a system of tourism statistics: scope and · pdf filesocial nature, or affect both ......

Estudios Turísticos, n.° 161-162 (2004), pp. 193-204

Instituto de Estudios TurísticosSecretaría General de Turismo

Secretaría de Estado de Turismo y Comercio

A SYSTEM OF TOURISM STATISTICS:SCOPE AND CONTENT

Antonio Massieu*

Foreword: The term "System of tourism statistics" (STS) appears, for the first time, in point 1.21 of "Introduction" to the "TourismSatellite Account (TSA): Methodological References" (1) when mentioning that apart from being a new statistical instrument, the TSA must beanalysed as "a building process to guide countries in the development of their own system of tourism statistics. the main objective being thecompletion of the TSA, which could be viewed as a synthesis of such a system".

Nevertheless, a full definition. with this or any other similar wording. does not appear in this documenl or in other documents previouslypublished by the World Tourism Organization (WTO). It must be remembered that in the "Recommendations on Tourism Statistics" (2), underSection 7 "The need for tourism statistics", it was indicated that "some countries and industries have already established a wide and diverserange of tourism data sources, with varying concepts and definitions to meet these needs. while other- countries have not yet developedsignificant stalistical systems for tourism ".

Moreover, further to the approval of these Recommendations by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC), it was stressed, inrelation to the United States of America, that the term tourism statistical system (3), as used in that study, relates to "the set of data collectionprograms that encompass all three forms of tourism to, from and within the U.S. and provide measures of visitors" volume and expenditure, aswell as the characteristics of the trips and visitors. Some of the data required for the system to be comprehensive are supplied by agencies inother countries".

This lack of definition is due to the fact that the process followed until now in relation to the development of tourism statistics is recent,and also because the corresponding development of the statistical infrastructure has not allowed in many cases to go further into the creation ofa rigorous conceptual framework in this área of statistics.

I. INTRODUCTION

The National Statistical System (NSS)encompasses a series of statistical functionsthat correspond to a group of bodies thatconduct statistical work. The coverage andextensión of these systems at any given timecan be ascribed to a series of elements, suchas:

- the organization and legal structure ofthe institutional units that producestatistics (mostly public)

the administrative mechanisms andlegally established links between theseand the Central Unit

the statutory or non-statutory nature ofcertain statistical sources andadministrative controls which genérateinformation that is Hable to be used forstatistical purposes

the human and material resourcesassigned to statistical tasks in theseproducing units.

* Chief of Statistics and Economic Measurement of Tourism. World Tourism Organization.

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The overall aim of the NSS is to provideusers with reliable, consistent and appropriatestatistical data relative to the country's socio-economic structures and developments, atdifferent territorial levéis, and which isgeared to international comparisons with theresults obtained in the different countries. Tothis end, the NSS must include, in addition toall the statistical sources existing at a giventime, other methodological and instrumentalelements that are necessary for itsdevelopment.

Both on account of its aim and content, theNSS must therefore reconcile statisticalinformation systems at the various state,infra-state and internacional levéis, throughappropriate coordination and integration, towhich end a centralizing body must be set up.

For the purposes of this taskreconciliation is taken to mean thecontrolling activity that makes it possible toensure that a particular process meets thepurpose assigned to it within the overallSystem; coordination is taken to mean thefunction that serves to balance statisticalprogrammes from the twofold standpoint ofactivities and projects, finally, integration isa function geared to ensuring the connectionand assembly of the different statisticalproducís.

From the perspective of this document, thefollowing aspects should be highlighted withregard to the integration function:instrumental elements (internationalconcepts, definitions, classifications andstandards) on the one hand, and integratedstatistical information systems (systems ofnational accounts and socio-demographicstatistical systems) on the other.

Of the two, the System of NationalAccounts (SNA) is doubtless the mostdeveloped. In this respect, it would bedesirable for a greater balance to be achievedbetween the two systems in the future, insofaras they are interrelated through certainconcepts, definitions and classifications, andto some extent, because the separation ofeconomic and social statistics is in partconventional since many statistical variablesare at the same time of an economic andsocial nature, or affect both economic andsocial issues without distinction.

It is perhaps worth highlighting thatbeyond the obvious fact that the number andtype of available functions condition the levelof development of integrated systems, areciprocal relationship also exists sinceintegrated systems require a consistency andrigour in the preparation of basic statistics,providing the conceptual framework requiredto design the instrumental elements of theintegration: definitions and classifications.

Consequently, integrated systems (appliedby virtue of the corresponding internationalstandards) become the centre of gravity forstatistical work in all áreas (4).

It is on the basis of this approach thata System of Tourism Statistics (STS) shouldbe understood, i.e. as that part of the NationalStatistical System whose aim is to providethe user with reliable, consistent andappropriate statistical information on thesocio-economic structure and developmentsof the tourism phenomenon, and which canin turn be integrated with all the othereconomic and social statistics, at differentterritorial levéis (state, infra-state andinternational).

194 Estudios Turísticos, n.° 161-162 (2004)

A System of Tourism Statistics: Scope and Contení

II. THE STRUCTURE OF THE SYSTEMOF TOURISM STATISTICS (STS):GENERAL OVERVIEW

II.l. Elemente

the degree of exhaustiveness in datacollection

the vehicle for and form of accessinginformation

As with the comments relative to theNational Statistical System, the content of theSTS is structured on the basis of thefollowing elements:

- statistical sources

- other instrumental elements related tothe statistical infrastructure per se.

By combining these criteria, differenttypes of statistical operations can beidentified:

- methodological references

- instrumental means available

Taken together, we will cali these threeelements statistical operations insofar asthey all denote a set of activities which are ofa statistical nature (5); consequently, we willconsider as part of the STS not only thoseoperations that stem from the collection ofindividual data and lead to the presentation ofaggregate results in the form of tables orindexes, but also the many others that areeither necessary for the implementation ofthese operations, or without which the overallinformation required to analyse tourismactivity could not tackled with the necessaryrigour.

The statistical operations thus consideredcan be classified on the basis of diverse criteria:

the existence or non-existenceindividual data-capture

of

the method used to obtain the primarydata on the basis of which statistics areprepared (direct data capture or use ofadministrative registers and documents)

1. related to statistical methodology:

- basic concepts of tourism statistics (thosecontained in the Recommendations onTourism-Statistics, 1993)

- classifications (of tourism products andactivities such as the "StandardInternational Classification of TourismActivities -SICTA-" and the "List ofSpecific Tourism Products - STP")Tourism Activities - SICTA -" and the"List of Specific Tourism Products -STP") methods and procedures(statistical and computer) to improvestatistical production (nomenclators,use of "geographical informationsystems" - GIS -, etc.)

2. related to information sources:

- statistics derived from surveys (such assurveys of overnight stays, travelsurveys, structure of tourismenterprises, etc.)

register orstatistics derived fromwhich have their source inadministrative processes (such as the

Estudios Turísticos, n.° 161-162 (2004) 195

Antonio Massieu

information generated by the air-trafficregulation authorities)

- censuses or directories (such as the listof collective accommodationestablishments)

- statistical syntheses (such as nationalaccounting systems, input-output tablesand the Balance of Payments)

3. related to the storage and disseminationof the data obtained:

- databases (with final results from one orvarious statistical sources)

- publications (with a particularlynumerical content in relation to tourismactivity and which may incorpóratequantitative data from various sourcese.g. statistical sources per se,econometric forecasts, mark researchstudies, etc.).

II.2. Focus

The development of the STS in the variouscountries is presently exclusively geared-barring possible exceptions I am unawareof- to the economic analysis of tourismactivity where non-monetary indicators holdpride of place and are therefore used bydifferent types of agents for their respectivefocuses (whether macro and microeconomic,for the purpose of designing tourismproducts, marketing, etc.). However, besidesbeing a particularly relevant factor in relationto the generation of jobs, public resources andlocal development, tourism also has adestructive impact on the environment.

Some countries and internationalorganizations are already aware that wecannot continué to turn a blind eye to the factthat tourism activities can cause considerabledamage to the environment as a result of thepressure to which they subject it (as a resultboth of specific types of flows -emissions,use of raw materials, etc.- and of specifictypes of infrastructures) and the qualitativechange which is taking place in this respectand which translates into an alteration oforiginal environmental conditions.

But it is not just the environment that is atstake; other tourism resources, such as theartistic and cultural heritage, are also underthreat.

In all these cases, there is a growingdemand for the design of a complementarystatistical approach which generatesindicators that can contribute to identifyingthese types of pressure, stemming from thepremise that we are dealing with a set ofresources with similar characteristics (amongwhich attention should be drawn to theirsingularity, vulnerability and exploitation atlevéis that can cause them to be damaged oreven to disappear).

II.3 Design

WTO has played an important guiding rolein the design of the STS. Indeed, theInternational Conference on Travel andTourism Statistics held on 24-28 June 1991in Ottawa (Canadá) and the subsequentpublication of the Recommendationson Tourism Statistics in 1993 have madeen overriding contribution to STSdevelopment.



These Recommendations are the firstexample of international standardizationrelative to tourism statistics and emphasizetheir importance insofar as they defineconcepts and include basic classifications fortheir subsequent operationalization.

In the past, the World TourismOrganization (WTO) has also contributed tothe development of tourism statistics throughthe preparation of technical manuals on (1)Concepts, defínitions and classifications, (2)Tourism expenditure, (3) Domestic tourism,(4) Collection and compilation of tourismstatistics, and also by providing countrieswith technical assistance and bydisseminating the aforementionedRecommendations.

More recently, with the approval of theUnited Nations Statistical Commission of thedraft Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), a newinternational standard has become available,providing a new statistical instrument whoseoperational character is a synthesis shared incommon with National Accounts,

This long work process, was aimed at fourobjectives:

- to promote a better knowledge oftourism and, more specifically, thequantification of its economic impacts;

- to contribute to the development ofinternational statistical standards as asupport to the design of relevant policyperspectives and commitments,through the proposal of appropriaterecommendations;

- to direct members to their gradual

implementation presenting generalguidelines for it;

- to support this development throughtechnical cooperation with WTOMember states.

Although it is not the competence of WTOto determine the procedures used to developthe recommendations approved, I consider itto be of interest to highlight the greatusefulness of designing the STS, using thepresent economic focus, from a unitaryperspective.

Generally speaking, STS development isunderstood as the greater or lesser number ofstatistical operations available, this is a usefulapproach for defining feasibility studiesinsofar as it is very important to ascertainwhether the level of statistical information issufficiently broad in scope to go aboutmeasuring the economic impacts of tourism.

This focus should be rounded off with amethodological approach geared toformulating action proposals relative to waysand means of developing an STS with thisgoal in mind (to which end, the conceptualframework used for the design of the TSAshould be borne in mind),

From this standpoint, the followingmethodological outline could be useful (6):

a) a defínition of the general aim, using astatement sufficiently broad in scope,e.g. the creation of those statisticalindicators that make it possible toquantify the economic impacts oftourism at national level. Since. anyapproach to the tourism phenomenon


Antonio Massieu

must necessarily stem from theperspective of demand, the main focusof attention should therefore be travelby persons outside their usual residencefor the following purposes:

1. Leisure, recreation and holidays

2. Visiting friends and relatives

3. Business and professional

4. Health treatments

5. Religión / pilgrimages

6. Other reasons

b) Since these trips transíate into the useof a set of elements without whoseexistence or concurrence they could notbe made (or-could not at least havetaken place with the same intensity), itcan be said, using the analysis ofproductive structures by way ofcomparison, that it is necessary toidentify the nature of those elements orfactors without whose concurrence it isnot possible to obtain thecorresponding output (in our case, tripsby people) and that, by the same token,it is not by increasing them that thisoutput would necessarily be increased(or at least, not necessarily in anefficient manner).

c) Among these factors, it is necessary toidentify tourism resources (nature,heritage structures, etc.), tourisminfrastructure (hotels, restaurants,facilities, computer equipment),tourism enterprises, the work forcé

associated with the tourism industriesand, finally, the maintenance andconservation of these resources andinfrastructures. On the other hand,steps should be taken to identify othertypes of factors associated withorganization and management, whichwould include public bodies, public-private cooperation projects and non-profit organizations, assistanceprogrammes and other factors notmentioned above.

d) Finally, there are other factors whichshould be considered as fíxed and/orunconnected with the achievement ofthis aim; more specifically, eventhough (their impact is relevant in thisrespect, their modifícation would onlybe possible from a long-termperspective; basically, these factors aretied in with the institutionalframework which, in a broad sense,we have associated with the level of acountry's statistical infrastructure.

Barring exceptions, an approach of thistype has never been used for STS design andtherefore does not tend to have any generalfocus. Conversely, the number of statisticaloperations associated with tourism hasbeen gradually extending to meet specificdemands but not on the basis of a generalapproach designed by a centralizing body.There are various reasons for this, amongwhich the following should perhaps behighlighted:

- the traditional divorce, in all too manycases, between the national tourismadministration and national statisticaloffices



- the horizontal nature of tourism, activity

- the fact that statistical operations arecostly and take a considerably long timeto mature

- the exceptional fact that the sources ofinformation generated by other unitswhich are not national statistical officesare of a statistical nature

- etc.

Consequently, for one reason or another, thetruth of the matter is that the gaps which existin this respect can often be ascribed to theabsence of a technical body with the necessaryhuman and material resources, and withspecific competence to undertake the designand implementation of a statistical creation andcoordination project in the field of tourism.

II.4. Resulte

The aim of the overall results derived froman STS would be to improve our knowledgeof reality, which is what it attempts torepresent and measure. This is for variouspurposes:

a) To facilítate the taking of more suitabledecisions on the part of the varioussocial agents. Although it is true thatthere are many instances, both in publicand prívate management, in which thetaking of decisions cannot be delayeduntil the results of rigorous researchstudies become available, it is equallytrue that only a broad and continuosflow of periodical statisticalinformation can engender a knowledge

of reality, an opinión of what is goingon and why, and, equally important,ways and means of endorsing,justifying and contrasting the measuresthat need to be adopted.

b) To facilítate international comparisons,which, in many cases, are of a regulatorynature and must therefore be performed.

c) To facilítate research in the differentfíelds.

To this end, the results should meet aseries of requirements, e.g.:

- they must be reliable and represent thepart of reality they claim to represent(i.e. they must not diverge from it to anygreat degree)

- they must be produced promptly andswiftly if the aim is not just to providestatistics for historical and researchpurposes, but rather to contribute to themanagement and decision-makingprocess

- They should be produced on a regularbasis, that is, not only as one-timeestimations, but as on-going statisticalprocesses, combining the compilationof benchmark estimations with moreflexible uses on indicators to enhancethe usefulness of the results

- Data should be comparable over timewithin the same country, comparableamong countries, an comparable withother fíelds of economic activities

- Data should be internally consistent and


Antonio Massieu

presented within macro-economicframeworks recognized at theinternational level

- Both the results obtained and themanner used to prepare them should beaccessible to all users: i.e. the principieof neutrality must be applicable in thisrespect(7).

Not all STS results are expressed inmonetary terms. Indeed, in the vast majorityof countries, the results expressed inmonetary terms are limited in scope andmainly concern:

• total tourist expenditure per visitorcategory, classified on the basis of thefollowing functional categories: travel,holidays and package tours;accommodation; food and drink;transpon leisure, cultural and sportsactivities; purchases; others

• foreign currency receipts generated byinbound tourism and, secondarily,foreign currency expenditure byoutbound tourists

• production accounts of activitiestraditionally considered to be tourismactivities: international transport; hotels,cafés, restaurants; travel agencies.

Conversely, non-monetary indicators arethose with a more long-standingtradition in the field of tourism statisticsand are consequently more numerous:

• from the standpoint of demand: numberof travellers according to theirdemographic- characteristics, the origin

and destination of the trip, the principieform of transport used, length of stay,purpose of visit, etc.

• from the standpoint of supply: numberof accommodation units bycharacteristics; number of arrivals andnumber of overnight stays; for countrieswhere access by non-residents is mainlyby air: number of flights, number ofseats available, load factor; indicators offrequancy of the sites visited, etc.

• employment in what are traditionallyconsidered to be tourism activities:international transport; hotels, cafés andrestaurants; travel agencies.

Nowadays, these indicators are generallypresented as a collection of data, without anyconceptual or formal link. Some of them aregenerated by administrative sources(particularly border pólice in the case of datarelative to entries and departures), whileothers are generated on the basis of statisticaloperations designed for this purpose (8).

II.5. Users

Tourism, describes as the activities ofpersons traveling to and staying in placesoutside their usual environment for not morethan one consecutive year for purposes notrelated to the exercise of an activityremunerated from within the place visited, isan activity which has grown substantiallyover the last quarter of this century as aneconomic and social phenomenon. Statisticalinformation on the nature, progress andconsequences of tourism is mainly based onarrivals and overnight stay statistics as well as



Balance of Payments information which donot grasp the whole economic phenomenonof tourism. Consequently, governments,businesses and citizens do not receive theaccurate information necessary for effectivepublic policies and efficient business andoperations Valid information on the roletourism plays in national economiesthroughout the world is particularly deficient,and credible data concerning the scale andsignificance of tourism is needed.

As of today, the type of data on tourismrequired both by the public and the prívatesector has changed in nature. Besidesquantitative information on the flow ofvisitors (such as arrivals and overnights) andthe descriptive Ínformations on the conditionsin which they are received and served,countries now need robust information andindicators to enhance the credibility of themeasurements concerning the economicimportance of tourism (9).

Generally speaking, STS's genérateinformation relative to different spheres ofanalysis(lO):

- general tourism activity at nationallevel. This is the most traditionalapproach and is obviously of amacroeconomic nature, the most regularsources of information in all countriesbeing the Balance of Payments andregisters of arrivals of non-residentvisitors

- activity in the three tourism segments(domestic, inbound and outbound).Travel surveys designed specifically forthis purpose are usually the main sourceof information in this respect.

- activity of tourism enterprises and/orestablishments. Broadly speaking, theaim is to reflect the gross businesscharacteristics of tourism enterprises;normally, information is available inthis respect and is generated inmicroeconomic type programmesconducted by national statistical offices,but needs to be customized in anappropriate way.

- follow-up and/or design of tourismproducís. The statistical information isto a large extent generated by the actualdemand surveys.

Possible users of the informationgenerated by the STS correspond to a veryvaried typology:

- the central administration. Besides thenational statistical office, the tourismadministration and central bank -insofaras it prepares the Balance of Paymentsin most countries- (these being the threebasic agents that produce the statisticsfor the STS), there are also other bodiesresponsible-for the creation andmaintenance of transport infrastructure,the regulation of the various forms ofpassenger traffic, industrial relations,etc.

- the regional administration, which inmany cases has specific competencesrelative to various áreas of tourismdevelopment

- units responsible for tourism promotion

- business associations and sector unions


Antonio Massieu

- enterprises that provide tourismactivities

- specialized consultancy firms

- institutional investors

- university departments, etc.

These units use the results obtained forspecific purposes insofar as their institutionalaims diverge; some of them, in addition tobeing users, are also units that produceinformation. The following list thereforerepresents a fairly habitual picture of thiscombination of situations among the varioustourism agents:

1. NTO (also provincial, regional or localtourism offices)

- overall responsibility for tourismeconomic, social development andaccountability within geographicregión,

- promoting the country or destinationin appropriate markets,

- national strategy and policydevelopment,

- business services research,

- aiding industry development,

- aiding product development

2. NSO (National Statistical Offices)(also provincial, regional andsometimes local statistical offices)

- gathering, processing and organizingdata,

- standards for data collection andanalysis,

- developing analytical tools,

- encouraging consensuses on datacollection priorities,

- disseminating data and information.

3. Associations (International, regional,local; sub-sector specific, generic)

- encouraging consensuses on industryissues and interests,

- disseminating information

- advocacy of collective interests

4. Enterprises (multinationals, nationals,local enterprise, local establishment)

- maximize returns and profits

- minimize costs and losses

- increase shareholder valué

- increase leverage and assets

Ü.6. International comparability of results

Among other competences, WTO isresponsible for proposing to the UnitedNations international standards for tourismstatistics with a view to facilitatinginternational comparability of the results


A System ofTourism Statistics: Scope and Contení

generated through the application of therecommendations approved: this is the caseof the Recommendations on TourismStatistics of 1993, and the more recent(March 2000) recommendations relative tothe Tourism Satellite Account. Moreover,WTO regularly asks countries for sets ofresults, these- being what form the basis ofcomparable information.

International comparability is an aim initself and one which needs to be achieved ona gradual basis for reasons that may appearobvious but are perhaps worth specifyingnonetheless:

- because it requires the prior establishmentof specific recommendations relative tothe concepts, definitions andclassifícations required to structure theframe of reference for the correspondingSystem of Tourism Statistics

- because countries have unequal levéisof statistical infrastructure, as a result ofwhich it would be unrealistic to expectthe pace at which theserecommendations are introduced andthe actual coverage of those applied tobe uniform.

- and also because the specificoperationalization of these concepts anddefinitions by each country cancondition, a posteriori, the credibility ofthe corresponding comparison.

Consequently, on considering the levelreached in the international comparability ofbasic tourism statistics, the development of

each national STS provides an initialbenchmark for analysing the extent of theprogress hitherto made in this field. BothWTO and EUROSTAT (11) have publishedexercises in this respect, based onconventional measures such as the sendingout of structured questionnaires to be filled inby the respondent and on the basis of which itis possible to identify the general features ofthose statistical operations used to estimatethese concepts and definitions.

For this type of exercise - this at least ishow the WTO exercise was designed-specific information on the statisticalapproach used to estimate the correspondingvariables is not generally collected. Both ananalysis of the questionnaires used in these,operations and the procedures used to breakdown and record the information captured,the actual generation of results, etc. wouldmake it possible to go one step further andwould doubtless serve to underline relevantdifferences regarding the way in which theconcepts and definitions that form part ofinternational standards are operationalized.

WTO has launched a process of internalreflection on how to develop a more activerole in this field, both in relation to thespecific tourism operations that are essentialfor analysing tourism activity -as is the casewith the demand surveys used to quantify the-characteristics of the three forms of tourism(domestic, inbound and outbound (12)- andin relation to the reception and subsequentdissemination of their results and thoseof other operations that the variouscountries submit to the Organization on aregular basis.


Antonio Massieu

NOTES

(1) Document approved by the United NationsStatistical Commission, New York, USA, 29 February-3March 2000

(2) WTO-UN Recommendations on TourismStatistics, Statistical papers. Series M No 83, New York1993.

(3) Implications of the UN-WTO Tourism Definitionsfor the U.S. Tourism Statistical System (WTO, 1996).

(4) For general reference, see '"Integration ofstatistical information: instrumental elements andintegrated systems". José Quevedo Quevedo - TenthInter-American Conference on Statistics. Aguascalientes.México. November 1990.

(5) In other words, these activities are characterizedby the capture, processing, sorting and dissemination of aset of structure data for a specific purpose, and whichconform to minimum conditions of rigour in these phasesof their implementation.

(6) For a more general reference, see the System ofstatistical indicators for analysing the economy of tourism(SINTUR): programme of work presented by the Institutode Estudios Turísticos for the period 1998-2000. Workingdocument ne 15. Madrid. November 1997.

(7) This and other aspects are referred in the

"Fundamental Principies of Official Statistics". UnitedNations, New York 1994.

(8) For a more general reference, see "Les ComptesSatellites du Tourisme: Une proposition de l'Organisationmondiale du tourisme pour intégrer l'analyse du tourismedans le cadre de la Comptabilité Nationale".Communication presented by Mrs Marión Libreros (WTOexpert) to the "Association Fran^aise de ComptablesNationaux". París, January 2000.

(9) For a more general reference, see "TourismSatellite Account (TSA): Methodological References", asapproved by the United Nations Statistical Commission,New York, USA, 29 February-3 March 2000.

(10) Canadá has generated various studies on theusefulness of the enormous amount of informationgenerated by the STS for the different users. A completeand updated example is "A research and developmentprogram for improved tourism industry decisión making".Technical paper by the Canadian Tourism Commission.November 1999.

(11) WTO Methodological Supplement to world tourismstatistics Nice, France, 1999 and EUROSTAT "ProgressReport on methodological developments in the EEA countriesof tourism statistics following the implementation of theCouncil Directive 95/57/EC. July 1999.

(12) WTO-UN Recommendations on TourismStatistics, Statistical papers. Series M No 83, New York1993, para. 11.


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