Anchor: South Korea has gained ten places to rank 19th in the World Economic Forum's(WEF) biennial survey of tourism competitiveness. It was one of the five-most improved countries in the report.
Our Alannah Hill has more.
 
Report: South Korea's tourism competitiveness ranked 19th among 136 economies according to a recent report by the World Economic Forum(WEF).
 
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Tuesday that South Korea advanced ten notches in the WEF's travel and tourism competitiveness index for 2017.
 
The index, released every two years, has been assessing the travel and tourism competitiveness of countries around the world since 2007. It comprises four sub-indexes and 14 categories, such as safety and security, health and hygiene, price competitiveness, transport infrastructure and natural resources.
 
South Korea ranked 42nd in 2007, 31st in 2009, 32nd in 2011, 25th in 2013 and 29th in 2015.
 
South Korea was one of the five-most improved countries. It advanced in eight of the 14 categories, including a gain of 39 places to 14th in international openness and 21 places to 88th in price competitiveness. According to the report, Korea also upgraded aspects of its business environment, such as the efficiency of its legal framework.
 
As in 2015, Spain, France and Germany remained in first, second and third places. Japan rose five notches to fourth place while China advanced two steps to 15th place.
 
A ministry official attributed South Korea's advancement in the index to an ease in regulations and efforts by the tourism industry to improve services and enhance quality. The official said the government will boost the tourism industry by promoting domestic tourism and seeking diversity in foreign visitors.
Alannah Hill, KBS World Radio News.