Are countries with a strong brand also successful meeting destinations?

In the meetings industry we often talk about successful meeting destinations. The reason why one country is more successful than another one, is not always clear. Not a lot of scientific research on this matter is available in our trade. Yet I know someone who can lead us the way.
His name is government advisor Simon Anholt (see photo). He is the one who formulates an answer to the question: How do 25.000 consumers worldwide perceive 40 countries - which are mostly countries where there’s also a strong (or less strong) meetings industry. The quarterly published Anholt Nation Brands Index (NBI) - there also exists an Anholt City Brands Index, you could read all about that in HeadQuarters Magazine (Meeting Trends Nr. 19) - is an analytical ranking in which countries are rated on the basis of six dimensions, which is a much broader view than merely from a meetings industry perspective, namely: exports, governance, investment and immigration, culture and heritage, people, and tourism. The latest data, for example, show that the Netherlands is in the top ten of countries with a strong brand. Coincidence or not, the Netherlands is ranked 10th in the ICCA ranking as well, although it lost four places there. You can find detailed NBI results from page 12 onwards in the latest edition of HeadQuarters Magazine (nr. 21)!
Sorry, Barbara Jamison (see photo) of Visit London, I forgot to mention that the UK is the number one country and London the number two city in the respective Anholt Indexes. Give credit where credit is due! And what did I notice? The UK comes third in the latest ICCA stats and London is in 11th place. Now I really wonder if there could be a correlation between the Anholt and the ICCA results. In other words, is a country with a strong brand also a strong congress nation?
I'm a bit jealous of the people attending the AIPC Annual Conference in Graz, because Simon will be there. Congratulations to Marianne de Raay of AIPC because she was able to attract Simon Anholt as unique keynote speaker and discussion leader! I couldn't agree more when she says: ‘this promises to be a most informative and productive session!’ Maybe Simon will give the answer to my question, so my blog readers don't have to rack their brains over my complicated, yet - to my humble opinion - most interesting question.
As always, open for comments…