COMPETITIVENESS OF TOURISM INDUSTRY IN KAZAKHSTAN - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 27

TABLE 3 (Continued)

SUBINDEXES

T&T business
environment and
infrastructure

T&T human, cul-
tural and natural
resources

OVERALL
INDEX

T&T regulatory
framework

Country
coverage

Year Percen-

tile rank

Percentile
rank

Percentile
rank

Percentile
rank Rank Rank Rank Rank

130 2008 91 70 61 47 96 74 112 86

133 2009 92 69 60 45 96 72 121 91

139 2011 93 67 65 47 88 63 123 88

Trend in standing
relative to the
year 2007

Approx. the
same (-1) rela-
tive standing

Positive (+18) Positive (+2) Negative (-15)

Source: The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Reports 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011. World Economic
Forum.
Authors' calculation and interpretation of percentiles and their trends.

Table 3 shows that from 2007 to 2011 the calculated percentile rank of
the Overall Travel & Tourism (T&T) Competitiveness Index of Kazakh-
stan did not significantly change while percentile ranks of the T&T regu-
latory framework and the T&T business environment and infrastructure
subindices went up, and the T&T human, cultural and natural resources
subindex rank decreased. In order to clarify what the strengths and weak-
nesses of the travel and tourism industry in Kazakhstan are, the sub in-
dexes' pillars are further considered in detail.
The first pillar rank out of the five pillars of the T&T regulatory frame-
work sub index of the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index—Policy
rules and regulations—can be improved as a result of enforcement of well-
protected property rights, rules attracting FDI in the tourism sector, and
simplified visa requirements. The second pillar—Environmental sustain-
ability—lacks strong and well enforced environmental legislation with a
specific focus on developing the tourism sector in a sustainable way, de-
creasing pollution and protecting the environment. The third pillar rank-
Safety and security—can be improved by increasing the effectiveness and
reliability of police services in providing protection from crime and vio-
lence and reducing the number of road traffic accidents. The international
rank of the fourth pillar is rather competitive (the 9th) due to the tradition-
ally good quality of health and hygiene in the country. The rank and score