A new survey of international respondents reveals Britain's image as a tourist destination has improved following last year's Olympics and Paralympics.

The Nations Brands Index (NBI) research rated 50 of the world's leading nations around six core categories, and was carried out in July 2012, before London 2012, and again once they had finished.

Its purpose was to reveal how the international image of a nation can change before and after a sporting event.

Britain's rating as a welcoming country jumped three spots from 12th to ninth place following the Games.

Overall the UK was ranked among the top 10 tourist destinations by 14 of the 15 panel countries, and nine - including key source markets like the US, China, Japan, Russia and India - put the UK in the top three post-Games.

Sixty-three per cent of those surveyed said the Olympics had increased their interest in visiting for a holiday, 75 per cent who saw coverage agreed they wanted to see more than London and 73 per cent agreed Britain offered outstanding venues for watching live sport.

VisitBritain chief executive Sandie Dawe said their goal had been to maintain rankings in culture and heritage, and improve in areas such as making visitors feel welcome.

"With our partners we have taken every opportunity to promote Britain to overseas audiences through our GREAT marketing campaign, our digital activity on Facebook and Twitter and by inviting foreign travel journalists to write about Britain," she said.

The campaign was mounted by VisitBritain together with UKTI, British Council and FCO.