Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Tourism 2012

Development of Countries Human Asset Management Business Strategy
Bloom Consulting
Country Brand Ranking

Tourism Edition
2012
Bloom Consulting Since 2003

Tourism Edition
2012
Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking

An Introduction
The Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking is the only country or nation brand ranking which classifies countries by the effectiveness of their country brand strategies and its subsequent impact on the countrys GDP. In order to do so, Bloom Consulting has taken into account variables that define the economic performance of the countries as well as variables that characterize the strategies accuracy and market acceptance. Bloom Consulting has used hard facts, such as economic indicators and an analysis of the official country brand strategies as well as soft data indicators, thereby measuring the economic impact of each countrys tourism brand strategy. Furthermore, this marks the first time that Online Search Demand (OSD) has been incorporated into a ranking of this type. The 2012 Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Tourism accounts for the most comprehensive, objective research done in the field so far. In accordance with the Bloom Consulting 3T Approach (see page 3), Bloom Consulting creates separate Rankings for Trade and Tourism. It includes 161 countries and all economic data comes from recognized sources such as the World Bank, United Nations, and the World Tourism Organization.
countrybranding@bloom-consulting.com / +34 91 308 0286 (CET)
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Tourism Edition
2012
An introductory note from the CEO

Welcome
For the second consecutive year, I am proud to present to you with the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking! Over the last nine years, I have had the privilege of working with Bloom Consulting in country branding strategies all over the world. From my experience, the most striking fact I found so far is that most countries, regardless of their economic development, geographic location or even size, have very similar issues when developing their own country brand strategy. These issues are very much related with internal concerns, such as accountability or stakeholder management, and also the tangible measurement of brand strategy investments. Our objective when launching this ranking was precisely to tackle this issue: how much more revenue can a country brand attract to its own national economy? Let me just say how excited I am with the new feature in our algorithm - Online Search Demand (OSD). For the first time in any country or nation brand ranking, we analyze how well positioned countries are in the biggest search engines and how searched they are by tourists in general. To conclude, I encourage you to use this ranking internally and use it as an asset and a tool to demonstrate the importance your country brand has on your economy. Although we would have liked to go deeper and give a detailed description on each countrys performance, its impossible to do so in this overview. However if you are interested to find out more information on your country, please do not hesitate to contact us. I would be happy to send you all the information you require. Welcome to the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking 2012. We hope you appreciate the great results and findings as much as we did!
Jos Filipe Torres - CEO Bloom Consulting

Bloom Consulting Since 2003 countrybranding@bloom-consulting.com / +34 91 308 0286 (CET) Page 02

Tourism Edition
2012
Introduction to Country Branding

The 3T approach
In creating a country brand strategy we focus on three main areas: attraction of trade, tourism and talent. The traditional approach when facing the challenge of attracting trade, tourism and talent is to create, or simply improve, perceptions under one umbrella strategy. Ultimately this will fail, as we see over and over again around the world. It is impossible to communicate entertainment to investors and simultaneously communicate a qualified and hardworking workforce to potential tourists. They messages repel each other, destroying the core objective. Most of the time agencies attempt a compromise in order to better create an overall strategy. As a result, they weaken their brand, as each factor is not branded up to its potential. In order to solve the problem of having a single multi-dimensional strategy, Bloom Consulting has developed a 3T approach to country branding that separates each T. T1. Attraction of Trade T2. Attraction of Tourism T3. Attraction of Talent Traditional Umbrella Strategy
T1 T2 T3
Bloom Consultings 3T Approach

T2
GDP Impact
T1
GDP Impact
T3
This way, were able to calculate growth projections and calculations individually, in order to better define the objectives of an overall strategy.

Tourism Edition
2012
Understanding the Methodology

The Ranking Variables
The Bloom Consulting Algorithm, was developed to create and calculate the ranking, taking into account both hard and soft data and includes groundbreaking processes to show the relationship between a countrys economic performance and the projections of the countrys brand strategy. The ranking is derived from four variables that take into account both hard and soft data. The ranking does not use any survey or interview based data, meaning that it provides the most objective, accurate results possible. Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Algorithm variables
CBS Rating
Economic Growth
Historical Economic Performance
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Tourism Edition
2012
Understanding the Methodology

The Ranking Variables in more detail
Historical Economic Performance Strategies and economic returns do not have an immediate cause and effect relationship, therefore Bloom Consulting looks at the countrys long term (five years)* historical economic performance in international tourism receipts. This way, the Ranking reflects more consistent trends rather than the volatile changes that might occur in the recovering economic climate. Economic Growth The growth in international tourism receipts of each country is also an important indicator when measuring the countrys economic performance, therefore Bloom Consulting computes the compound annual growth rate for the economic tourism performance. This way, it is possible to garner how much the industry grew or decreased and the impact it had on the revenue. Again, data spanning five years was used to reflect consistent trends rather than brief volatile changes. Bloom Consulting Country Brand Strategy (CBS) Rating Bloom Consulting also rates the impact of each countrys branding strategy. The CBS Rating takes into account the uniqueness of each countrys current brand strategy (Brand Tags) and the accuracy of the Online Search Demand. A brand strategy that is more unique and more aligned with tourist searches will receive a better Rating.
UNWTO covering the years 2006-2010. countrybranding@bloom-consulting.com / +34 91 308 0286 (CET) Page 05

Tourism Edition
2012
Measuring Country Brand Strategy Accuracy

The CBS Rating
CBS Rating is calculated using brand strategy economic performance analysis and analysis of Online Search Demand. The country brand strategy is measured through brand tags, the key words that reflect the brand strategy of each country. For the first time in any country or nation brand ranking, Blooms Online Search Demand (OSD) is able to show if a country supplies what tourists are seeking, and how well the country is matching this demand. Brand tags function as the supply side of the tourist-destination equation. Thousands of brand tags were collected from each countrys official tourism agency and then classified into 38 different clusters that relate to adventure sports and activities, natural features, beaches, local culture and traditions, or gastronomy. Each cluster is assigned an economic value in order to rate the relative returns gained from each brand tag. Domestic and international tourist searches for the brand tags and related words were then analyzed, country by country, in the most used search engines, to show the countrys accuracy match and quantify Online Search Demand. By considering the OSD, Bloom Consulting is able to show if a country offers what tourists are seeking, and how well the country is matching this demand. This identifies the gap between supply and demand. The more accurate a country is, the better the CBS Rating . Just as international rating agencies rank countries credit risk, Bloom Consulting uses the CBS Rating Classification System
Score AAA AA A BBB BB B CCC CC C D
Description Very Strong Strong Slightly Strong Very Good Good Slightly Good Slightly Weak Weak Very Weak Poor
countrybranding@bloom-consulting.com / +34 91 308 0286 (CET) Page 06

Tourism Edition
2012

2012 TOURISM EDITION - WORLD Ranking
Rank
CBS Rating
1. 2. 3. 4.
United States of America Spain France China
AA AAA AA A AAA AAA BBB AAA BBB BBB
5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Turkey
Thailand Germany Macao United Kingdom Australia
Due to the historical brand equity and the fact that both have strong country brand strategies China, Hong Kong and Macao have been considered as separate countries in this ranking. Bloom Consulting Since 2003 countrybranding@bloom-consulting.com / +34 91 308 0286 (CET) Page 07

Tourism Edition
2012
Rank 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. Austria Italy Hong Kong Malaysia Netherlands Mexico Switzerland Canada Croatia Russian Federation Portugal Singapore India Greece Republic of Korea Belgium Morocco Japan United Arab Emirates Sweden Egypt Ireland South Africa Poland Hungary
CBS Rating AA BB A A BBB AAA A BBB AAA A A A A BBB BBB A AAA BB AAA BB BB A BBB BB AAA
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Tourism Edition
2012
Rank 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. Czech Republic Indonesia Saudi Arabia Finland Argentina Lebanon Denmark Norway New Zealand Philippines Slovenia Brazil Slovakia Dominican Republic Ukraine Israel Peru Bulgaria Chile Malta Estonia Cyprus Luxembourg Romania Jordan
CBS Rating A B CCC AAA AA CCC A AA A AAA AAA B AAA BBB B CCC A BB A AAA AAA A CCC A CCC
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Tourism Edition
2012
Rank 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. Kenya Lithuania Guatemala United Republic of Tanzania Ethiopia Viet Nam Uruguay Mauritius Colombia Albania Iran Costa Rica Tunisia Panama Cambodia Sri Lanka Serbia Bahrain Bahamas Barbados Maldives Cuba Ecuador Jamaica Kazakhstan
CBS Rating AAA AAA A A A CC BBB A B BB B BB CCC CCC BBB AAA A B B BB AAA CC AA CCC CCC
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Tourism Edition
2012
Rank 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. Iceland Latvia Oman Pakistan Venezuela Bosnia and Herzegovina Uganda Georgia Nepal Ghana El Salvador Fiji Botswana Belarus Namibia Armenia Montenegro Nigeria Honduras Trinidad and Tobago Zimbabwe Kuwait Mongolia Seychelles Saint Lucia
CBS Rating AAA BB C CC BB BB A A AAA CCC B BB AAA BBB AA AAA CCC CCC BB B B CCC AA A A
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Tourism Edition
2012
Rank 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129. 130. 131. 132. 133. 134. 135. Kyrgyzstan Azerbaijan Senegal Belize Macedonia Yemen Angola Rwanda Antigua and Barbuda Madagascar Algeria Republic of Moldova Laos People Democratic Republic Brunei Darussalam Saint Kits and Nevis Zambia Mozambique Bolivia Nicaragua Grenada Cape Verde Sudan Samoa Guyana Cameroon
CBS Rating CCC CC C BBB BBB C C BB B CCC CCC B CC B AA BBB B CCC CC BBB C B B BBB CC
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Rank 136. 137. 138. 139. 140. 141. 142. 143. 144. 145. 146. 147. 148. 149. 150. 151. 152. 153. 154. 155. 156. 157. 158. 159. 160. 161. Paraguay Solomon Islands Dominica Myanmar Togo Suriname Burkina Faso Lesotho Bhutan Gambia Cte dIvoire Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Bangladesh Timor-Leste Sierra Leone Comoros Tajikistan Swaziland Federated States of Micronesia So Tom and Principe Djibouti Tonga Kiribati Papua New Guinea Burundi Marshall Islands
CBS Rating D BBB BB B CCC B CCC BBB B B D CC C B B CCC CCC CC D A CCC D BBB B CC D
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Tourism Edition
2012

Comments
The United States continued its number one reign in the 2012 Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Tourism. The AA Rating indicates that the US tourism brand is very accurate when considering tourism demand, and has a strong positive impact on its tourism industry. Although the US saw a decline in tourism receipts from the previous year, the strong overall performance and excellent CBS Rating ensured their continued supremacy.
The remaining top countries include other strong economic performers such as several powerhouse European countries, the upcoming BRIC countries and Asian economic hubs. Asia in particular performed extremely well in the 2012 Ranking. Eight Asian countries finished in the top 25, with China as number four. Aided by both strong tourism receipts and CBS Ratings , Thailand (6) and Malaysia (14) significantly improved from last year. For the first time, Macao was evaluated as an individual country and finished with a bang at number eight. A notable absence was Japan. With a BB rating that could not counteract the residual effects of the tsunami, Japan suffered a three spot drop to number twenty-eight.
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Tourism Edition
2012

Comments, Continued
Though European countries, especially Germany, the UK and Italy, have slipped in the Ranking since last year, twelve European countries remained in the top 25. The continued prominence despite decreased tourism receipts indicates that strong CBS Ratings can help weather the lingering economic stress in Europe.
Interestingly, Africa had some surprising developments, especially in light of the recent political developments. Although none finished in the top 25, the top 50 was filled with noticeable improvements from last year. Morocco (27) and United Arab Emirates (29) led the way with a respective 3 and amazing 16 jump up in the ranking powered by AAA ratings.
Decreased tourism opportunities were visible in several performances. Egypt (31) noticeably suffered from the downturn in the industry, while Saudi Arabia also dropped. Notably, the study established several African countries making slow but steady improvements, with Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia as countries to watch. This indicates both shifting tourist interests and the general economic potential for the continent.
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Tourism Edition
2012
Classification, References and Sources

Additional information about the study
Bloom Consulting divided the world into eleven geographic sectors and the four economic development stages in order to maintain the singularity of the region and compare countries in a regional context. Bloom Consulting Geographic Regions 1. Central and Southern Asia 2. Europe 3. Northern Africa 4. Oceania 5. Central and Middle Africa 6. Central America and Caribbean 7. South America 8. Middle East 9. Western and Southern Africa 10. Northern America 11. Eastern and South-Eastern Asia The four World Bank Income levels 12. Low Income 13. Lower Middle Income 14. Upper Middle Income 15. High Income (Includes both OECD and non-OECD) Further sources for countries income level classifications and geographic regions: The World Bank http://www.worldbank.org/ The World Tourism Organization http://www2.unwto.org/en The United Nations http://www.un.org/en/
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2012

FAQs
1) Who is this Ranking meant for? Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking is for anyone interested in place branding from every perspective, whether youre in government, academia, industry, finance, or just find it interesting. 2) Why did Bloom Consulting create a Ranking? Bloom Consulting created the Ranking to evaluate the impact of a countrys brand strategy in economic terms and, above all, to answer the ever relevant question of how countries can become more attractive. 3) How does Bloom Consultings Ranking differ from other rankings? Bloom Consultings Ranking uses variables and methodology to generate a ranking far ahead of the field in terms of objectivity and innovation. Not only does Bloom Consulting base its research on objective hard and soft facts, rather than using survey based data like other rankings, it is also the first ranking to take tourist demand into account. 4) What is new in the 2012 edition of the Ranking? The 2012 edition of the Ranking features the inclusion of Tourist Online Search Demand (OSD) in the Bloom Algorithm. By analysing consumer behaviour and the effectiveness of country brand strategies, the newest Ranking raises the bar by giving a pioneering view of the global tourism industry from a supply and demand angle. 5) How can a state have a poor CBS Rating , but do well in the Ranking? If a country has a negative CBS Rating , its brand strategy is not actively reflecting what the country has to offer (in the eyes of tourist-demand). Even though its economic performance might still be strong, the tourism strategy is not taking advantage of the countrys unique selling propositions.
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Tourism Edition
2012
Bloom Consulting
About
Bloom Consulting is a strategy consulting firm specialized in country branding. Jos Filipe Torres founded Bloom Consulting in 2003 and is a regular spokesperson at conferences and universities worldwide. Both The Economist and Forbes have interviewed Mr Torres, where he was identified as one of the top 3 country branding experts in the world. Currently Bloom Consulting has offices in So Paulo, Mumbai, Lisbon, Madrid (headquarters) and Los Angeles, as well as research centres in Tokyo and London. Bloom Consulting works closely with presidents, monarchs, ministers and institutions in order to define their strategy, establish their vision, and implement it. Blooms clients include the Bulgarian, Latvian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish governments, and also regions such as Madrid, Castilla y Leon in Spain, and center and the southwest regions of Portugal. Bloom Consulting has developed the 3T approach that separates Trade, Tourism, and Talent strategies into three different Country Branding Strategies. One fundamental point of all of Bloom Consultings projects is the CAMPRO methodology . This methodology is a combination of academic and professional knowledge under Bloom Consultings management and control, key to obtaining the most accurate recommendations and insights for all clients. Moreover Bloom Consulting has published the: Bloom Consulting US State Brand Ranking 2012 and is currently developing the: Bloom Consulting India State Brand Ranking 2013 Additional Information While this report provides a general overview, the information presented here is but a glimpse of the findings we have at your disposal. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like a personalized and detailed version of the Bloom Consulting Country Branding Ranking Report for your country, region or city. For more information, please visit: www.bloom-consulting.com/en/country-brands-ranking

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Development of Countries Human Asset Management Business Strategy

Country Brand Ranking

Bloom Consulting Since 2003

Development of Countries Human Asset Management Business Strategy

Country Brand Ranking