On the heels of Japan's record-breaking tourism year, GlobalData's Tourism Potential Index report reveals the country is the destination with the most potential.
The index provides insight into which developed and emerging countries have the highest trajectories for tourism growth and, in addition to Japan, Spain, Australia and the United Kingdom, lead the way in potential development.
"According to GlobalData's analysis of a large number of socio-economic and tourism factors, Japan leads the ranking with a score of 72.6 out of 100," said Johnatan Vandesquille, analyst, travel and Tourism at GlobalData. "The country will benefit from organizing high profile events, like the Olympics this year, improving its already excellent travel and tourism infrastructure."
Several other countries lead in the rankings as well.
"Spain, Australia and the United Kingdom obtain four stars out of five due to their attractiveness, convenience and business environment, but they have the potential to reach the top mark with an increase of public investments in tourism," he said.
Vandesquille also noted that several African nations have potential but need further development.
"Safety and health issues, as well as limited investments, hinder the potential for growth of several continental African countries, with Kenya and South Africa occupying the bottom two places," he said.
Vandesquille stressed the importance of major events in driving tourism potential.
"GlobalData's analysis shows that, overall, the organization of sports events or conferences and exhibitions tend to create a virtuous circle leading to an increase in investments, an improvement of travel tourism infrastructure and, consequently, the attribution of more events," he noted. "Countries like Cuba and Sri Lanka would benefit from making efforts towards this."
Countries that have put this into practice have shown it is a formidable strategy.
"This strategy has long been adopted by the United Arab Emirates which, despite only obtaining a score of 58.1 due to the concentration of their offerings in a limited number of destinations, invested greatly in its promotion through events," said Vandesquille. "Saudi Arabia will certainly improve its score of 41.1 in the future by following the same example and opening itself to tourism."
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