Most of the dataset for the TTDI is statistical data from international organizations, with the remainder based on survey data from the World Economic Forum’s annual Executive Opinion Survey, which is used to measure concepts that are qualitative in nature or for which internationally comparable statistics are not available for enough countries.

The sources of statistical data include, but are not limited to, AirDNA, Bloom Consulting, Euromonitor International, IATA, ICAO, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the IUCN, CoStar, Tripadvisor, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN Statistics Division, UN Tourism, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the CIA World Factbook, the World Trade Organization (WTO), WTTC and the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA).

The overall TTDI score is computed through successive aggregations of scores, from the indicator level (e.g. the lowest, most disaggregated level) through the pillar levels, using a simple average (i.e. the arithmetic mean) to combine the components. Scores on each indicator are first normalized and rated on a common scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being the worst and 7 being the best outcome.