Saffron, the global brand consultants behind Meta, YouTube, and city brands such as Vienna and London, releases its first tourism ‘City Brand Barometer’ post-pandemic.

  • Abu Dhabi signals the rise of Middle Eastern city brands, leaping from a 2020 One to Watch to a Top 20 Challenger. Dubai remains strong in the Top 10. 
  • Riyadh and Jeddah debut with promising city brand assets.

Madrid, November 10 2022 – Saffron Brand Consultants has launched the City Tourism Brand Barometer 2022, a proprietary biannual study that measures which cities from around the world have the strongest brands to attract international tourism. 

 

 

After the Business edition in 2021, the 2022 City Brand Barometer analyses the highly competitive post-pandemic landscape, and 104 of the most relevant cities to the global tourism industry. To define the strength of each city’s ‘tourism brand’ Saffron assessed their ‘buzz,’ or the perception of each city, and combined it with their ‘assets’ such as weather, cost, number of attractions, overall infrastructure and development. Breakout lists highlighted include the Top Ten, the Challengers, the Underperformers and the Ones to Watch. 

In this latest report, Tokyo (#1) surpasses London (#2) and Paris (#3) for the first time to be ranked the strongest global tourism brand. Likewise, buzz-strong Abu Dhabi (#13) has solidified its assets score to ascend from a 2020 One to Watch to a Top 20 Challenger. Dubai maintains its position (#6) in the Top 10. Saudi Arabian cities Riyadh and Jeddah debut on the City Brand Barometer as Underperformers with weak buzz but strong assets. The rise of each of these Middle Eastern city brands is explored in the report’s featured case studies. 

Alfredo Fraile, Chief Business Development Officer at Saffron, commented: “The Abu Dhabi city brand could continue its ascent with a higher buzz score. By solidifying its place in the global league of cultural capitals, the Abu Dhabi city brand could soon overtake Dubai.” Fraile also observed, “The debut of the Saudi cities should not be underestimated. The Kingdom is doing a huge amount to attract tourism, and Riyadh and Jeddah as cities to visit and to live in are a good reflection of how Vision 2030 is changing the nation.”

The results:

 

The Top 10:

These cities represent the strongest tourism city brands globally. 

  1. Tokyo 

  2. London 

  3. Paris 

  4. New York City 

  5. Barcelona 

  6. Dubai  

  7. Singapore

  8. Amsterdam 

  9. Madrid 

  10. Rome 



The Challengers:

These are the cities with great tourism brands that look set to challenge the Top 10 in the near future.

 

11. Sydney 

12. Beijing 

13. Abu Dhabi

14. San Francisco 

15. Kyoto 

16. Berlin 

17. Vienna 

18. Jaipur 

19. Osaka 

20. Bangkok

 

The Underperformers:

These cities are in the Top 20 for assets but have an average or low buzz score. 

 

24. Fukuoka 

31. Moscow 

32. Brisbane 

34. Riyadh 

35. Seville

37. Prague 

39. Antalya  

47. Jeddah 

48. Yokohama

50. Chiang Mai 

 

The Ones to Watch:

These cities are the ones we believe will be making upward moves in our ranking in the near future due to the strength of their buzz.

 

21. Los Angeles 

22. Vancouver

33. Miami 

36. Cape Town

43. Atlanta 

44. Hong Kong 

51. Chicago 

56. Toronto 

59. Venice 

65. Las Vegas