The biennial Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report doesn’t sound like the sort of document that will set pulses racing. But it does offer some interesting insights into our favourite holiday destinations.

The 2019 version, published today by the World Economic Forum (WEF), ranks 140 countries according to factors ranging from safety and security to eco-friendliness, natural resources and value for money.

So which is the greatest travel destination of Earth, according to the WEF’s 14 “pillars” and 90 individual “indicators”?

It’s a country visited by more Britons each year than any other, a nation known for its beaches, unfussy food, medieval palaces and spectacular landscapes.

The “best” place to visit – pipping France, Germany and Japan to the top spot for the third consecutive year – is Spain. The report highlighted the country’s large number of World Heritage Sites (48), enviable accommodation, solid transport infrastructure and superb cultural resources. But 18 million of you visit each year, so you probably knew that.

The US completed the top five, while the UK, Australia, Italy, Canada and Switzerland made the top 10.

Of those countries regularly visited by British travellers, Tunisia (85th overall), Sri Lanka (77th), Jamaica (76th), the Philippines (75th) and Morocco (66th) were among the worst performers, while big improvements were seen for Denmark (21st, up from 31st), India (34th, up from 40th), Egypt (65th, up from 74th) and Serbia (83rd, up from 95th).

When it comes to safety and security, pillar two of 14, the top 10 is very different. In come the likes of Iceland, Singapore, Luxembourg and New Zealand, but also – surprisingly, perhaps – Oman and the UAE. Spain comes 16th, behind Qatar, while the UK languishes all the way down in 45th, behind Rwanda, Kuwait, Romania, Lithuania, Azerbaijan and Armenia, among others.

In establishing its ranking, the WEF said it took into account “the costliness of common crime and violence, as well as terrorism, and the extent to which police services can be relied upon to provide protection from crime”. Given that the murder rate in the UK is 1.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, lower than each of the six countries listed above, one can assume it is recent terror attacks that account for Britain’s lowly score. The least safe countries, of the 140 to feature, were deemed to be El Salvador, Nigeria, Yemen, Venezuela and Honduras.

The UK also fairly poorly for health and hygiene, with the report ranking it 50th, behind North Macedonia, Mongolia, Montenegro and Moldova, to name a few. Austria and Germany topped the category, while Mozambique and Sierra Leone propped up the table.

When it comes to value for money, or “price competitiveness”, Iran takes the spoils. Telegraph Travel readers regularly praise the friendliness of its people – it would also appear no nation offers the same blend of cultural riches and on-the-ground affordability. Budget travellers might also consider Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia and – closer to home – Moldova and Georgia. The least price competitive country? It’s more bad news for Britain, which comes 140th out of 140, behind even Norway and Switzerland.

The other pillars included environmental sustainability (Switzerland, Norway and Austria occupy the podium; Britain is 12th) and air transport infrastructure (Canada, Australia and the US rule the roost; British is ninth). For natural resources, Mexico is number one and Britain is 21st; for cultural resources, China takes the top spot and Britain is seventh.

The report warns that travel and tourism is at a “tipping point”, with international arrivals expected to reach 1.8bn by 2030.

“The term ‘overtourism’, used to depict the negative impact tourism can have on a destination, its residents and visitors alike, has become common currency,” it says. “More work needs to be done to make sure cultural and natural assets are preserved in the face of growing tourism visits.” Follow this link to download a copy of the full report.