Singapore leads SEA in travel and tourism development index

The city-state scored the highest in infrastructure and services.

Singapore was the best performer among Southeast Asian countries when it comes to efforts to boost travel and tourism, according to a report by the World Economic Forum.

The “Travel & Tourism Development Index 2024,” which  said that Singapore logged the best scores under the infrastructure and services category. Broken down, its air transport infrastructure scored 5.94, ground and port infrastructure had 6.54, and its tourist services and infrastructure 4.41. 

Singapore was also one of the top performers when it came to enabling environment, T&T policy and enabling conditions, T&T resources, and T&T sustainability, the report said. 

Across Asia-Pacific, WEF said Singapore was one of the countries that has “quality transportation and digital infrastructure, high levels of openness and supportive environments that guarantee high standards in business activities, safety and security, healthcare, and workforce quality.”

Overall, Singapore ranked 13th among 119 economies included in the study, with an overall score of 4.76, higher than the 3.96 global average.

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The WEF report looks into a set of factors and policies that enable the sustainable and resilient development of the T&T sector, which in turn contributes to the development of a country.

The US ranked first in the 2024 list with a score of 5.24. Japan ranked first among Asian countries and third globally with a score of 5.09.

“While 71 of the 119 TTDI-ranked economies increased their scores between the 2019 and 2024 editions, the average index score is just 0.7% above pre-pandemic levels,” WEF said.