The "Least Attractive" Destination for Tourists in 2017 Became Kyrgyzstan

21st from the bottom: Kyrgyzstan ranked 115th in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index

The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index for 2017 was presented by the World Economic Forum. The overall score for a country is based on various indicators, such as tourism infrastructure and communication technologies, cultural resources, and business travel... Traditionally, Western countries are recognized as the leaders in the ranking, while the positions of CIS countries are close to the lower end.

Thus, the most "unattractive" destination for tourists in 2017 was Kyrgyzstan, which ranked 115th among 136 analyzed countries. The tourism infrastructure and services of the "Second Switzerland" were rated at 2.2 points, international openness at 2.3 points, and the country's air infrastructure at only 1.9 points. Among the "weaknesses" were cultural resources and business travel, which received a score of 1.6 points. Therefore, from the average score of all indicators, Kyrgyzstan received only 3.1 out of a possible 7. The situation was better for its neighbors – Kazakhstan and Tajikistan: these countries ranked 81st and 107th, respectively. The leader in the post-Soviet space was Estonia, which ranked 37th and surpassed Russia by 6 positions.

Among the top countries were France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the USA, Australia, Italy, Canada, and Switzerland. The "gold" in the Index went to Spain, while Yemen was rated the worst.