The Country Brand Index identified the United Arab Emirates (UAE), China and Croatia, respectively, as the top three ‘rising stars’ in the tourism arena.

The UAE along with the other two are poised to be top tourist destinations in the next five years.

Rina Plapler, senior executive director of FutureBrand said: “In our fourth year, it is exciting to see many countries embracing the idea of brand. However, we still feel this is a largely underdeveloped category with most countries continuing to promote and market themselves in ways that are not differentiated.”

Meanwhile, Australia earns the coveted spot as the world’s top country brand for the third consecutive year, according to the 2008 Country Brand Index (CBI) which was released at London’s World Travel Market, the premier annual exhibition of the global travel trade. Also making the list this year are Vietnam, India and Cuba.