In the world tourism index, NZ remains at 16th place, while Spain continues to lead the WEF’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. The index was compiled first in 2007. Australia is at the 7th place in the index.
Europe, with France, Germany, UK, Italy and Switzerland is once again the region with the most aggressive economies and the highest regional average. Asia-Pacific is the most-improved region with five countries featuring in the index: Japan (4th), Korea (19th), India (40th), Vietnam (67th) and Bhutan (78th).
The US has gone to the 6th position and Canada is down to the 9th. Switzerland is at the 10th place. American Airlines will upgrade its service between Los Angeles and Auckland, when the service resumes after a seasonal eight-week suspension. Qantas has said that its domestic fleet of 80 Airbus 330s and Boeing 737s won’t be fully equipped with its new in-flight Wi-Fi service, until the end of 2018. Cathay Pacific will boost its four-times-weekly Hong Kong-Manchester service to an everyday operation from December 1.
