JOSHUA G.

DOMENISI JUNE 27, 2017

BSBA- FM 4 Mr. MARIO E.

TEMPORADA

"Economic problems of the Philippines in relation to the Safety & Security."

MANILA, Philippines - Safety and security issues have resulted in the decline of the
Philippines ranking in the World Economic Forum (WEF)s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness
Report.The country dropped five notches in the latest edition of the bi-annual Travel and Tourism
Competitiveness Report, which measures how tourism-friendly the economies are.The
Philippines ranked 79th out of 136 countries in this years report, compared to placing 74th out
of 141 economies in 2015.The countrys tourism attractiveness was dragged down by safety and
security concerns, poor ground and port infrastructure and lackluster environment policy.Among
the nine Southeast Asian countries measured in the report, the Philippines ranked third to last,
ahead only of Laos (94th) and Cambodia (101st).Spain, France and Germany were the top three
most tourism-friendly destinations in the world, based on the report. They were followed by
Japan at 4th and the United Kingdom at 5th.

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Completing the top 10 are the United States, Australia, Italy, Canada and Switzerland.The 2017
Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report measured each economys attractiveness through 14
pillars, with each having its own sub-pillars.The countrys most enticing aspects proved to be its
price competitiveness and natural resources, being ranked 22nd and 37th globally,
respectively.The price competitiveness pillar is composed of ticket taxes, airport charges, hotel
price index, purchasing power parity and fuel price levels, while the natural resources pillar is
composed of the number of World Heritage natural sites, total known species, total protected
areas, natural tourism digital demand and attractiveness of natural assets.Other dimensions
where the Philippines performed well are in human resources and labor market (50th),
prioritization of travel and tourism (53rd) and business cultural resources and business travel
(60th),

The travel and tourism sector continues to develop on the back of the countrys rich natural
resources and high price competitiveness, and arrivals have continued to grow so far, the WEF
report said.
Yet this country attains a lower competitiveness performance this year due to a more restrictive
visa policy that reduces its openness performance (60th), a reduction of the government budget
dedicated to the development of the travel and tourism sector by almost half and reduced
efficiency of ground transport (107th, losing 14 places), it added.The WEF said these factors
may not have their full effect yet and may reduce tourism activity in the future.

In addition, security concerns remain high (126th) and diminished protection of property rights,
less effective judicial system and stricter rules on FDI (foreign direct investment) have reduced
the conduciveness of the business environment (82nd), the report stated.The safety and
security pillar was measured based on reliability of police services, business costs of crime and
violence, index of terrorism of incidence, business costs of terrorism and homicide rate.At the
same time, environmental policy has improved but remains low (118th), risking to undermine
natural resources, the main asset for attracting tourists in the country. Although the Philippines
travel and tourism potential remains high, there are several areas where policy interventions
could help to regain competitiveness, the report said.According to the WEF, research has shown
that for every 30 new tourists to a destination, one new job is created, making the travel and
tourism industry a tremendous employment generator.

To reach their potential, the majority of countries still have more to do, from enhancing
security, promoting their cultural heritage, building their infrastructure and creating stronger
visa policies, WEFs Community Lead of the Aviation, Travel and Tourism Industries Tiffany
Misrahi said.