While Japan has been closed to tourists for much of the past two years, the country has come out on top in recent years. Travel and Tourism Development Index by the World Economic Forum. The report covers a range of sustainability benchmarks and metrics from the travel and tourism industry around the world. In particular, this year’s index focuses on rebuilding the travel and tourism sector after the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Of the 117 economies covered by the 2021 index, Japan tops the list for the first time ever, ranking high for its number of cultural resources as well as its infrastructure. After Japan come the United States and Spain, in that order. In the top ten, other Asia-Pacific destinations include Australia in seventh place and Singapore in ninth place.

Besides its transportation networks and rich cultural heritage, Japan also performed well on other measures, ranking ninth for health and hygiene as well as 15th for safety and security.

Some of the sectors where Japan did not rank high include price competitiveness (96th) and prioritization of travel and tourism (42nd) – possibly due to the pandemic border closures.

Despite the setbacks, travel slowly recovered. Japan has eased border restrictions since March, with more rules should be relaxed from June 1. The country also allows a limited number of tourists to enter on a test basis from this month.

For more information on the Travel and Tourism Development Index, visit the website.

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