The Sultanate has been ranked second in the Arab world and 57th globally, according to the 2020 ‘Top Countries for Sustainable Tourism’ report released by the global market research company Euromonitor International. Jordan topped the Arab countries’ ranking while UAE ranked third and Tunisia fourth.

Sweden topped the global ranking, followed by Finland, Austria, Estonia, and Norway.

The report classified 99 tourism destinations worldwide by measuring environmental and socio-economic sustainability as well as the demand for sustainable tourism, transport and lodging.

The company said that the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the defects of conventional tourism systems based on volume which are no longer suitable for purpose-driven tourism at a time of pandemic.

Euromonitor International said its researchers have developed a new index for sustainable tourism by helping travel companies embrace more sustainable and purpose-driven strategies as the data shows that the future and success of travel and tourism centre around the sustainable digital transformation.