For the second year in a row, Spain has been ranked 7th in the Country Brand Index (CBI), compiled by Future Brand and Weber Shandwick, while coming 1st in the index’s Nightlife category, 9th in Fine Dining and 10th in Art and Culture.
Australia once again earned the coveted spot as the world’s top country brand, followed by the Unites States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, Greece and Japan.
The CBI also identified Croatia, China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the top three “rising stars” – those likely to become a major tourist destination in the next five years. Also making the list this year are Cuba, Iceland, and the Russian Federation.
New Tourism Trends
With regard to the preferred conference destinations, the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates occupy the first five positions in the world ranking, while the United States, Australia, Italy, Japan and Thailand were chosen as the best country brands in which to extend a business trip.
Humanitarian/eco-friendly causes
Participants in this year’s Country Brand Index also highlighted a number of emerging trends in travel and tourism, including voluntourism. As a response to disaster aid, growing global village consciousness and a need to contribute to society in ways big and small, more travellers are planning their trips around humanitarian purposes.
Travellers are also becoming more environmentally responsible. The result is that consumers and pioneering travel brands are partnering to minimize their impact on the environment. For example, Silverjet, with a mandatory carbon dioxide offset fee, became the first carbon neutral airline.
Brands outside the hospitality sector are extending into the destination business with offers allowing people to live that brand 24/7. Fashion labels such as Armani and Versace first infused hotels with their signature aesthetics from Dubai to Australia. Today, luxury car companies are following suit. For example, Ferrari has teamed up with Aldar Properties to launch an entertainment development in Abu Dhabi in 2008.
Methodology
FutureBrand has developed a three-tiered evaluation system for ranking country brands. The result is a unique evaluation system that provides the basis of CBI rankings, an initiative now in its third year. More than 2,600 respondents from seven countries participated in a travel survey, including frequent business and leisure travellers between the ages of 21 and 65, and more than 50 international travel industry experts from writers and editors to analysts and hospitality professionals.
Brand importance
“A country’s brand reputation is in itself a powerful currency. Reputation drives financial and business investment, sustainable growth and helps add fuel to the private and retail sectors,” said René A. Mack, president, Weber Shandwick’s Travel & Lifestyle Global Practice.
