Tourism campaigns featuring bikini-clad models and images of the outback as in the new epic movie "Australia" have helped Australia win the title of world's top country brand for the third consecutive year.

An annual country branding index designed to track travel trends and pinpoint opportunities for tourism had Canada rising to second place in the list of countries with the best brand reputations after coming sixth last year.

The United States slipped one place to be ranked third in the index compiled from a survey of 2,700 travelers from nine countries by brand consultancy FutureBrand and public relations firm Weber Shandwick.

Other countries to make the top 10 in the fourth annual Country Brand Index (CBI) were Italy, Switzerland, France, New Zealand, Britain, Japan and Sweden.

The index identified China, the United Arab Emirates and Croatia as the top three "rising stars" - those likely to become major tourist destinations in the next five years.

FutureBrand's senior executive director Rina Plapler said some countries were now taking on board the idea of brand but this was still a largely underdeveloped category with most countries not using marketing to differentiate themselves.

"Particularly in the coming years, country brands must improve both their strategic orientation as well as their delivery," she said in a statement, referring to tougher times ahead for the travel industry.

Australia has just launched a global tourism campaign pitching itself as a place to "find yourself" aligned with the outback movie "Australia" released this month starring Nicole Kidman, focusing on the beauty of the country's vast landscape.

Tourism numbers to Australia dropped 4.7 percent last year as the country relied on a failed campaign starring a bikini-clad model asking "where the bloody hell are you?"

Although Australia came top overall, when it came to the best branded countries for arts and culture the list was led by Italy, France and Egypt.

The best country brands for doing business were named as the United States, Germany, Britain, France and Italy.

When it came to nightlife the leaders in branding were Japan, Brazil and Spain, for fine dining the winners were Italy, France and Japan, and for shopping, it was hard to beat the United States, United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

But when it came to the country where travelers would most like to live in, Australia came first followed by New Zealand, Canada, and Switzerland.

The survey also identified various travel trends including women traveling more and without men, affluent retirees traveling with their grandchildren, and more people visiting places or species that are seen as endangered or in some form of time-related environmental risk.

最新上映的史诗电影《澳洲》向人们展示了澳大利亚迷人的比基尼女郎和北部大地的原始风情，而以此为主题的旅游推广活动则帮助澳大利亚连续第三年摘得全球“最佳品牌国家”桂冠。

这项一年一度的“国家品牌指数”榜旨在追踪全球旅游业的新兴趋势及开发旅游业发展机遇。在今年的最佳品牌国家榜上，加拿大从从去年的第六位升至第二位。

美国下滑一位，名列第三。这份榜单由FutureBrand品牌顾问公司和万博宣伟公关公司根据对九个国家的2700名游客的一项调查编撰而成。

今年是“国家品牌指数”（Country Brand Index, CBI）发布的第四年。跻身今年排行榜前十名的国家还包括意大利、瑞士、法国、新西兰、英国、日本和瑞典。

中国、阿联酋和克罗地亚被评为三大旅游“未来之星”，有望于五年后发展为世界主要旅游目的地。

FutureBrand的执行董事里纳•普拉普勒说，一些国家已认同并树立了品牌观念，但目前这一领域仍待开发，多数国家没有进行市场推广来突出自己的特色。

她在说及经济衰退形势下旅游业的发展时指出：“特别是今后几年，国家品牌必须进一步完善其战略定位和产品。”

澳大利亚最近启动了一项面向全球的旅游推广计划，该计划将澳大利亚定位为一个“让你找到自己”的地方。为配合该活动，由妮可•基德曼主演的影片《澳洲》于本月上映，该片向人们展示了澳大利亚广袤原始大地的美丽风情。

去年澳大利亚的入境游人数下降了4.7%，这都是去年旅游宣传片中的一句广告词惹的祸，片中的比基尼女郎问道：“该死的，你在哪？（Where the bloody hell are you?） ”。

澳大利亚的综合排名位列第一，但艺术和文化榜的前三甲则为意大利、法国和埃及占据。

美国、德国、英国、法国和意大利名列最佳经商品牌国前五位。

日本、巴西和西班牙名列最佳“夜生活”国家前列；意大利、法国和日本占据最佳美食榜前三位；此外，美国、阿联酋和新加坡被认为是最佳购物目的地。

澳大利亚还是旅游者最希望居住的国家，新西兰、加拿大和瑞士位列其后。

该调查还发现了目前兴起的多种旅游新趋势，其中包括女性游兴起，没有男士陪伴的旅行增多；退休老人和孙辈的“隔代游”越来越多；此外，观赏濒危物种和游览因环境关系可能会永久消失的目的地的濒危游也越来越流行。

Vocabulary:

outback:指澳大利亚等偏僻而人口稀少的地方，尤指北部大地

take on board:understand and accept（认可；接受）