The World Economic Forum’s “Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report” 2011 has been released with Switzerland topping the latest global survey among 139 countries. The top 10 countries overall that are considered the most competitive in travel and tourism are Switzerland, Germany, France, Austria, Sweden, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada and Singapore.

What is the rank of my dear Philippines? It placed 18th out of 26 countries in Asia Pacific. Overall, it slipped to 94th place from 86th in the 2009 rankings. Read how the Philippines fared:

The Philippines is ranked 18th regionally and 94th overall, down eight places since the last edition, with a weaker performance across most areas measured by the Index. Among the country’s strengths are aspects of its natural resources: it is ranked 24th for the number of World Heritage natural sites and 40th for the total known species in the country. The Philippines also benefits from excellent price competitiveness (ranked 20th), with low prices overall, particularly hotel prices, and low ticket taxes and airport charges. There are also some aspects of the policy rules and regulations regime that are conducive to the development of the sector, such as few visa requirements for foreign visitors (ranked 3rd) and bilateral Air Service Agreements that are assessed as comparatively open (29th), although other areas— such as the protection of property rights, rules related to foreign investment, and the difficulty of starting a business in the country—remain a challenge. Other matters of concern are safety and security (ranked 109th); health and hygiene levels (97th); and transport, tourism, and ICT infrastructures that require upgrading.

This is a screenshot of the table showing the Philippines’ overall ranking breakdown in each qualifying category. Which one did the country score low?

And see how the Pilipinas fares among all Asia Pacific countries.

Why are we going down the ranks? The Philippine government should really look into the business environment and improve our infrastructure. These are the areas were we scored so low.