Australian Migration News

Australia’s top branded country in the world

In Futurebrand's Country Brand Index (CBI) 2008, Australia ranked number one in the world for its brand, for the third consecutive year.

The CBI surveys 2700 international business and leisure travellers about 30 different categories, including standard of living, art and culture, food, value for money, accommodation, shopping, political freedom and activities.
The award for this year's best country brand went to Australia, with Canada and America coming in at second and third. New Zealand and the United Kingdom came in at seventh and third places respectively.

The poll also showed that business travellers are more likely to extend their stay in Australia more than any other country in the world for holiday purposes (New Zealand came in second). Business travellers in Australia can apply for an Australian short-stay business visa, which allows them to visit Australia for business purposes for up to three months to conduct business. It works in the same way as an Australia holiday visa, or ETA, and is only available for nationals from countries participating in the Australian ETA programme.

According to The Age, Tim Harcourt, senior economist at Austrade, said Australians should be reassured that Australia's brand and tourism economy remained globally competitive during these times of economic crisis.

"Australian exporters and investors can, and should, take advantage of our strong brand in the marketplace and not just leave it to the tourism and travel sector to do all the heavy lifting," he said.

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