travel

Paris named ‘most admired city’ in international index

January 19, 2016

A chimera of Notre Dame Cathedral, overlooks the French capital in Paris, France, January 14, 2016. A study conducted in September shows that Paris is the 'most admired city' for 2015. – Reuters pic, January 19, 2016.Paris has knocked London off its perch to reclaim the title of "most admired city" for 2015 in an international index that measured 50 cities across categories such as international status, people and culture.

In the 2015 edition of the Anholt-GfK City Brands Index published every two years, Paris showed one of the largest overall score gains, climbing back from its third place standing in 2013 to take the top spot.

Authors note that the study was conducted in September 2015, two months before the November terror attacks in Paris.

Despite the attacks, analysts stand behind the results, saying that while the events may have spooked a few travellers and changed their "behaviour" towards Paris, it’s unlikely that their perceptions will have changed.

"...if past experience is anything to go by, such attacks do not change people's perceptions of the city in any significant or long-lasting way," said index creator Simon Anholt in a statement.

"There may be a temporary change in people's behaviour towards Paris,  but the attacks do not affect the reasons why people might admire the city's beauty, cultural life, opportunities."

It’s also noteworthy that the city managed to take the top spot after terror attacks in January at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and Jewish supermarket Hyper Cacher.

For the index, more than 5,160 interviews were conducted in Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Russia, South Korea, the UK and the US.

A total of 50 cities were included for consideration and measured across six dimensions: their presence or international standing; place (transport and location); prerequisites (affordable accommodation, public amenities); people (friendliness, safety and cultural diversity); pulse (culture); and educational and economic potential.

Paris emerged the leader in categories such as place and pulse, while Sydney, Australia was ranked top in the category of prerequisite and people.

Conspicuously absent on the top 10 list are any Asian cities.

Here are the top 10 cities on the Anholt-GfK CBISM ranking for 2015:

1. Paris
2. London
3. New York
4. Sydney
5. Los Angeles
6. Rome
7. Berlin
8. Amsterdam
9. Melbourne
10. Washington DC. – AFP/Relaxnews, January 19, 2016.