Canadians like to knock Toronto, but the rest of the world is quite fond of our nation’s biggest city. According to the latest bi-annual Anholt-GfK City Brands Index, Toronto has the eighth best brand in the world, up from 13th previously. Brand is measured by a concoction of perceived power and appeal. Toronto ranks particularly well in the three “People” categories: safety, friendliness and culture.
London took the top spot this time around, overtaking Paris, which dropped to No. 3.
1. London (2 in 2011)
2. Sydney (3)
3. Paris (1)
4. New York (4)
5. Rome (6)
6. Washington D.C. (7)
7. Los Angeles (5)
8. Toronto (13)
9. Vienna (9)
10. Melbourne (8)
As for Toronto’s number eight spot, Canadians should feel a mix of pride and resentment. The ranking is the result of interviews with 5,144 people from 10 countries, but Canada wasn’t included (while Australia, a notably smaller nation, was). On the other hand, this means Toronto was visible enough to soar into the top 10 without Canadians weighing in.
This story originally appeared in Canadian Business
