USA's brand drops a spot, study says

— -- The USA ranked No. 3 out of 10 countries with the best brand reputations, a notch lower than last year and behind Australia and Canada, in the fourth annual Country Brand Index study authored by global brand consulting firm FutureBrand. The report attributes the decline to anti-U.S. sentiment, such as growing dislike of the Bush administration's foreign policy.

Despite year-over-year declines in several specific categories and poor showings in others, the USA has the highest percentage (40%) of travelers who'd consider visiting it and the highest percentage (53%) who ultimately went, the report says.

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The report identified China, the United Arab Emirates and Croatia as the top three nations likely to become major tourist destinations by 2013.