5 Surprising Tourism Growth Stories
Photo Credit: Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash Unsplash / Jeremy Bishop
Skift Take
Albania, Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt, and El Salvador have been named the most-improved emerging economies for enabling travel and tourism development since 2019. Here are some insights.
The world's most developed countries continue to dominate tourism but we've just gotten a good snapshot of which emerging markets are enjoying gains.
Every two years the World Economic Forum analyzes the travel and tourism competitiveness of economies worldwide, and it just released its 2024 report.
What caught Skift's eye was how a handful of emerging-market countries had upped their tourism game. The World Economic Forum ranked Albania, Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt, and El Salvador as being among the most improved developing nations for enabling travel and tourism development since 2019.
Here are some quick takeaways on each standout tourism performer for 2023.
1. Albania WEF's take: Albania rose 12 spots to 66th place in the organization's Travel and Tourism Development Index. For context, that means its tourism development is nearly on par with the average of all countries now that it is better marketing its white-sand beaches and dramatic mountains. The top line: The country had 10 million visitors last year, 56% more than in 2019. Looking ahead, Albania's capital, Tirana, was the third-most trending destination for bookings through August — following Munich and Tokyo — according to a Masterc
