.06 Threatened species* ..................................................112 ...�2.07 Environmental treaty ratification*.................................52 ...�

3rd pillar: Safety and security3.01 Business costs of terrorism .......................................102 ...�3.02 Reliability of police services .......................................122 ...�3.03 Business costs of crime and violence........................113 ...�3.04 Road traffic accidents*.................................................88 ...�

4th pillar: Health and hygiene4.01 Physician density*........................................................80 ...�4.02 Access to improved sanitation* ...................................85 ...�4.03 Access to improved drinking water*............................92 ...�4.04 Hospital beds*............................................................107 ...�



7th pillar: Ground transport infrastructure7.01 Quality of roads ............................................................99 ...�7.02 Quality of railroad infrastructure...................................90 ...�7.03 Quality of port infrastructure ......................................127 ...�7.04 Quality of ground transport network..........................120 ...�7.05 Road density*.............................................................114 ...�

INDICATOR RANK/133




11th pillar: Human resources11.01 Primary education enrollment* ....................................42 ...�11.02 Secondary education enrollment*................................46 ...�11.03 Quality of the educational system..............................132 ...�11.04 Local availability of research and training services.......86 ...�11.05 Extent of staff training..................................................93 ...�11.06 Hiring and firing practices.............................................93 ...�11.07 Ease of hiring foreign labor ..........................................20 ...�11.08 HIV prevalence* ...........................................................78 ...�11.09 Business impact of HIV/AIDS.......................................81 ...�11.10 Life expectancy* ..........................................................55 ...�




Peru

* Hard data



52

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ountry Profiles South Africa


Gross domestic product (US$ billions), 2009 .............................................287.2Gross domestic product (PPP, US$) per capita, 2009 ...........................10,243.6Real GDP growth (percent), 2009.................................................................–1.8

Environmental Performance Index, 2010 (out of 163 countries)...................115











T&T human, cultural, and natural resources ...............................................49 4.2Human resources ..........................................................................................112 4.2

Education and training .............................................................................48 5.0Availability of qualified labor.................................................................131 3.5

Affinity for Travel & Tourism ..........................................................................43 5.0Natural resources ...........................................................................................22 4.6Cultural resources...........................................................................................45 2.9




2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 20092007

1 2 3 4 5 6 7



53

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ountry Profiles


INDICATOR RANK/133


2nd pillar: Environmental sustainability2.01 Stringency of environmental regulation .......................47 ...�2.02 Enforcement of environmental regulation....................57 ...�2.03 Sustainability of T&T industry development.................16 ...�2.04 Carbon dioxide emissions* ........................................101 ...�2.05 Particulate matter concentration* ................................28 ...�2.06 Threatened species* ....................................................94 ...�2.07 Environmental treaty ratification*.................................34 ...�

3rd pillar: Safety and security3.01 Business costs of terrorism .........................................36 ...�3.02 Reliability of police services .......................................108 ...�3.03 Business costs of crime and violence........................133 ...�3.04 Road traffic accidents*...............................................117 ...�


5th pillar: Prioritization of Travel & Tourism5.01 Government prioritization of the T&T industry.............18 ...�5.02 T&T government expenditure* ..................................124 ...�5.03 Effectiveness of marketing and branding.....................17 ...�5.04 T&T fair attendance*....................................................41 ...�


7th pillar: Ground transport infrastructure7.01 Quality of roads ............................................................40 ...�7.02 Quality of railroad infrastructure...................................37 ...�7.03 Quality of port infrastructure ........................................49 ...�7.04 Quality of ground transport network..........................126 ...�7.05 Road density*...............................................................64 ...�

INDICATOR RANK/133

8th pillar: Tourism infrastructure8.01 Hotel rooms*................................................................91 ...�8.02 Presence of major car rental companies*......................1 ...�8.03 ATMs accepting Visa cards* ........................................45 ...�



11th pillar: Human resources11.01 Primary education enrollment* ....................................97 ...�11.02 Secondary education enrollment*................................44 ...�11.03 Quality of the educational system..............................110 ...�11.04 Local availability of research and training services.......29 ...�11.05 Extent of staff training..................................................15 ...�11.06 Hiring and firing practices...........................................128 ...�11.07 Ease of hiring foreign labor ........................................122 ...�11.08 HIV prevalence* .........................................................131 ...�11.09 Business impact of HIV/AIDS.....................................132 ...�11.10 Life expectancy* ........................................................120 ...�

12th pillar: Affinity for Travel & Tourism12.01 Tourism openness* ......................................................78 ...�12.02 Attitude of population toward foreign visitors..............49 ...�12.03 Extension of business trips recommended ...................8 ...�



South Africa

* Hard data



54

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ountry Profiles Thailand


Gross domestic product (US$ billions), 2009 .............................................263.9Gross domestic product (PPP, US$) per capita, 2009 .............................8,059.8Real GDP growth (percent), 2009.................................................................–2.3




T&T economy, 2009 estimatesGDP (US$ millions) ...........................................................36,446.................13.9 ....................5.9Employment (1,000 jobs)....................................................3,959.................10.5 ....................2.2


International tourist arrivals (thousands), 2009.................14,091International tourism receipts (US$ millions), 2009 .........15,901








Affinity for Travel & Tourism ..........................................................................22 5.4Natural resources ...........................................................................................24 4.5Cultural resources...........................................................................................33 3.8




5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 20092007

1 2 3 4 5 6 7



55

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ountry Profiles


INDICATOR RANK/133


2nd pillar: Environmental sustainability2.01 Stringency of environmental regulation .......................54 ...�2.02 Enforcement of environmental regulation....................53 ...�2.03 Sustainability of T&T industry development.................21 ...�2.04 Carbon dioxide emissions* ..........................................72 ...�2.05 Particulate matter concentration* ..............................108 ...�2.06 Threatened species* ..................................................103 ...�2.07 Environmental treaty ratification*...............................104 ...�

3rd pillar: Safety and security3.01 Business costs of terrorism .......................................107 ...�3.02 Reliability of police services .........................................71 ...�3.03 Business costs of crime and violence..........................50 ...�3.04 Road traffic accidents*...............................................120 ...�

4th pillar: Health and hygiene4.01 Physician density*......................................................104 ...�4.02 Access to improved sanitation* ...................................44 ...�4.03 Access to improved drinking water*............................47 ...�4.04 Hospital beds*..............................................................77 ...�



7th pillar: Ground transport infrastructure7.01 Quality of roads ............................................................32 ...�7.02 Quality of railroad infrastructure...................................48 ...�7.03 Quality of port infrastructure ........................................48 ...�7.04 Quality of ground transport network............................31 ...�7.05 Road density*...............................................................98 ...�

INDICATOR RANK/133




11th pillar: Human resources11.01 Primary education enrollment* ....................................61 ...�11.02 Secondary education enrollment*................................85 ...�11.03 Quality of the educational system................................53 ...�11.04 Local availability of research and training services.......58 ...�11.05 Extent of staff training..................................................51 ...�11.06 Hiring and firing practices.............................................39 ...�11.07 Ease of hiring foreign labor ........................................100 ...�11.08 HIV prevalence* .........................................................107 ...�11.09 Business impact of HIV/AIDS.......................................97 ...�11.10 Life expectancy* ..........................................................66 ...�

12th pillar: Affinity for Travel & Tourism12.01 Tourism openness* ......................................................31 ...�12.02 Attitude of population toward foreign visitors..............13 ...�12.03 Extension of business trips recommended .................11 ...�

13th pillar: Natural resources13.01 Number of World Heritage natural sites* ....................23 ...�13.02 Protected areas* ..........................................................30 ...�13.03 Quality of the natural environment.............................104 ...�13.04 Total known species*...................................................17 ...�

14th pillar: Cultural resources14.01 Number of World Heritage cultural sites* ...................65 ...�14.02 Sports stadiums* .......................................................110 ...�14.03 Number of international fairs and exhibitions* ............27 ...�14.04 Creative industries exports*.........................................15 ...�

Thailand

* Hard data



The data used in this paper are taken from The Travel &Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009. They representedthe best available estimates from various national author-ities, international agencies, and private sources at thetime the Report was prepared. Throughout the countryprofiles in this publication, “n/a” denotes that the valueis not available, or that available data are unreasonablyoutdated or do not come from a reliable source.

The following notes provide sources for the harddata used in the calculation of the T&T CompetitivenessIndex 2009.

Pillar 1: Policy rules and regulations

1.04 Visa requirementsNumber of countries whose citizens are exempt fromobtaining a visa (= 1) or able to obtain one upon arrival (=0.5) out of all UN countries, 2008This variable is based on visitor visa requirements of all UNcountries. The score refers to the number of UN countrieswhose citizens are exempt from obtaining a visa to enter eachcountry. In compiling the data, each country that requires novisa at all receives a “1” and each country for which it is possi-ble to obtain a visa upon arrival receives “0.5.” Those countriesfor which a visa is required prior to departure would receive a“0.” The sum across all UN countries produces the final scorefor each economy.


1.05 Openness of bilateral Air Service AgreementsIndex of openness of bilateral Air Service Agreements, 2005This index measures the average openness of all bilateral AirService Agreements (ASAs) concluded by International CivilAviation Organization (ICAO) signatories as registered in ICAO’sWorld’s Air Services Agreements (WASA) database (2005update), weighted by bilateral scheduled passenger traffic tak-ing place under each ASA. Regulatory data come from ICAO’sWASA database (2005) and traffic data were obtained fromIATA.

Source: World Trade Organization

1.07 Time required to start a businessNumber of days required to start a business, 2008According to the World Bank, this variable measures the medi-an duration that incorporation lawyers indicate is necessary tocomplete a procedure with minimum follow up with govern-ment agencies and no extra payments.

Source: The World Bank, Doing Business 2009

1.08 Cost to start a businessCost to start a business as a percentage of GNI per capita,2008According to the World Bank, this variable measures all officialfees and fees for legal or professional services if such servicesare required by law.

Source: The World Bank, Doing Business 2009

Pillar 2: Environmental sustainability

2.04 Carbon dioxide emissionsCarbon dioxide emissions per capita in metric tons, 2004According to the World Bank, carbon dioxide emissions arethose emanating from burning of fossil fuels and the manufac-ture of cement. They include carbon dioxide produced duringconsumption of solid, liquid, and gas fuels and gas flaring.

Source: The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2008

2.05 Particulate matter concentrationUrban population–weighted PM10 micrograms per cubicmeter, 2005According to the World Bank, particulate matter concentrationsrefer to fine suspended particulates less than 10 microns indiameter (PM10) that are able to penetrate deep into the respi-ratory tract and cause significant health damage. Data for coun-tries are urban population–weighted PM10 levels in residentialareas of cities with more than 100,000 residents. The estimatesrepresent the average annual exposure level of the averageurban resident to outdoor particulate matter.


2.06 Threatened speciesThreatened species as a percentage of total species (mam-mals, birds, amphibians), 2008This variable measures the total number of CriticallyEndangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable species as a percent-age of total known species for mammals, birds, and amphib-ians.

Source: The International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN), Red List of Threatened Species 2008

2.07 Environmental treaty ratificationTotal number of ratified environmental treaties, 2008This variable measures the total number of international treatiesfrom a set of 25 for which a state is a participant. A statebecomes a “participant” by Ratification, Formal confirmation,Accession, Acceptance, Definitive signature, Approval,Simplified procedure, Consent to be bound, Succession, andProvisional application (which are here grouped under the termratification, for reasons of convenience). The treaties includedare: International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling,1948 Washington; International Convention for the Preventionof Pollution of the Sea by Oil, 1954, as amended in 1962 and1969, 1954 London; Convention on Wetlands of InternationalImportance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, 1971 Ramsar;Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural andNatural Heritage,1972 Paris; Convention on the Prevention ofMarine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, 1972London, Mexico City, Moscow, Washington; Convention onInternational Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna andFlora, 1973 Washington; International Convention for thePrevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) as modified bythe Protocol of 1978, 1978 London; Convention on theConservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, 1979 Bonn;United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982Montego Bay; Convention on the Protection of the OzoneLayer, 1985 Vienna; Protocol on Substances that Deplete theOzone Layer, 1987 Montreal; Convention on the Control ofTransboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and theirDisposal, 1989 Basel; International Convention on Oil PollutionPreparedness, Response and Co-operation, 1990 London;United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,

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Technical Notes and Sources


1992 New York; Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 Rio deJaneiro; International Convention to Combat Desertification inthose countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/orDesertification, particularly Africa, 1994 Paris; Agreement relatingto the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Conventionon the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982, 1994 New York;Agreement relating of the Provisions of the United NationsConvention on the Lay of the Sea relating to the Conservationand Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and HighlyMigratory Fish Stocks, 1995 New York; Kyoto Protocol to theUnited Nations Framework Convention on the Climate Change,Kyoto 1997; Rotterdam Convention on the Prior InformedConsent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals andPesticides in International Trade, 1998 Rotterdam; CartagenaProtocol of Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity,2000 Montreal; Protocol on Preparedness, Response andCooperation to Pollution Incidents by Hazardous and NoxiousSubstances, 2000 London; Stockholm Convention on PersistentOrganic Pollutants, 2001 Stockholm; International Treaty onPlant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, 2001 Rome;International Tropical Timber Agreement 206, 2001 Geneva.

Source: The International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN) Environmental Law Centre ELIS Treaty Database

Pillar 3: Safety and security

3.04 Road traffic accidentsEstimated deaths per 100,000 population due to road trafficaccidents, 2002

Source: World Health Organization, World Health Statistics 2007

Pillar 4: Health and hygiene

4.01 Physician densityPhysician density per 1,000 people, 2006 or most recentyear availableThis variable measures the number of physicians per 1,000 people in the country. The World Bank defines physicians asgraduates of any faculty of medicine who are working in thecountry in any medical field (practice, teaching, research).

Source: World Health Organization, Global Atlas of the HealthWorkforce (March 2008 update); The World Bank, WorldDevelopment Indicators 2008; national sources

4.02 Access to improved sanitationAccess to adequate sanitation as a percentage of total population, 2006This variable refers to the percentage of the population with at least adequate access to excreta disposal facilities that caneffectively prevent human, animal, and insect contact with excreta. Improved facilities range from simple but protected pit latrines to flush toilets with a sewerage connection. To beeffective, facilities must be correctly constructed and properlymaintained.


4.03 Access to improved drinking waterAccess to safe drinking water as a percentage of total population, 2006This variable refers to the percentage of the population withreasonable access to an adequate amount of water from animproved source, such as a household connection, public stand-pipe, borehole, protected well or spring, or rain-water collection.Unimproved sources include vendors, tanker trucks, and unpro-tected wells and springs. Reasonable access is defined as theavailability of at least 20 liters per person per day from a sourcewithin 1 kilometer of the dwelling.


4.04 Hospital bedsHospital beds per 10,000 population, 2006 or most recentyear available

Source: World Health Organization, WHO Statistical InformationSystem (WHOSIS) (May 2008); national sources

Pillar 5: Prioritization of Travel & Tourism

5.02 T&T government expenditureT&T government expenditure as a percentage of total budget, 2008This measure includes expenditures (transfers or subsidies)made by government agencies to provide T&T services such ascultural (e.g., art museums), recreational (e.g., national parks) orclearance (e.g., immigration/customs) assistance, and so on tovisitors.

Source: World Travel & Tourism Council, Tourism SatelliteAccounting Research 2008

5.04 T&T fair attendanceIndex of country presence at 13 major T&T fairs, 2007–2008This index was constructed as follows: a country was given a 1for each time it was represented at one of the 13 Travel &Tourism fairs below that took place during the period August2007–July 2008. The score is the sum of all fairs at which thecountry was represented. The fairs included were: ITB Berlin,Salon Mondial du Tourisme (France), World Travel Market(London), Holiday World Prague, International Trade Fair forTourism (Russia), Arabian Travel Market (Dubai), PATA TravelMart (Pacific Asia Travel Association), China International TravelMart, Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) World TravelFair, Travel and Tourism Fair (India), American Society of TravelAgents’ Trade Show, Travel Mart Latin America, and theInternational Tourism Fair of Latin America.

Source: Booz & Company

Pillar 6: Air transportation infrastructure

6.02 Available seat kilometers, domesticScheduled available seat kilometers per week originating in country (in millions), January and July 2008 averageThis variable measures an airline’s passenger-carrying capacity;it is composed of the number of seats available on each flightmultiplied by the flight distance in kilometers. The resulting variable is an average of the total for all scheduled flights in aweek during January (winter schedule) and July (summerschedule) 2008.

Source: International Air Transport Association, SRS Analyser;national sources

6.03 Available seat kilometers, internationalScheduled available seat kilometers per week originating in country (in millions), January and July 2008 averageThis variable measures an airline’s passenger-carrying capacity;it is composed of the number of seats available on each flightmultiplied by the flight distance in kilometers. The resulting vari-able is an average of the total for all scheduled flights in a weekduring January (winter schedule) and July (summer schedule)2008.


6.04 Departures per 1,000 populationNumber of departures per 1,000 population, 2006Aircraft departures are the number of domestic and internationaltake-offs of air carriers per year registered in the country.

Source: Booz & Company; national sources

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6.05 Airport densityNumber of airports per million population, 2007Number of airports with at least one scheduled flight in 2007per million population.


6.06 Number of operating airlinesNumber of airlines with scheduled flights originating incountry, January 2008 and July 2008 average

Source: International Air Transport Association, SRS Analyser

Pillar 7: Ground transport infrastructure

7.05 Road densityKilometers of road per 100 square kilometers of land, 2005or most recent year availableAccording to the World Bank, this variable refers to the ratio ofthe length of the country’s total road network to the country’sland area. The road network includes all roads in the country:motorways, highways, main or national roads, secondary orregional roads, and other urban and rural roads.


Pillar 8: Tourism infrastructure

8.01 Hotel roomsNumber of hotel rooms per 100 population, 2007 or mostrecent year available


8.02 Presence of major car rental companiesIndex of presence of major car rental companies, 2008This variable measures the presence of seven major car rentalcompanies: Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, National Car Rental,Sixt, and Thrifty.

Source: Individual rental car websites

8.03 ATMs accepting Visa cardsNumber of automated teller machines (ATMs) acceptingVisa credit cards per million population, 2007

Source: Visa International

Pillar 9: ICT infrastructure

9.02 Internet users (hard data)Internet users per 100 population, 2007Internet users are people with access to the worldwide network.

Source: International Telecommunication Union, WorldTelecommunication Indicators 2008

9.03 Telephone linesTelephone lines per 100 population, 2007A main telephone line is a telephone line connecting the sub-scriber’s terminal equipment to the public switched telephonenetwork and that has a dedicated port in the telephoneexchange equipment.


9.04 Broadband Internet subscribersBroadband Internet subscribers per 100 population, 2007The International Telecommunication Union considers broadbandto be any dedicated connection to the Internet of 256 kilobitsper second or faster, in both directions. Broadband subscribersrefers to the sum of DSL, cable modem, and other broadband(for example, fiber optic, fixed wireless, apartment LANs, satellite connections) subscribers.


9.05 Mobile telephone subscribersMobile telephone subscribers per 100 population, 2007The term subscribers refers to users of mobile telephones subscribing to an automatic public mobile telephone servicethat provides access to the public switched telephone networkusing cellular technology. This can include analogue and digitalcellular systems but should not include non-cellular systems.Subscribers to fixed wireless, public mobile data services, orradio paging services are not included.


Pillar 10: Price competitiveness in the T&T industry

10.01 Ticket taxes and airport chargesIndex of relative cost of access (ticket taxes and airportcharges) to international air transport services | (0 = highestcost, 100 = lowest cost), 2008This index measures the relative cost of access to internationalair transport services based on the level of airport charges, pas-senger ticket taxes, and value-added taxation. It reflects thecosts associated with a narrow-body and a wide-body passengerplane arrival and departure at the major international airports ineach country. Charges include landing, terminal navigation, andpassenger and security charges as listed in the IATA Airport andAir Navigation Charges manual. Ticket taxes applicable to inter-national travel were applied as described in the IATA List ofTicket and Airport Taxes and Fees manual. Per-passengercharges were calculated by applying a 75 percent load factor toa typical seating configuration of each type of aircraft. Value-added taxes (VATs) were calculated based on an average ticketprice for each country, applied to half of the departing passen-gers, because the VAT is normally charged only on itinerariesoriginating in the country concerned. A higher score indicates alower level of charges and taxes.

Source: International Air Transport Association, SRS Analyser

10.02 Purchasing power parityRatio of purchasing power parity (PPP) conversion factor to official exchange rate, 2007The purchasing power parity (PPP) conversion factors for 2007were obtained from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’sWorld Economic Outlook (October 2008). The official exchangerates for 2007 were obtained from the IMF’s InternationalFinancial Statistics Online and from the World Bank’s WorldDevelopment Indicators 2008. The World Bank defines the purchasing power parity conversion factor as the number ofunits of a country’s currency required to buy the same amountof goods and services in the domestic market as a US dollarwould buy in the United States. Official exchange rate refers tothe exchange rate determined by national authorities or to therate determined in the legally sanctioned exchange market. It iscalculated as an annual average based on monthly averages(local currency units relative to the US dollar). The variableshown is the result obtained by dividing the PPP conversionfactor by the official exchange rate.

Source: The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2008;International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics(October 2008) and World Economic Outlook (October 2008);Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Federal Reserve StatisticalRelease (January 2008); national sources; authors’ calculations

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10.04 Fuel price levelsRetail diesel fuel prices (US cents per liter), 2006According to the World Bank, this variable refers to the pumpprices of the most widely sold grade diesel fuel. Prices are converted from the local currency to the US dollar.


10.05 Hotel price indexAverage room rates calculated for first-class branded hotelsfor calendar year in US$, 2007This index measures the average price, in US dollars, of first-class hotel accommodation in each country. The index is calculated by using the average room rate achieved by first-class hotels in each country over a 12-month period fromJanuary through December 2007, to mitigate the impact of any seasonality fluctuations.

Source: Deloitte

Pillar 11: Human resources

11.01 Primary education enrollmentNet primary education enrollment rate, 2006 or most recentyear availableAccording to the World Bank, this corresponds to the ratio ofchildren of official school age (as defined by national education-al system) who are enrolled in school to the population of thecorresponding official school age. Primary education provideschildren with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skillsalong with an elementary understanding of such subjects ashistory, geography, natural science, social science, art, andmusic.

Source: UNESCO, Institute for Statistics (June 2008); TheWorld Bank, World Development Indicators 2008; nationalsources

11.02 Secondary education enrollmentGross secondary education enrollment rate, 2006 or mostrecent year availableAccording to the World Bank, the gross secondary enrollmentrate is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to thepopulation of the age group that officially corresponds to thesecondary education level. Secondary education completes theprovision of basic education that began at the primary level, andaims at laying the foundations for lifelong learning and humandevelopment, by offering more subject- and skill-orientedinstruction using more specialized teachers.

Source: UNESCO, Institute for Statistics (June 2008); TheWorld Bank, World Development Indicators 2008; nationalsources

11.08 HIV prevalenceHIV prevalence as a percentage of adults aged 15–49 years,2007 or most recent year available

Source: UNAIDS, 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic;UNDP, Human Development Report 2007/2008; nationalsources

11.10 Life expectancyLife expectancy at birth (years), 2006

Source: World Health Organization, WHO Statistical InformationSystem (WHOSIS) (May 2008); UNDP, Human DevelopmentReport 2007/2008 online database (May 2008); national sources

Pillar 12: Affinity for Travel & Tourism

12.01 Tourism opennessTourism expenditure and receipts as a percentage of GDP,2007This variable is the ratio of the sum of international tourismexpenditures and receipts to GDP. International tourism expen-ditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors inother countries, including payments to foreign carriers for inter-national transport.International tourism receipts are expendituresof international inbound visitors in other countries, includingpayments to foreign carriers for international transport.


Pillar 13: Natural resources

13.01 Number of World Heritage natural sitesNumber of World Heritage natural sites in the country,September 2008

Source: UNESCO, World Heritage Centre, (August 2008)

13.02 Protected areasProtected areas as a percentage of total land area, 2007According to the IUCN, a protected area is an area of landand/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and mainte-nance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means.

Source: The International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN) and UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre World Database on Protected Areas

13.04 Total known speciesTotal known species (mammals, birds, amphibians) in thecountry, 2008This variable measures the total known species of mammals,birds, and amphibians.

Source: The International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN), Red List of Threatened Species 2008

Pillar 14: Cultural resources

14.01 Number of World Heritage cultural sitesNumber of World Heritage cultural sites and Oral &Intangible Heritage, September 2008

Source: UNESCO, World Heritage Centre; UNESCO, IntangibleCultural Heritage (August 2008)

14.02 Sports stadiumsSports stadium capacity per million population, 2008This variable is calculated as the ratio of total seats for all majorsports stadiums in the country to the total population (in millions).

Source: Booz & Company

14.03 Number of international fairs and exhibitionsNumber of international fairs and exhibitions held in thecountry annually, 2005–2007 averageThis variable measures the average number of internationalfairs and exhibitions held annually in each country between2005 and 2007. Data on international fairs and exhibitions wereobtained from the International Congress and ConventionAssociation (ICCA), which includes meetings organized by inter-national associations attended by at least 50 participants thattake place on a regular basis (one-time events are not included)and rotate between a minimum of three countries.

Source: International Congress and Convention Association

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14.04 Creative industries exportsExports of creative industries products as a share of worldtotal in such exports, 2006This variable measures the country’s share of total worldexports of the following Creative Industries products: art craftssuch as carpets, celebration articles, paperware, wickerware,yarn; films; architecture; fashion; glassware; jewelry; music;books, newspapers, and other written materials; antiques,paintings, photography, sculpture. Data were obtained from theCreative Industries database and HS 96 codes were used.

Source: UNCTAD, Creative Economy and Industries Programme

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The World Economic Forum would like to thank the following organizations for their invaluablesupport of this paper.

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OF THE WORLD

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improvingthe state of the world by engaging leaders inpartnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and basedin Geneva, Switzerland, the World EconomicForum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied tono political, partisan or national interests.(www.weforum.org)