Spain recognised as world’s most tourism-friendly country

Spain’s brilliance as a place to visit has been recognised by the World Economic Fourm.

The World Economic Forum has ranked Spain as the most tourism-friendly destination in the world in its latest tourism ranking survey.

Held every two years, the ranking assesses which countries are the most welcoming, rewarding, safe and affordable for all types of tourist and traveller…

The previous ranking in 2013 put Spain in fourth place, while in 2011 the country could only manage eighth place. However, following a bumper year for tourism in 2014, the World Economic Forum decided that this was to be Spain’s year – a decision that is likely to be reflected in actual visitor numbers, with Spain on course to break even more records in 2015.

Although the report suggested that Spain still has room for improvement, particularly in relation to its business environment (where it ranked 100^th), its rigid labour market (113^th place) and a mismatch between workers’ rewards and productivity (125^th place), the country bested all other competitors in many of the other criteria.

“With beautiful heritage sites throughout the country, Spain boasts top marks for its cultural resources, and also scores highly for business travellers with a significant number of international conferences,” said the report.

Spain’s impressive showing was also seen as a confirmation of the country’s economic recovery, while the relatively weak euro means that many visitors can see their resources stretch further when visiting Spain. Add excellent weather, diverse scenery, family friendly attractions and some of the most innovative, affordable and healthy cuisine found anywhere in the world, and Spain really does have the complete package.

The World Economic Forum ranked Spain best for cultural resources, fourth for supporting tourists’ online searches for entertainment, and fourth for infrastructure.

In 2013, Switzerland was ranked first, but this year has dropped to sixth place. After Spain is France in second, Germany in third, the USA in fourth and the UK in fifth. Overall, 141 countries were ranked across 14 criteria.

Spain’s popularity is increasing among the new middle classes of Mexico, Brazil and China, while the country remains popular with families and “Western seniors”, and is beginning to attract the attentions of the younger generation.