GENEVA, Switzerland, March 1 (UPI) -- The organizers of the Davos forum for global CEOs will be getting into the tourism industry too.
While the World Economic Forum is best known for its annual meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos where leaders worldwide gather to talk about human rights, AIDS, the environment and other global issues, they will start discussing vacation spots too.
The WEF Thursday released its first-ever ranking of the world's most attractive places to develop the travel and tourism industry. At first place was the forum's home base of Switzerland, followed by neighboring Austria, while another neighbor, Germany, came in third place. Iceland came in fourth, followed by the United States, while Hong Kong, China, topped the list among Asian countries at sixth place in the overall ranking.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates was the most attractive country in the Middle East ranking in at 18th place, and South Africa was the first among African nations at 62nd place.
"We aim to measure the factors that make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism industry of individual countries," said Jennifer Blanke, senior economist of the forum's global competitiveness network.
The top-ranked countries "demonstrate the importance of supportive business and regulatory frameworks, coupled with world-class transport and tourism infrastructure and a focus on nurturing human and natural resources, for fostering an environment that is attractive for developing the travel and tourism sector," she added.
