Country Branding From A Global Cultural Tourism Perspective

country branding
from a global cultural tourism perspective
A comparison between
Future Brand Country Brand Index
and Anhold GfK Roper Nation Brands Index

2009 edition

© 2009 Cultural Realms | A Vizantia Enterprises Company

country branding: a comparison between Country Brand Index (CBI) and Nation Brands Index (NBI)

part one: the BIG picture

Barack Obama in Berlin 2008 in front of a 250,000 people crowd

The winner:
USA
Widely attributed to
President Barack Obama

The winners:
European countries
(6 out of 10 in top positions)

The winner country brands:
USA, Italy, Spain
(equal rank in both indexes)



part two: the economic aspects

The winner:
USA
The country with the largest
GDP in the world

The winners:
EU Countries
The largest GDP as a group
6 out 10 top 10 positions in
both Indexes

The loosers:
China, Russia, Brazil,
economic superpowers
with not so great country
branding in both indexes



part two: the economic aspects

The winner:
USA
Powerful brand coinciding
with real world power

President Medvedev at the World Economic Forum, Davos
The place where economic superpowers meet

The looser:
Russia
The only one G-8 country
with week brand



part three: history, arts and culture aspects
The winners:
Italy, France, UK,
India, Egypt,
In top 10 both in
CBI and NBI

Altamira Cave in Spain, one of the oldest prehistoric
art examples in the world: 25,000 25,000 years old

The loosers:
Spain, Russia, Mexico,
Countries with millennial
history not in the top 10
of CBI. Not clear if they are
in top 10 in NBI



part four: tourism aspects
The winners:
US, France, Italy, UK,
Germany & Spain
In top the top 10 country
overall country branding

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey: one of the most visited
UNESCO monument. Virgin Mary majolica mosaic detail

The loosers:
Turkey, Ukraine, China &
Mexico
In the top 10 most visited
countries in the world, but
with underperforming overall
country branding



The winners:
Germany & Spain

Kiev, the Gift Chapel, Ukraine. Photo: Sera TJ
The loosers:
Turkey, Ukraine, China &
Mexico
In the top 10 most visited
country branding



The winners:
Germany, Australia & Spain

Vienna, Austria Photo: scottpartee
The loosers:
Turkey, Austria & China In
the top 10 most visited
country branding



The winners:
Germany, Australia & Spain

China Great Wall Photo: Christopher Chan
The loosers:
Turkey, Austria & China In
the top 10 most visited
country branding



The importance of tourism
branding dimensions
All countries in top
10 positions in country
branding are also in top
10 country tourism brands

Taj Mahal, India Photo:Beta Design

Not enough:
Countries on top 10 positions
in tourism branding are not
always the most popular
country brands, like India,
Singapore, China, etc.



part four: tourism aspects: fact check
branding dimensions
Is it really important? For
major tourism destination
Countries (USA, France,
Italy, China, Spain, etc. )Yes!

Duffey Lake, Canada, Photo: Jacques Daigneault

Tourism branding does not
automatically means more
arrivals:
Canada and India are not
among the top 10 in
International Arrivals.



branding dimensions
When it comes to “show me
the money” factor, tourism
branding plays a major role

Fushimi Inary, Koyoto,, Japan, Photo: JPellgen
Tourism branding does
translate into international
tourism receipts
Exception: Japan, who is not
in top 10 of Receipts, but in
top 5 in tourism branding in
CBI composite



Hard data vindicates the top
10 tourism brands when
it comes to country tourism
and travel competitiveness
France, Spain, Germany,
Canada, USA, Australia
& Singapore

Geneva, Switzerland, Hotel de la Ciigogne, Photo UGGBoy
Or almost…
Exception: the number 1, 2 &
7 countries best prepared to
compete in travel and
tourism are not among the
Top 10 in country branding
for tourism in the CBI



part ﬁve: trends: cultural tourism rules
Countries with strong cultural
tourism brands are also among
the most visited countries:
France, China, Italy, UK, and
Germany

Luxor, Egypt Photo: Charlie Phillips

There is not any other category in country branding for business, sports, events,
Or almost…Exception:
shopping, adventure, natural beauty, or other tourism branding dimensions, Egypt, India, Peru, Greece,
which number ones are among the most visited countries worldwide. Jordan and Israel


part ﬁve: trends: cultural tourism rules

Countries with strong cultural
tourism brands are also among
the countries in the top 10
in tourism receipts.
France, China, Italy, UK, and
Germany

Petra, Jordan. Photo: Carrie McDougall

Or almost…Exception:
Egypt, India, Peru, Greece,
Jordan and Israel


part ﬁve: trends: from cultural tourism to creative tourism

Countries with important l
development of their cultural
Industries are the winners
In cultural tourism branding
India, Italy, France, China, UK
and Germany

UNESCO World Heritage Site, Machu Picchu. Photo: Carrie McDougall

Exceptions: Egypt, Peru,
Greece, Jordan and Israel
Engagement traveler – a step forward to a real
creative tourism



part six: conclusion

When it comes to
global cultural
tourism, the overall
country branding is
helping more than
country tourism
branding based on
cultural heritage. In
this comparison,
FutureBrand CBI
has more value for
practitioners, since
from the table is
obvious that even
the position of the
countries best
branded for
cultural tourism
coincides to their
overall country
branding.




Importance of the
creative industries
dimensions for cultural
tourism: Six out of the
10 top 10 brands in CBI
and 7 out of the top 10
of NBI are among the
top 10 in creative
industries exports
worldwide – a serious
country brand driver
and indispensable
ingredient in the next
state of the cultural
tourism – the creative
tourism.




As a conclusion, National Brands
Index is more useful for research
institutions with large budgets and the
highest level of policy makers in rich
governments. Country Brand Index is
targeted to practitioners and has
much move value for cultural tourism
hands-on strategy advisors,
consultants, DMOs, CVBs and tour
operator managers and much more
accessible for small and medium
enterprises, not so afﬂuent countries
and individual tourism strategy
consultants.



More information:

Author: Rossitza Ohridska-Olson

The opinions expressed in this presentation and my personal blog
are not the opinions of the companies who created the indexes.
They are my personal observations and are not sponsored or
influenced by any of the authors of the analyzed documents.

This comparison was prepared based on Country Brand Index (CBI) by
FutureBrand and Anhold GfK Roper Nation Brands Index (NBI).
You can find and download the CBI summary at: http://futurebrand.com/cbi
You can find the NBI summary at:
http://www.simonanholt.com/Publications/publications-other-articles.aspx

Full text of my analysis at: http://culturalrealms.typepad.com. Please post your comments directly on
the blog or write me at: rokambur@gmail.com


Country Branding From A Global Cultural Tourism Perspective

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Country Branding From A Global Cultural Tourism Perspective