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Home is No. 1 Holiday Hotspot For AmericansNation Brands Index Q2 2006 Report: If money were no object, 60 percent of Americans choose America as their top vacation pick Seattle, WA – July 26, 2006 – Powered by global market intelligence solutions provider GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.), the latest Anholt Nation Brands Index 2006 Quarterly Report - a survey of 25,903 online consumers across 35 countries - reveals that America is the dream holiday destination of none other than Americans. Australia takes the number two slot with 51 percent of the American votes, and South Korea bottoms out as the least desired global hotspot with 30 percent. Report author and international government advisor Simon Anholt comments: “It is not the job of the NBI to answer the question why Americans have such a love affair with their homeland, but the findings do help corroborate current Travel Industry Association (TIA) data that indicates that domestic travel has been enjoying slow, but steady growth since 2001. American travelers have been opting to stay closer to home and taking shorter getaways. Reasons for this include economic, financial, job worries, perceived high prices, lack of time and terrorism still tainting the air. The NBI results, coupled with airline and hotel data, should help the domestic travel and leisure industries recognize the opportunity.” The Family Travels Forum consulting division (FTFc) underlines the closer-to-home trend further, showing that American spending on travel abroad has fallen 6% since 2001, helping to add nearly $6 billion to what the Commerce Department views as “the already favorable U.S. travel and tourism balance of trade.” According to other data in this NBI Report, U.S. citizens also ranked their country the number one beauty spot in the world group (47%), followed closely by New Zealand (45%). Less surprisingly, the U.S. voted itself top in contemporary culture (36%). It may have been the dream destination runner-up, but Australia did top the hospitality charts with 27 percent of U.S. respondents believing they would be most welcomed by those down under and least embraced by the French (15%). Despite the low hospitality score, France is the third most visited country (18%) by the U.S. behind neighboring countries Canada (44%) and Mexico (39%). When asked to rank the 35 countries according to a series of provided descriptors, American respondents believe Italy is the most romantic (37%), Australia the most exciting (46%), and Poland and Estonia were jointly voted the most boring (20%). Canada was described as predictable (33%), which is perhaps its very charm as a top vacation destination.Asia was a mixed bag of emotions for the Americans, with Japan ranking as the most fascinating country (38%), South Korea the most risky, and India as the most depressing (13%) and unpleasant (9.6%) destination on the charts. The 35 countries polled for this study were: Argentina • Australia • Belgium • Brazil • Canada • China • Czech Republic • Denmark • Egypt • Estonia • France • Germany • Hungary • India • Indonesia • Ireland • Italy • Japan • Malaysia • Mexico • Netherlands • New Zealand • Norway • Poland • Portugal • Russia • Singapore • South Africa • South Korea • Spain • Sweden • Switzerland • Turkey • UK • U.S. About the Anholt Nation Brands Index The Q2 2006 Anholt Nation Brands Index was conducted between May 18th and June 4th, 2006 on the GMIPoll platform (www.gmipoll.com), which provides integrated solutions for global market intelligence. A 200-1,000 representative sample based on age, gender, and where applicable, geographical region, race and ethnicity, was collected in each of 35 countries. For further information about the Anholt Nation Brands Index methodology, please contact GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) at http://www.gmi-mr.com/contact/ or visit www.nationbrandindex.com. About Simon Anholt About GMI GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) is the only company that provides comprehensive integrated solutions for global market intelligence for both market research firms and corporate market research departments at Global 2000 companies. Solutions include Net-MR, a suite of software tools to manage and automate research throughout the project lifecycle, desktop analysis tools, 24/7 service bureau capabilities, and one of the world’s largest, highly profiled, double opt-in managed panels, spanning across 200 countries. In addition, GMI offers high-value, real-time enterprise feedback solutions for customer, partner and employee programs. Founded in 1999 with world headquarters in Seattle, Wash., GMI has operations on five continents. More information is available at www.gmi-mr.com or email us at http://www.gmi-mr.com/contact/. Media Contacts: Eileen Tierney / Kate Brooks |
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