Published: 14 February 2014

Zimbabwe has been ranked 18th in the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking, which focus on the appeal of countries in the fields of Tourism and Investment.

The Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking, which is in its first year, is based on a global scale research that measures, among other variables, the number of searches produced every year by potential tourists and investors about every nation.

In Africa, Zimbabwe ranks 18th in Tourism, outperforming SADC counterparts Zambia (23) and Malawi (36).

The most popular online searches were about the "historical heritage", "safari" and "natural wonders". These categories together hold half of all searches produced by potential tourists in 2013.

In trade, Zimbabwe is found in the 27th position, placed below Mozambique (10), Tanzania (11) and Botswana (14). The most popular searches by potential investors were about the "strong economy", "corruption level" and "growing economy".

In terms of methodology, the index looks at six 'dimensions' namely: attraction of investment (trade), attraction of tourism, attraction of talent, increase in pride, improvement of public diplomacy, and increase in exports According to the producers of the index, "the objective of this ranking is to classify how well each and every country is doing in terms of branding, that is, to measure how effective their brand is in the most tangible and realistic manner."
- Bloom

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