Picturesque Abha : a popular tourist destination in the Kingdom.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked the Kingdom high in its tourism index placing it at the top for medical facilities, in 11th position for competitive prices, 31st in tourist spending, and 55th in richness of cultural heritage.

The media department of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH) disclosed this here on Wednesday.

According to the analytical study recently conducted by the WEF, the Kingdom ranked first in terms of the population’s access to advanced medical centers and has the lowest rates of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) based on the population percentage.

Moreover, the Kingdom is ranked sixth in terms of its low tax level and 13th in terms of incidence of suicide.

Citing further statistics from the WEF analytical study, SCTNH said that the Kingdom has also been placed well in terms of richness of its cultural heritage, which puts it in 55th position out of the 141 countries.

The study referred to the good infrastructure of air transport in the Kingdom, which enabled it to occupy the 40th position globally.

In terms of achievement of more investment in tourism infrastructure, the study puts the Kingdom in 67th position while in terms of air, sea and land ports it is placed at the 60th position.

In terms of tourism service infrastructure, the Kingdom is ranked 67th and in eco-friendly policies for sustainable development and long-term tourism competitiveness power it is placed at 121st.

The WEF in its report pointed out that the tourism and travel industry helps create new job opportunities as for every 30 new tourists visiting any specific destination means the creation of one job.

According to the study, Spain for the first time ranked first in the world in terms of the strength of the tourism sector, while France came second ahead of Germany, the United States and Britain.

The International Competitiveness Report for (2015-2016) issued by the WEF also highlighted strengths of the Saudi economy for achieving more growth and enhancing international competitiveness as well as maintaining its current lead in the Middle East and North Africa.

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