Tourist attractions in Spain help it rank eighth in the world for travel and tourism

According to the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2011, Spain is the eighth most competitive tourism destination in the world. The many tourist attractions in Spain would have helped with the excellent ranking.

The report studied the economies of 139 countries worldwide paying particular attention to the infrastructure, business environment, as well as the cultural, natural and human resources in the tourism sector of each nation.

Since the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report was first initiated in 2009, Switzerland has maintained its spot as being the most competitive tourism destination in the world. Despite Spain still being in the top ten, since last year, the country has fallen from sixth place to eighth, overtaken by the United States and Great Britain.

Nonetheless, Spain, despite having the highest unemployment rate in Europe and with an extremely ‘fragile’ economy, ranked second in the world for its rich cultural scene and vast amount of cultural resources.

Tourist attractions in Spain include a number of World heritage sites, a vital marker of a country’s cultural and national heritage, and Spain is fortunately littered with an abundance of world heritage sites, such as the Alhambra in Granada, the historic centre of Cordoba, Burgos Cathedral and the Mudejar architecture of Aragon.

A constant trickle of exhibitions and international fairs also helped Spain rank second for its rich cultural scene, such as the Feria Valencia, which organises, on an average, approximately 45 trade fairs every year, and the Feria de Madrid, which attracts a huge crowd of visitors each year from around Spain, Europe and beyond.

On top of this thriving culture and national heritage industry, Spain has an equally thriving sports scene, enhanced unquestionably, by the national team winning the World Cup in 2010. Because of Spain’s love and talent it seems for sport, particularly football, the country has a comparatively significant stadium capacity compared to other countries, which no doubt play a crucial role in luring sports tourists into the country.

Spain also possesses a good transport infrastructure, particularly air travel – a far cry from the donkeys carting people down a dusty dirt track image Spain was synonymous with just several decades earlier!

Overall the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2011 reveals that Spain is experiencing a ‘gradual recovery’ in its travel and tourism sector.

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