Appendix A: Travel & Tourism Development Index methodology

This section provides details about the methodology of the 2024 edition of the Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI). It comprises the following parts:

Composition and calculation
Indicator and country selection
Indicator list and details
Index changes and comparability

Composition and calculation

The TTDI structure (see Figure A1) is composed of 17 pillars organized into five dimensions:

Enabling Environment (five pillars): 1. Business Environment; 2. Safety and Security; 3. Health and Hygiene; 4. Human Resources and Labour Market; 5. ICT Readiness
T&T Policy and Enabling Conditions (three pillars): 6. Prioritization of T&T; 7. Openness to T&T; 8. Price Competitiveness
Infrastructure and Services (three pillars): 9. Air Transport Infrastructure; 10. Ground and Port Infrastructure; 11. Tourist Services and Infrastructure
T&T Resources (three pillars): 12. Natural Resources; 13. Cultural Resources; 14. Non-Leisure Resources
Travel & Tourism Sustainability (three pillars): 15. Environmental Sustainability; 16. T&T Socioeconomic Impact; 17. T&T Demand Sustainability

Figure A1: Framework

These 17 pillars comprise 102 indicators that are calculated based on data derived from the Executive Opinion Survey (the Survey) as well as quantitative data from other sources. The survey data is derived from responses to the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey and ranges in value from 1 (worst) to 7 (best). TTDI 2024 results reflect the latest available data at the time of collection (end of 2023).

Hard data (non-survey data) was collected from various sources, which are described in Appendix B. Data used in the calculation of the TTDI can be found by visiting the online version of the Travel & Tourism Development Index 2024.

The TTDI is calculated as an average (arithmetic mean) of the 17 component pillar averages (arithmetic means). While figures for the five dimensions are provided, they are used for categorization and presentation purposes only. Each of the pillars is calculated as an unweighted average of the individual component variables. Note that the Human Resources and Labour Market pillar is the unweighted average of its three subpillars: Qualification of the Labour Force, Labour Market Dynamics and Labour Market Resilience and Equality. Likewise, the Environmental Sustainability pillar is the unweighted average of its three subpillars: T&T Energy Sustainability, Pollution and Environmental Conditions and Preservation of Nature.

Hard data indicators used in the TTDI are normalized to a 1-to-7 scale in order to align them with the Executive Opinion Survey’s results. The standard formula for converting each hard data indicator to the 1-to-7 scale is:

The sample minimum and sample maximum are the lowest and highest scores of the overall sample, respectively. For those hard data indicators for which a higher value indicates a worse outcome (e.g. fuel price levels), we rely on a normalization formula that, in addition to converting the series to a 1-to-7 scale, reverses it, so that 1 and 7 still correspond to the worst and best, respectively:

However, in many cases, adjustments are made to figures used for sample minimum and sample maximum to account for issues such as outliers. See Table A1 for further details.

Indicator and country selection

To be selected for the TTDI, indicators need to meet the following criteria:

Relevance: The indicator must be an acceptable metric for the concept that is being covered.
Country coverage: Timely indicator data must be available for the majority of economies covered by the TTDI. In most cases, this means coverage exceeds 100 economies.
Comparability: Indicator data must be comparable among the various economies covered and throughout its time series.
Update frequency: The indicator must be regularly updated for the foreseeable future.
Source quality and objectivity: The indicator must come from a reputable and objective source. In this regard, common sources include international organizations such as the World Bank and United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism). To help with comparability, attempts are made to retrieve as much data as possible for a particular indicator from one source.

For data that is missing or is more than 10 years old, the following steps are taken:

First, research is conducted to find an alternative non-government source.
If no non-government source is found, publicly available government data is collected. However, the respective government is never informed of this action to avoid creating an unfair advantage or increase bias.
In the case that no data is found using the above two steps, the data is imputed. Please see a list of imputed data in Table A2.

For an economy to be included in the TTDI, it needs to:

Be included in at least one of the latest three Executive Opinion Surveys as this survey accounts for a large share of indicators
Not have missing data for 10% or more of total indicators or 20–33% of indicators within any particular pillar (share depends on the pillar)
Not be partaking in a conflict that generates enough material damage to make the indicators outdated

Indicator list and details

The indicators that make up each pillar – and subpillar, if available – are described below. Italicized indicators are completely new to the 2024 edition of the TTDI.

Table A1: Table of normalization

Table A2: Table of imputation

Index changes and comparability

The TTDI 2024 introduces several improvements and methodology changes designed to benefit from newly available data and to make the index more T&T-specific, concise and consistent in economy coverage. Also note that the number of indicators has declined from 112 to 102, with 76 remaining, 36 deleted and 26 added. These improvements have been evaluated based on statistical testing, stakeholder feedback and input from the TTDI Advisory Group, which includes representatives from Bloom Consulting, the European Travel Commission (ETC), the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, Mastercard, New York University, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Trip.com Group, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism), the University of Surrey, Visa, the World Bank and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

Please note that the changes make this edition of the index incompatible with the previously released version. Therefore, this release of the index includes recalculated 2019 and 2021 figures based on adjustments to ensure comparability. Consequently, TTDI results from 2019, 2021 and 2024 provided in this report are based on the new TTDI framework.

The figure and table below highlight all of the major adjustments made to the index.

Figure A2: Overview of TTDI adjustments

Table A3: Details of adjustments made to the TTDI