Johannesburg - South Africa's image has improved significantly after the 2010 Fifa World Cup, with more residents in the world's eight biggest economies saying they would choose to visit the country.
These findings are part of an independent study conducted by the Reputation Institute, which randomly polled residents of the Group of 8 (G8) economies and South Africa in January and August this year.
While SA's tourism reputation may have improved, the study found that G8 residents still don't view SA as an economic force.
Dominic Heil, managing director of the Reputation Insitute South Africa, said that a country's reputation is based on an emotional connection which is driven by the effectiveness of the government, efficiency of the economy and how appealing the environment is.
When the first round of research was carried out in January, South Africa was awarded a reputation ranking of 44.6 by G8 residents, which placed the country in the same category as South Korea, Israel and Venezuela.
Following the World Cup, South Africa's ranking increased to 49.11, placing it among Peru, Thailand and Mexico.
Countries that rate South Africa the highest are mostly concentrated in the European Union led by Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.
South Africa rates highly among foreigners for physical beauty, for which it scored 69.80, and as an enjoyable travel destination. It scored 40.51 for business environment.
Global brand conundrumHeil said that SA's business reputation could have scored low because South African blue-chip companies did not market their global brands as South African.
For example, SAB Miller, which is one of the biggest breweries in the world, markets its drinks under local brands in overseas regions.
"South Africa doesn't have any internationally known brand names that are associated with the country," said Heil.
However, the JSE's Noah Greenhill said South Africa was still an economic force to be reckoned with, especially among other emerging economies.
"R160bn has been in and out of South Africa the past few years - that's significant," said Greenhill.
"Companies like HSBC and Walmart are interested in investing here; that means a lot," he added.
However, more South Africans have a negative perception of the country after World Cup euphoria was crushed by the public workers strike, which dragged on for nearly in a month in August.
Locals ranked South Africa's reputation at 56 in August - down drastically from 67.78 in January.
Heil said that opinion of the effectiveness of the government took a "big beating".
"The public servants' strike demolished us," he said.
- Fin24.com