Spain attains the 1st place globally in the global T&T competitiveness index for the second time. Spain’s success can be attributed to its unique offer of both cultural (2nd) and natural (9th) resources, combined with sound tourism service infrastructure (2nd), air transport connectivity (9th) and strong policy support (5th). Spain’s T&T sector has benefited from the recent ease of its fiscal policy, and by the redirected tourism from Middle East and parts of Western Europe, affected by security concerns.
These developments, however, do not take anything away from Spain’s ability to provide an excellent environment for the T&T sector to flourish. The challenge now is to continue to find ways to improve, given the sector’s maturity. While Spain’s ground transportation is ranked in the top 15 economies, it has started to show signs of initial decline, suggesting that upgrades and modernization are expected. In addition, the business environment (75th) can be improved, as dealing with construction permits remains burdensome (104th), and there is room to increase international openness further (43rd, down two places).