Italy is top of a new ranking for overall reputation as a European tourist destination but it needs to improve on its institutional use of social media, the market research company Demoskopika said on Saturday. Italy comes top of the new European Tourism Reputation Index at 109.1 points, followed by Spain at 105.3 points and Germany at 101.6 points.

The country ranks first in three out of five indicators used by Demoskopika to draw up the table, namely online research destination, popularity and Tripadvisor confidence, and second in its evaluation of the accommodation system. However, it drops to 5th place in the ranking for social reputation behind Spain, Portugal, Greece and Germany, due to the alleged inadequate use of social media by the Italian national tourist board ENIT.