Statistics and Tourism Satellite Account Dr. Oliver Herrmann Director, Statistics and the TSA World Tourism Organization

About why tourism has to be measured Can managers in public (and private) administration disregard the (economic) importance of tourism? Understanding tourism is not straightforward: need to go beyond physical flows of visitors or accommodation data Reasons: Tourism expenditure and relations to economic growth and jobs Tourism as an economic sector: establishments produce goods and services supplied to visitors Significant contributor to environmental, economic, and social changes Understanding the importance of having to measure tourism are: NSOs, Central Banks and international trade negotiators, NTAs

UNWTO’s role in tourism statistics 1. Striving for international comparability, through development of standards 2. Securing international comparability through the implementation of standards, compilation of international data and indicators, 3. Dissemination, encouraging analysis and use by tourism stakeholders 4. Direct support to countries : Capacity Building and technical assistance Statistics is more than numbers: it is a process

Setting the scene Tourism : a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment  for personal or business/professional purposes  activity of visitors (both tourists and excursionists ) Until recently, the absence of standards led people to develop their own concepts, definitions, classifications: comparison not possible… 1.in order to be comparable between countries and over time, the measurement of tourism, like that of other (economic) activities required an international consensus (to be meaningful and realistically applicable across countries) – This meant agreeing on concepts, definitions and classifications 2.In order to be credible as an economic phenomenon and comparable to other economic sectors and industries, tourism needed a link to standard economic measurement (i.e. System of National Accounts) – This meant setting up a Satellite Account framework for tourism

Methodology: the 2008 international consensus Tourism as an economic sector (i.e. GDP, etc.) supported by all UN countries and ILO, IMF, World Bank, WTO, European Commission IRTS 2008: concepts, definitions, classifications for basic tourism statistics TSA: RMF 2008: framework for the economic measurement of tourism consistent with SNA, BoP System of Tourism Statistics Credible, comparable statistics

UNWTO develops guidelines to implement UNWTO develops guidelines to implement these international standards Compilation guide on tourism statistics, adopted by the UN Statistical Commission in 2014 Available as unedited version “Compilation Guide”Compilation Guide Will be translated in all UN official languages

The Economic Measurement of Tourism: TSA  a framework that enables measuring tourism in the same way as “traditional” economic activities (e.g. manufacturing, agriculture)  Because tourism cuts across a range of industries, it is “hidden” in other industry activities  By linking the actual demand of visitors to the industrial activities that cater directly to them, the TSA identifies the “tourism component” in each of these industries  A statistical tool consisting of 10 tables, each representing a different aspect of tourism’s contribution to the economy :

Tourism Satellite Account: what is it? Tourism: a TSA is about tourism and only tourism. It observes the definitions of “visitor”, “trip”, “tourism” in IRTS Satellite: a TSA is satellite to a larger body, the System of National Accounts (SNA), that enables “zooming in” on tourism. It observes the concepts, definitions and relationships of SNA, so that its results are expressed in the same terms: Value Added, Gross Domestic Product, etc. Account: a TSA consists of a set of tables that record observations and counts of certain economic activities, such as values of products supplied by tourism industries, employment in these industries, and inbound visitor expenditures. TSA ≠ “model” (i.e. an approach to simulating visitor spending and deriving tourism receipts and employment over various industries) TSA produces measurements of the direct economic contribution, models can use TSA data to derive indirect, induced effects

Guidelines for implementation IRTS 2008 Compilation Guide: Practical guidance and country examples to strengthen quality and international comparability  National compilers, international experts, and international/regional organisations under UNWTO-UNSD coordination Measuring employment in the tourism industries: Guide with best practices: enhance the production of reliable, consistent, comprehensive and internationally comparable statistics on employment  ILO/UNWTO and 8 leading countries For who? All involved in compilation: NSOs, NTAs, CBs and any entity that can (potentially) produce relevant information and also all users of tourism data

Tourism Database  Insight into tourism’s multiple facets 145 indicators, 203 countries  Compendium of Tourism Statistics Plus: arrivals by country of origin, 198 countries  Yearbook of Tourism Statistics  Enables analysis of: one country’s current situation; one country’s historical evolution since 1995; many countries at a point in time; many countries over time  Useful tool and reference guide for advocacy, policy design, strategy and results-based management  Inbound, domestic, outbound tourism  Tourism industries  Employment  Macroeconomic indicators  Inbound, domestic, outbound tourism  Tourism industries  Employment  Macroeconomic indicators Most comprehensive international statistical database on tourism:

-UNWTO designs methods and material to support countries in their implementation of tourism statistics -focus on a Regional Statistics Capacity-Building Programme Statistical Capacity Building Programme Baku, Azerbaijan, June 2013

Statistical Capacity Building Programme  (Sub-)Regional to optimize resources and enhance learning amongst countries with important commonalities  CIS countries and Georgia ( ), Asia-Pacific ( ), Africa - Anglophone ( ), Europe ( )  Objectives:  promoting international standards, comparability  fostering the necessary inter-institutional collaboration  enhancing capacity of country experts to understand current state of the System of Tourism Statistics and design way forward for its development

 A series of 3-4 technical Workshops hosted by a hub country (considered to be the most advanced in terms of the development of tourism statistics, or the most committed to this end) over the span of approx. 2 years. Each lasts 2-4 days.  Regional Seminar, held at the end and back-to-back to the final workshop, aimed at: sharing experience and knowledge with other countries in the region Showcasing the progress made to non-technician stakeholders: policy-makers, donors, private sector Approach

Advancing the methodological framework Issue Paper Series  The use of statistics to evaluate tourism policy  The Economic Impact of Tourism – Overview and Examples of Macroeconomic Analysis  Regional Tourism Satellite Account  Governance for the Tourism Sector and its measurement for the development of Tourism Information Systems Towards the development of the sub-national measurement and analysis of tourism  In collaboration with INRouTe (  A closer look at tourism: Subnational measurement and analysis - Towards a set of UNWTO Guidelines.

New Zealand’s TSA International tourism expenditure $10.3 billion Domestic tourism expenditure $13.4 billion Direct contribution to GDP of $8.3 billion Tourism industry directly employed 94,100 full-time equivalents (FTEs)

TSA: Governance Tourism Satellite Account: Governance Compiled under United Nations World Tourism Organisation framework Developed and published by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) Funded by MBIE under Vote Tourism Memorandum of Understanding between SNZ and MBIE formalises relationship and requirements for production of TSA Funding Provision of demand-side estimates of expenditure Consultation on methodological issues and developments

TSA: Governance Tourism Satellite Account: Governance Compiled under United Nations World Tourism Organisation framework Developed and published by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) Funded by MBIE under Vote Tourism Memorandum of Understanding between SNZ and MBIE formalises relationship and requirements for production of TSA Funding Provision of demand-side estimates of expenditure Consultation on methodological issues and developments

Recent changes in the methodology Production of TSA requires demand-size estimates of tourism expenditure MBIE contributes via International Visitor Survey and Domestic Travel Survey Tourism Data Domain Plan reviewed value and effectiveness of MBIE’s tourism data. Recommended: Cessation of Domestic Travel Survey Revision of International Visitors Survey Both changes impacted the Tourism Satellite Account, requiring revisions and/or methodology changes

Domestic household travel expenditure Historically used the Domestic Travel Survey (DTS) for calculating domestic household expenditure. DTS surveyed ~15,000 households per year. Reported expenditure, locations visited, activities, transport, travelling party relationships, subjective experience. Various issues identified in Tourism Data Domain Plan: Prohibitive cost (approx $NZ 400 thousand (per year) ) Heavy response burden Poor reliability Recommendation to cease collecting the DTS was actioned aŌer the June 2013 quarter.

Domestic tourism expenditure estimates New measure of domestic tourism expenditure that fit the needs of TSA as well as MBIE Little additional ongoing cost to MBIE Significant methodological improvements benefiting other measures Use of administrative data for tier-1 tourism statistic High level of satisfaction from SNZ, surpassing DTS in reliability.

Key lessons from NZ Tourism Satellite Account Statistics New Zealand is best qualified to produce the TSA given its intrinsic relationship to System of National Accounts With contributing data sourced from multiple agencies, formal agreements that clearly outline expectations are critical When change processes are in play, a collaborative approach ensures data needs continue to be met Administrative data can be used in place of more traditional measures of tourist consumption, reducing financial cost and respondent burden

Thank you