India climbs up 12 spots in WEF's Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index

India has jumped 12 spots to 40th position in World Economic Forum's travel and tourism rankings.

Spain topped the 2017 edition for the second time, followed by France which emerged as the runner-up. Germany stood third, Japan moved five notches up to the 4th spot.

Europe famous tourist destination, Switzerland was ranked 10th in the list. In South Asia, India is leading followed by Bhutan and Nepal.

The index takes into account indicators like air transport infrastructure, ground and port infrastructure and tourist service infrastructure, prioritization of travel and tourism, price competitiveness, etc.

The theme of this seventh edition of the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017: Paving the Way for a More Sustainable & Inclusive Future, reflects the increasing focus on ensuring the industry's sustained growth in an uncertain security environment while preserving the natural environment and local communities on which it so richly depends.

Published biennially, the index benchmarks the T&T competitiveness of 136 economies. The report measures the set of factors and policies that enable the sustainable development of the travel and tourism in different countries.