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Canada world's No. 3 tourism draw
Culture needs work
Published: Wednesday, April 26, 2006
TORONTO - Canada is the third- most-desirable place on the planet to visit and would rank higher for tourism were it not for the unfortunate image of its cultural heritage, according to a recent global study by image expert Simon Anholt, author of Brand America.
Mr. Anholt, who is based in the United Kingdom, is also the developer of the Nation Brand Index, a global rating of the image of 35 countries based on surveys of 25,900 consumers around the world.
"The image of Canada is almost spookily positive," said Mr. Anholt, who presented his findings at Rendez-Vous Canada, a major Canadian tourism industry event on this week in Toronto. He said Canada's results were positive in every category except for one: When it comes to cultural heritage, Canada scores "scandalously bad."
"Apart from that, everything else was so high you begin to get suspicious. Canada is viewed as a paradise on Earth," Mr. Anholt said in an interview. He was the keynote speaker at a luncheon yesterday. Mr. Anholt's branding clients have included the governments of the U.K., Croatia, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United States, as well as the World Bank and the United Nations.
Canada's overall image ranking of third -- behind the United Kingdom and Switzerland -- is a major improvement from the last survey in 2005, when it scored in ninth place. The United States has also had a reversal of fortune on the Nation Brand Index. It scored in third place on the last index, and 10th this time.
The Nation Brand Index surveys people on six key areas: exports, governance, investment and immigration, culture and heritage, people and tourism.
Canada ranked as the number one nation for the image of its people. Consumers responded to such questions as: "I would like to have a person from this country as a close friend."
When it comes to natural beauty, Canada came in third, behind New Zealand and Australia. Canada also scored in the top three in areas such as human rights, fair government and immigration.
The strongest word associations for Canada were: trustworthy, honest, modern, competent and hard-working. And high technology is the main product association with Canada.
However, when it comes to overall culture, Canada ranked 15th out of 35 countries. When asked the cultural products and services most often associated with Canada, the top six responses were: sports (22.2%), films (18.2%), museums (17.1%), pop videos (16.3%), classical sculpture (8.7%) and the circus (6.5%). Canada's cultural ranking improved somewhat -- to 10th spot -- in the recognition of its pop-culture.
Mr. Anholt explained that Canada's dismal showing in the area of cultural heritage -- "it doesn't have coliseums or pyramids -- skewed its overall tourism ranking to seventh place. "If you excluded this, Canada would rank third overall for tourism," he said.
Yet, when asked the question "If money were no object, where would you go?" Canada came in third, behind Australia and Italy. "Canada was just a hair's breadth from fantastic results," Mr. Anholt said.
dstokes@nationalpost.com
© National Post 2006
Culture needs work
Published: Wednesday, April 26, 2006
TORONTO - Canada is the third- most-desirable place on the planet to visit and would rank higher for tourism were it not for the unfortunate image of its cultural heritage, according to a recent global study by image expert Simon Anholt, author of Brand America.
Mr. Anholt, who is based in the United Kingdom, is also the developer of the Nation Brand Index, a global rating of the image of 35 countries based on surveys of 25,900 consumers around the world.
"The image of Canada is almost spookily positive," said Mr. Anholt, who presented his findings at Rendez-Vous Canada, a major Canadian tourism industry event on this week in Toronto. He said Canada's results were positive in every category except for one: When it comes to cultural heritage, Canada scores "scandalously bad."
"Apart from that, everything else was so high you begin to get suspicious. Canada is viewed as a paradise on Earth," Mr. Anholt said in an interview. He was the keynote speaker at a luncheon yesterday. Mr. Anholt's branding clients have included the governments of the U.K., Croatia, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United States, as well as the World Bank and the United Nations.
Canada's overall image ranking of third -- behind the United Kingdom and Switzerland -- is a major improvement from the last survey in 2005, when it scored in ninth place. The United States has also had a reversal of fortune on the Nation Brand Index. It scored in third place on the last index, and 10th this time.
The Nation Brand Index surveys people on six key areas: exports, governance, investment and immigration, culture and heritage, people and tourism.
Canada ranked as the number one nation for the image of its people. Consumers responded to such questions as: "I would like to have a person from this country as a close friend."
When it comes to natural beauty, Canada came in third, behind New Zealand and Australia. Canada also scored in the top three in areas such as human rights, fair government and immigration.
The strongest word associations for Canada were: trustworthy, honest, modern, competent and hard-working. And high technology is the main product association with Canada.
However, when it comes to overall culture, Canada ranked 15th out of 35 countries. When asked the cultural products and services most often associated with Canada, the top six responses were: sports (22.2%), films (18.2%), museums (17.1%), pop videos (16.3%), classical sculpture (8.7%) and the circus (6.5%). Canada's cultural ranking improved somewhat -- to 10th spot -- in the recognition of its pop-culture.
Mr. Anholt explained that Canada's dismal showing in the area of cultural heritage -- "it doesn't have coliseums or pyramids -- skewed its overall tourism ranking to seventh place. "If you excluded this, Canada would rank third overall for tourism," he said.
Yet, when asked the question "If money were no object, where would you go?" Canada came in third, behind Australia and Italy. "Canada was just a hair's breadth from fantastic results," Mr. Anholt said.
dstokes@nationalpost.com
© National Post 2006
