Ranking European Countries Using Hybrid MEREC-MARCOS MCDA Based on Travel and Tourism Development Index

Abstract

Improving the conditions for the provision of tourist services is critical for the development of tourism. The World Economic Forum uses the Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI), calculated based on five main criteria and 17 sub-criteria, to assess these conditions and generate a ranking list of countries based on their favourable environment for conducting tourism-related activities. However, the TTDI only considers the average value of each country's criteria and sub-criteria scores without considering the significance of those criteria. This paper addresses this issue using a hybrid multi-criteria analysis, which combines the MARCOS (Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking According to Compromise Solution) and MEREC (MEthod based on the Removal Effects of Criteria) methods. The results of these methods show that the observed European countries' ranking order differs from the ranking order stated in TTDI. Spain is ranked first, Turkmenistan ranks last, and sensitivity analysis supports these findings. When ranking countries using the TTDI, the importance of the criteria must be considered to accurately reflect the conditions prevailing for tourism development in countries, which is highlighted by this research. This paper's contribution demonstrates that all criteria cannot be considered equally to form the TTDI, as the requirements cannot be equally important.