Sri Lanka Ranks 76th in Travel and Tourism Development Index 2024, According to Daily Mirror – Sri Lanka’s Latest News and Headlines

Sri Lanka has been ranked at the 76th spot in the Travel and Tourism Development Index 2024 (TTDI), according to a biennial report published by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the University of Surrey. The country scored poorly in the tourism services and infrastructure, cultural resources, and non-leisure resources categories, leading to its lower ranking.

Despite maintaining its 2019 score of 3.69, Sri Lanka fell one spot in the ranking among 119 countries, coming in 6.8 percent below the average score. The country’s competitors such as Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia were ranked above Sri Lanka in the index, with India topping the ranking in South Asia.

The TTDI report highlighted that high-income economies generally have more favorable conditions for travel and tourism development, with the top 10 countries in the 2024 edition being the United States, Spain, Japan, France, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Italy, and Switzerland.

However, developing countries have seen significant improvements in recent years, with China cementing its ranking among the top 10 and other emerging destinations like Indonesia, Brazil, and Turkey joining the top quartile of the rankings. The report emphasized the need for significant investment to close gaps in enabling conditions and market share between developing and high-income countries.

Overall, the TTDI report suggests that sustainably leveraging natural and cultural assets could offer developing economies an opportunity for tourism-led economic development, regardless of their income level. Sri Lanka and other developing countries have the potential to improve their rankings by focusing on these key factors in the future.