Which countries are best at protecting their natural environment for tourism?

Switzerland leads the world when it comes to protecting its environment for travel and tourism, according to the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015.

The Report’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index benchmarks 141 economies across 90 key indicators to determine which countries are making the most of their travel and tourism industries to maximise economic development and competitiveness.

This part of the index considers factors such as the stringency and enforcement of environmental regulations, the sustainability of travel and tourism industry development and environmental treaty ratifications.

European nations put in a strong showing in the top 10 with Ireland and Finland ranked second and third, just ahead of Luxembourg and Norway.

The Seychelles is recognised for its environmental protection policies, ranking sixth.

Ranked eighth, Argentina is the only American nation to feature while New Zealand rounds off the list.

The data for this ranking are taken from the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey, Yale University and Columbia University’s Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2012 edition, The International Union for Conservation of Nature, World Resources Institute, Aqueduct Country and River Basin Rankings and the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy (YCELP) and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University.

Author: Paul Muggeridge is Head of Content at Formative Content

Image: An aerial view of mangroves along the Atlantic coast near Salinopolis, Para state, July 27, 2014. REUTERS/Paulo Santos