The 2008 Country Brand Index (CBI) which was officially released at WTM last month identified China, the United Arab Emirates and Croatia, respectively, as the top three ‘rising stars’ – those likely to become major tourist destinations in the next five years.
Also making the list this year are Vietnam, India and Cuba. The CBI examines how countries are branded and ranked according to key criteria, and identifies emerging global trends in the world’s fastest growing economic sector – travel and tourism, which accounts for US$5.9 trillion of economic activity worldwide this year and more than 238 million jobs.
Key trends identified by the report include inter-generational travel, medical tourism, mainstream luxury, poverty travel and a rise in off the beaten track trips. Specialised travel such as women travelling on their own, grandchildren travelling with grandparents and finite travel (visits to places and/or species that are seen as endangered or have a time-related environmental risk).
Australia earned the top spot as the world’s top country brand for the third year in a row. In second place was Canada, followed by the US, Italy and Switzerland in the top five positions.
CBI, now in its fourth year, is a comprehensive study of about 2,700 international business and leisure travellers from nine countries conducted by FutureBrand, a leading global brand consultancy, in conjunction with public relations firm Weber Shandwick.
Feedback from WTM 2008 was generally positive, although it must be said that many show attendees were smarting from delays on the underground to and from Central London and the Abu Dhabi owned ExCel Exhibition Centre in London’s Docklands, on the first and second days of World Travel Market.
Londoners voiced concern about how their city would cope with the Olympics come 2012, because if it did not have the infrastructure for an event like WTM with about 50,000 visitors in total, how would it fare for the 2012 games?
