Paris Continues its Reign as Highest-Rated City - GfK Data

Nuremberg, Germany (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Sydney knocks New York off 3rd place, while Melbourne jumps from
9th to 7th
- Tokyo records greatest score gain of all 50 cities

The latest Anholt-GfK City Brands IndexSM (CBISM) reveals that
Paris retains its position at the top. For the fourth time since the
survey began, the global public regards Paris as the highest rated
out of 50 cities. Australian cities also show improvement: Sydney
overtakes New York (4th) to earn a spot back in the top three and
Melbourne jumps to 7th place, surpassing Amsterdam (8th) and Berlin
(10th). These are some of the findings from CBISM, a biennial study
conducted in September and October of 2017.

Score change
2017 rank City 2015 rank 2017 vs. 2015
1 Paris 1 +0.51
2 London 2 +0.52
3 Sydney 4 +0.97
4 New York 3 +0.67
5 Los Angeles 5 +0.91
6 Rome 6 +0.65
7 Melbourne 9 +1.64
8 Amsterdam 8 +1.36
9 San Francisco n/a +n/a
10 Berlin 7 +0.75
CBI[SM] scores range from 1-100. Score changes: small:
+/-0.26-0.50;
medium: +/-0.51-1.00; large: > +/-1.00

The study evaluates the power and appeal of each city's image,
providing a holistic and detailed perspective based on six key
dimensions:

- Presence (the city's international status and standing)

- Place (its physical outdoors aspect and transport)

- Prerequisites (basic requirements, such as affordable
accommodations and the standard of public amenities)

- People (friendliness, cultural diversity, how safe one feels)

- Pulse (interesting things to do)

- Potential (the economic and educational opportunities
available).

CBISM also demonstrates the precariousness of cities resting on
their nation's brand. A number of cities underperform their nation's
standing as established in this year's Nation Brands IndexSM. Berlin
is a prime example, just managing to hold onto a spot within the
top-tier of cities. "This might be surprising given that Germany as a
country took 1st place in the 2017 Nation Brands Index rankings and
boasted the most balanced image of all nations surveyed", Vadim
Volos, senior vice president of Social and Strategic Research and
head of CBISM at GfK, comments. "This shows that cities cannot rest
on their nation's brand, they must cultivate their own unique images
as well. "

Western cities tend to dominate the top half of cities, and in
previous years, Western cities benefitted noticeably more than
Eastern cities in the global public's estimations. 2017 shows a
change in fortunes with marked improvement for many that is not
constrained by region or developmental stage. For example, Tokyo is
one of only a handful of non-Western cities that resides within the
top half of cities. After experiencing a score decline in 2013, Tokyo
has rebuilt and grown its image in the two consecutive CBISM studies.
Tokyo enjoys the greatest score gain of any city (+1.79) in 2017's
CBISM to draw to a tie for 11th position with Vancouver, surpassing
Madrid, Barcelona, Washington D.C., Toronto, and Vienna.

Looking at CBISM's Middle Eastern and African regions, Dubai is
the only city within this region measured that does not rest within
the bottom tier of cities. Dubai falls narrowly outside the top half
(27th), with its Presence (15th) and Place (16th) rankings anchoring
and propelling its image. Though Dubai is the city within the region
with the best reputation, Durban wins the award for most improved
(+1.51), which allows it to surpass Cairo.

For more information on CBISM 2017, please contact Vadim Volos at
Vadim.Volos@gfk.com .

About the study

The Anholt-GfK CBISM is run once every two years and measures the
image of 50 cities with respect to Presence, Place, Prerequisites,
People, Pulse, and Potential. For the 2017 study, 5,057 interviews
were conducted across 10 countries (Australia, Brazil, China, France,
Germany, India, Russia, South Korea, UK, and USA), with at least 500
interviews per country. Adults aged 18 or over were interviewed
online in each country. Using the most up-to-date online population
parameters, the achieved sample in each country is weighted to
reflect key demographic characteristics including age, gender, and
education of the online population in that country. Fieldwork was
conducted from 20 September to 3 October 2017.

The 50 cities ranked in the survey are as follows:

Western Europe: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Basel, Berlin, Brussels,
Dublin, Edinburgh, Geneva, London, Madrid, Munich, Paris, Rome,
Stockholm

Central/Eastern Europe: Istanbul, Moscow, Prague, Vienna, Warsaw

Asia Pacific: Auckland, Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta*,
Melbourne, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo

North America: Boston*, Chicago, Dallas Fort Worth, Los Angeles,
New York, San Francisco*, Toronto, Vancouver*, Washington D.C.

Latin America: Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago
de Chile*

Middle East/Africa: Cairo, Cape Town, Doha, Dubai, Durban,
Johannesburg

*Cities new to the CBISM 2017 are denoted with an asterisk.

About Simon Anholt

Simon Anholt is recognized as the world's leading authority on
national image and identity. Professor Anholt was Vice-Chair of the
UK Government's Public Diplomacy Board, and works as an independent
policy advisor to the Heads of State and Heads of Government of more
than 50 other countries. Anholt developed the concept of the Nation
Brands IndexSM and the City Brands IndexSM in 2005.

About GfK

GfK connects data and science. Innovative research solutions
provide answers for key business questions around consumers, markets,
brands and media - now and in the future. As a research and analytics
partner, GfK promises its clients all over the world "Growth from
Knowledge". For more information, please visit http://www.gfk.com or
follow GfK on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GfK .

ots Originaltext: GfK SE
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Contact:
Corina Kirchner
Public Relations
T: +49-911-395- 4440
public.relations@gfk.com

Original-Content von: GfK SE, übermittelt durch news aktuell