Taipei, April 18 (CNA) Taiwan ranks fourth in Asia in terms of travel and tourism competitiveness, Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) officials quoted a report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as indicating Wednesday.

CEPD officials quoted the WEF report released in late March as indicating that Taiwan ranked fourth in Asia and 30th among 124 countries surveyed around the world, with a score of 4.82 on the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI).

The standings mean that Taiwan has great potential to become an important tourism destination for tourists and holidaymakers from overseas with its rich yet untapped tourism resources, CEPD officials said.

They added that the administration will make greater efforts to plan for tourism development and sponsor major festivals and competitions to help increase Taiwan's visibility in the global tourism arena.

Worldwide, according to the WEF survey, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Iceland and the United States, in that order, were the top five countries in terms of travel and tourism attractions, with the highest TTCI scores.

Hong Kong ranked 6th, while Singapore stood at eighth, followed by Japan in 25th, Malaysia in 31st, South Korea in 42nd, Thailand in 43rd and China in 71st position, according to the WEF survey.

The WEF gauged areas and countries' travel and tourism potential according to three major criteria -- human capital and natural and cultural resources; tourism infrastructure, information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and price competitiveness; and policy rules and regulations, as well as environmental regulations.

Taiwan ranked second in Asia and 23rd in the world according to the criterion of human capital and natural and cultural resources, mainly because of Taroko Gorge, Sun Moon Lake and the National Palace Museum -- places which are attractive destinations with natural resources or cultural assets that are of World Heritage standards, CEPD officials said.

(By Deborah Kuo)