Sunday, March 13, 2011

Singapore scores in tourism rankings

THE little red dot is shining bright on the world stage again.

For the second time in five years, Singapore's travel and tourism sector has emerged as the 10th most competitive out of 139 economies ranked by a World Economic Forum (WEF) report.

This puts it at the top of theAsia-Pacific region for the first time - ahead of Hong Kong, which came in 12th, and Australia, which fell from 2009's ninth spot to 13th this year.

Despite lacking in human and natural resources, Singapore pulled itself into the top 10 by having top-notch workers and efficient air and ground transport systems.

The report, comprising more than 500 pages, also gave the nation top marks for its safe environment and its rules and regulations which, it said, are conducive to the development of the travel industry.

Switzerland, Germany and France topped the rankings, with Switzerland having stayed in first place since the first report in 2007.

In appraising the 139 countries, the WEF considered 14 areas relating to travel and tourism including policy, rules and regulations, transport infrastructure, and human and natural resources.

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