The 2026 edition of the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI) has just been published, with Europe dominating the top 10.
The index looks at factors and policies that enable sustainable and resilient development in the travel and tourism space, under broad pillars like air transport structure, price competitiveness and safety and security.
Within these pillars, things like hotel prices, visa requirements, efficiency of public transport, number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and how tourism is distributed geographically are assessed.
While Japan took the top spot overall, Spain came in third, followed by France (fourth), Germany (sixth), the UK (seventh), Switzerland (ninth) and Italy (10th).
“The latest Travel & Tourism Development Index shows that the enabling conditions for travel and tourism are at their strongest since the pandemic, with 92% of economies improving since 2024,” Ramya Krishnaswamy, head of experience economy and cities at World Economic Forum, said.
“The next chapter is not simply about attracting more visitors, but it is going to be about creating greater value by investing in people, infrastructure and stronger public-private collaboration so tourism delivers lasting benefits for communities, businesses and destinations.”
The top 10 countries for travel and tourism
- Japan
- USA
- Spain
- Australia
- France
- Germany
- UK
- China
- Switzerland
- Italy
Looking more closely at Japan, the report notes that the country has extended its visitor base and encouraged travel beyond major tourism centres, thereby reducing concentration risk while still welcoming record numbers of travellers.
WEF also shared the fastest improvers, with the strongest overall being Albania, with a score increasing by 7% over the past two years.
The report notes that the country has “benefitted from offering visitors a more affordable alternative to neighbouring destinations while still providing a compelling tourism experience”.
Its score went up thanks to improvements in air transport infrastructure and tourist services.
The fastest improvers on the index
- Albania
- Vietnam
- Laos
- Qatar
- Malaysia
- Thailand
- Philippines
- Morocco
- Nepal
- Sri Lanka