Changing the World Economic Forum Ranking of Travel&Tourism Competitiveness Index to Tourism & Travel Development Index: A Review of Serbia’s Competitive Position

Tourism crises are significantly more frequent with the beginning of the second millennium, much more than decades before, and consequentially tourism destinations are facing many challenges. The main ones are embodied in the aspiration to ensure long-term sustainability and competitiveness. The competitiveness of a tourism destination is built and evaluated on many bases. This paper aims to point out the main aspects of the competitive position of tourism destinations analysis. It focuses on the results of the generally accepted practical model for evaluating the competitiveness of a tourism destination,
The World Economic Forum, Travel&Tourism Competitiveness Index (WEF T&TCI). The latest changes in the methodological approach by WEF led to the establishment of a new World Economic Forum Index embodied in the Travel&Tourism Development Index (WEF T&TDI).
This paper aims to identify the main differences between WEF T&TCI and the new WEF T&TDI. Furthermore, both indexes’ results for Serbia and its competitiveness set are analysed and presented. The research in this paper is a part of a more comprehensive study on destination competitiveness indicators analysis.