Türkiye has emerged as the best developing country in southern Europe for travel and tourism, according to the Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI) 2024 report published Tuesday by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in collaboration with the University of Surrey.
In the latest index, Türkiye climbed eight spots to rank 29th among 119 countries. With a score of 4.39%, it surpassed the global average by 10.6% and the European average by 3%, positioning itself as one of the best-performing countries in both the world and Europe.
With this rise, Türkiye became the leading country in the southern Europe category, which also includes Croatia, Italy, Malta and Spain.
Türkiye also made a notable 14% improvement in the travel and tourism prioritization indicator, jumping 18 places to become the world's second-highest in this metric. The country also showed substantial progress in air transport infrastructure, rising 10 places to rank 8th globally.
Türkiye maintained 13th place in the report's cultural assets indicator and advanced seven spots in non-leisure resources, reaching 16th place. In the natural resources criterion, Türkiye surged 24 places to rank 32nd.
The WEF updated the index in 2022, changing its name from the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) to the Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI), with a stronger emphasis on sustainability.
Price competitiveness, tourist services and infrastructure, safety and security, human resources and labor market, demand sustainability and business environment are reported as indicators where Türkiye has room for improvement.
