bloom consulting country brand ranking tourism 2012

Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © Tourism Edition 2012

Bloom Consulting © Since 2003

Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy

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 country’s 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 offi-cial country brand strategies as well as soft data indicators, thereby measuring the economic impact of each country’s 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 compre-hensive, 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.

Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking ©An Introduction

[email protected] / +34 91 308 0286 (CET)Bloom Consulting © Since 2003 Page 01

TourismEdition 2012

CountryBrand Ranking © Development of Countries

Human Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy

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 country’s performance, it’s 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 infor-mation 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!

José Filipe Torres - CEO Bloom Consulting

An introductory note from the CEOWelcome


TourismEdition 2012




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 brandingthat separates each T.

T1. Attraction of TradeT2. Attraction of TourismT3. Attraction of Talent

Traditional “Umbrella” Strategy Bloom Consulting’s 3T Approach ©

This way, we’re able to calculate growth projections and calculations individually, in order to better define the objectives of an overall strategy.


Introduction to Country BrandingThe 3T approach ©

T2

T1 T3

T2 T3T1

GDP Impact

GDP Impact

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CountryBrand Ranking ©


Historical Economic Performance Strategies and economic returns do not have an immediate cause and effect relationship, there-fore Bloom Consulting looks at the country’s 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 country’s 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 country’s branding strategy. The CBS Rating © takes into account the uniqueness of each country’s 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.


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 country’s economic performance and the projections of the country’s 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

Understanding the MethodologyThe Ranking Variables

CBS Rating©

Bloom ConsultingCountry Brand

Ranking ©

Historical Economic

Performance

Economic Growth

TourismEdition 2012



* UNWTO covering the years 2006-2010.

Historical Economic Performance Strategies and economic returns do not have an immediate cause and effect relationship, there-fore Bloom Consulting looks at the country’s 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 country’s 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 country’s branding strategy. The CBS Rating © takes into account the uniqueness of each country’s 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.

Understanding the MethodologyThe Ranking Variables in more detail

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 country’s economic performance and the projections of the country’s 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


TourismEdition 2012


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, Bloom’s 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 country’s 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 country’s 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

Measuring Country Brand Strategy AccuracyThe CBS Rating ©

Score

Description

AAA Very Strong AA Strong A Slightly Strong BBB Very Good BBB

Good Slightly Good

CCC Slightly Weak CC Weak C Very Weak D Poor


Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy Tourism

Edition 2012



1. United States of America

2. Spain

3. France

4. China

5. Turkey

6. Thailand

8. Macao

9. United Kingdom

7. Germany

10. Australia

Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking ©2012 TOURISM EDITION - WORLD Ranking

AAA

AAA

A

BBB

AA

AA

BBB

AAA

BBB

AAA


Rank CBS Rating ©

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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.

14. Malaysia

19. Croatia

27. Morocco

32. Ireland

29. United Arab Emirates

20. Russian Federation

18. Canada

15. Netherlands

26. Belgium

22. Singapore

16. Mexico

30. Sweden

23. India

17. Switzerland

28. Japan

34. Poland

31. Egypt

33. South Africa

13. Hong Kong

21. Portugal

24. Greece

35. Hungary

25. Republic of Korea

11. Austria

12. Italy

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

AA

BB

BB

BB

BB

BB

AAA

AAA

AAA

AAA

AAA

BBB

BBB

BBB

BBB

BBB

Rank CBS Rating ©


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57. Cyprus

37. Indonesia

36. Czech Republic

45. Philippines

43. Norway

41. Lebanon

42. Denmark

44. New Zealand

40. Argentina

39. Finland

50. Ukraine

53. Bulgaria

60. Jordan

46. Slovenia

49. Dominican Republic

38. Saudi Arabia

47. Brazil

51. Israel

58. Luxembourg

48. Slovakia

54. Chile

55. Malta

52. Peru

59. Romania

56. Estonia

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

B

B

B

CCC

CCC

CCC

AAA

AAA

AAA

AAA

AAA

AAA

CCC

CCC

BBB

AA

AA

BB

Rank CBS Rating ©

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73. Tunisia

82. Cuba

77. Serbia

67. Uruguay

66. Viet Nam

79. Bahamas

72. Costa Rica

75. Cambodia

80. Barbados

76. Sri Lanka

64. United Republic of Tanzania

65. Ethiopia

62. Lithuania

63. Guatemala

84. Jamaica

70. Albania

78. Bahrain

71. Iran

74. Panama

61. Kenya

68. Mauritius

69. Colombia

85. Kazakhstan

81. Maldives

83. Ecuador

A

A

A

A

B

B

B

B

A

CC

BB

BB

CC

BB

AA

BBB

BBB

CCC

CCC

AAA

AAA

AAA

AAA

CCC

CCC

Rank CBS Rating ©

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91. Bosnia and Herzegovina

102. Montenegro

99. Belarus

97. Fiji

89. Pakistan

95. Ghana

88. Oman

87. Latvia

104. Honduras

98. Botswana

92. Uganda

86. Iceland

105. Trinidad and Tobago

93. Georgia

90. Venezuela

103. Nigeria

100. Namibia

101. Armenia

108. Mongolia

109. Seychelles

110. Saint Lucia

106. Zimbabwe

107. Kuwait

94. Nepal

96. El Salvador

C

A

A

B

B

B

A

A

CC

BB

BB

AA

AA

BB

BB

BB

AAA

AAA

AAA

AAA

BBB

CCC

CCC

CCC

CCC

Rank CBS Rating ©

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113. Senegal

116. Yemen

130. Grenada

125. Saint Kits and Nevis

118. Rwanda

126. Zambia

120. Madagascar

129. Nicaragua

117. Angola

119. Antigua and Barbuda

135. Cameroon

114. Belize

124. Brunei Darussalam

112. Azerbaijan

111. Kyrgyzstan

132. Sudan

122. Republic of Moldova

123. Lao’s People Democratic Republic

131. Cape Verde

121. Algeria

115. Macedonia

127. Mozambique

134. Guyana

133. Samoa

128. Bolivia

CC

CC

CC

CC

AA

BB

C

C

C

B

B

B

B

C

B

B

CCC

CCC

CCC

BBB

BBB

BBB

CCC

BBB

BBB

Rank CBS Rating ©


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148. Bangladesh

141. Suriname

136. Paraguay

147. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

145. Gambia

153. Swaziland

138. Dominica

142. Burkina Faso

159. Papua New Guinea

143. Lesotho

137. Solomon Islands

152. Tajikistan

157. Tonga

151. Comoros

155. São Tomé and Principe

154. Federated States of Micronesia

140. Togo

144. Bhutan

139. Myanmar

146. Côte d’Ivoire

149. Timor-Leste

150. Sierra Leone

161. Marshall Islands

160. Burundi

156. Djibouti

158. Kiribati

BB

CC

CC

CC

D

D

B

B

B

B

C

D

D

D

B

A

B

B

BBB

BBB

CCC

CCC

CCC

BBB

CCC

CCC

Rank CBS Rating ©

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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 suffereda three spot drop to number twenty-eight.

Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © Comments

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 respec-tive 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, Tanza-nia and Ethiopia as countries to watch. This indicates both shifting tourist interests and the general economic potential for the continent.



Edition 2012


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 suffereda three spot drop to number twenty-eight.

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 respec-tive 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, Tanza-nia and Ethiopia as countries to watch. This indicates both shifting tourist interests and the general economic potential for the continent.

Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © Comments, Continued



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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 Regions1. Central and Southern Asia2. Europe3. Northern Africa4. Oceania5. Central and Middle Africa6. Central America and Caribbean7. South America8. Middle East9. Western and Southern Africa10. Northern America11. Eastern and South-Eastern Asia

The four World Bank Income levels12. Low Income13. Lower Middle Income14. Upper Middle Income15. 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/enThe United Nations http://www.un.org/en/

Classification, References and SourcesAdditional information about the study



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1) Who is this Ranking meant for?

Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © is for anyone interested in place brandingfrom every perspective, whether you’re 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 country’s 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 Consulting’s Ranking differ from other rankings?

Bloom Consulting’s 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 country’s unique selling propositions.

Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking©FAQs



Edition 2012


Bloom Consulting is a strategy consulting firm specialized in country branding.

José Filipe Torres founded Bloom Consulting in 2003 and is a regular spokesperson at confer-ences 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 São 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. Bloom’s 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 Consulting’s projects is the CAMPRO methodology ©. This methodology is a combination of academic and professional knowledge under Bloom Consulting’s 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 buta 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

Bloom ConsultingAbout



Edition 2012


bloom consulting country brand ranking tourism 2012

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