Ireland’s reputation around the world is on the rise with it now considered the 11th most reputable country, according to an online poll.
The ever growing Irish tourism industry is one of the many factors that is having a positive effect on the world’s opinion of Ireland.
The poll was carried out by The Country Reptrak. They surveyed 48,000 consumers across the G8, about 55 of the major countries in the world.
2015 Country Reptrak
1. Canada
2. Norway
3. Sweden
4. Switzerland
5. Australia
6. Finland
7. New Zealand
8. Denmark
9. Netherlands
10. Belgium
11. Ireland
12. Austria
13. UK
14. Italy
15. Germany
16. Japan
17. Spain
18. Portugal
19. France
20. Singapore
The survey consisted of a series of questions about each of the countries concerned. Numerous factors such as the happiness of the citizens, the corruption of the governments, recognisable global brands and whether or not a country was at peace were all taken into account to generate an overall score.
Irish people were voted the ninth “most friendly and welcoming”, whilst the “beauty of the country” came sixth, three places up from last year.
Ireland came tenth in the list of countries people would “most like to visit”.
The overall placing of 11th is Ireland’s highest since 2009, and is further evidence that the country is back on the rise following years of recession.
Niamh Boyle of the Reputations Agency commented on the survey: “An increasingly globalised world with intensified competition makes country reputation matter more than ever,”
“Attracting tourists, FDI and high-skilled workforce, improving international diplomacy, and being able to sell Irish products abroad, are all facilitated by having a strong country reputation.
“The G8 countries are important trading partners and sources of revenue for Ireland, so improving our reputation scores amongst these nations is great news for Ireland’s economy.”
As well as the growing tourism industry, Ireland has also become a technical hub of Europe for many global companies. The presence of internet giants Google and Facebook, as well as tech leader Apple, in Ireland has encouraged many young Irish people to go into training and improve their skills, and also attracted some of the world’s top talent.
Elsewhere in global reputations, Canada reclaimed the number one spot from Sweden meaning it has finished top in four of the last five years. Some of the top movers were Ireland, Belgium, Colombia, Egypt, India and China. The USA finished outside the top 20 in 22nd.
Iraq was placed last of the 55 countries featured, with Ukraine, Qatar, Russia and South Africa some of biggest fallers from last year.
