Rome ranked among the world's top 10 most attractive cities, according to an annual list drafted by the Reputation Institute which was published on Friday.
The international research and advisory firm for reputation also listed Venice as the 12th and Milan as the 21st most attractive cities worldwide.
The research, which was seen by ANSA, is based on interviews to 22,000 citizens from G8 countries who are asked to evaluate government effectiveness, local attractions (mainly from a touristic perspective) and economic development.
Rome ranked eighth in 2016.
Sydney conquered the top spot, followed by Vienna, Zurich, Toronto, Stockholm, Edinburgh and Montreal. In the category concerning local attractions and sites, the Italian capital ranked at the top of the list, followed by Vienna, Paris, New York, Barcelona and Venice while Milan was in 12th position.
However, when the parameter of government effectiveness was considered, Rome ranked in 26th position while Milan was 30th.
Milan ranked ahead of any Italian city in terms of economic development - although only in 28th position.
Tokyo was at the top of this category, followed by New York.
The director of the Italian chapter of the Reputation Institute, Fabio Venturozzo, said that ''different factors influence the perception of citizens when they evaluate a city'', listing as the most important tourist attraction (12%), security (11.5%) and respected leaders (8.5%).
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