World Tourism Organization

Decision taking requires good quality data to guide policies,

drive change and understand the progress of our societies. Yet
the measurement of tourism is relatively recent when
compared to other significant economic sectors such as
agriculture or manufacturing.
Prev|ous|y, lour|sr reasurererl Was oased rosl|y or
approximations from related areas of measurement (migration or
8a|arce ol Payrerls slal|sl|cs). lr 2008, |oWever, l|e ur|led
Nations approved the International Recommendations for
Tourism Statistics 2008 (IRTS 2008), which provided the main
concepts, definitions and classifications for the measurement of
tourism and enabled the gathering of basic statistics and
indicators about tourism activities.
Tourism Statistics
and the Tourism
Satellite Account (TSA)
Did you
know?
3lal|sl|cs or |roourd lour|sr are re|al|ve|y We||
developed in many countries and statistics on domestic
and outbound tourism, employment and the tourism
industries are becoming increasingly available.
T|e T3A ererales ecoror|c areales lor
lour|sr, |||e 00P ard erp|oyrerl, l|al are
comparable to those of other economic activities
such as agriculture, mining or financial services.

Arourd 0 courlr|es e|l|er |ave a corso||daled T3A
or are |r l|e process ol deve|op|r a T3A exerc|se.
T|ere are severa| 3ale|||le Accourls (educal|or,
|ea|l|, urpa|d |ouse|o|d acl|v|ly) oul l|e T3A |s l|e
or|y ore approved oy l|e uN 3lal|sl|ca| Corr|ss|or.
In the same year, the UN approved the Tourism Satellite
Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008
(TSA:RMF 2008), to relate these statistics to their economic
context, through the Tourism Satellite Account, providing
l|ures or l|e 00P or erp|oyrerl allr|oulao|e lo lour|sr.

Data compiled according to these two frameworks is
comparable between countries, groups of countries and over
l|re. Today, rary courlr|es |ave deve|oped or are deve|op|r
systems of tourism statistics based on these frameworks,
enabling them to better address tourism analysis and policy.
The work of UNWTO
T|e ur|led Nal|ors recor|zes uNwT0 as the appropriate
organization to collect, to analyze, to publish, to
standardize and to improve the statistics of tourism, and to
promote the integration of these statistics within the
sphere of the United Nations system."

To lu|l|| l||s ro|e, uNTw0 al|ers slal|sl|cs lror over 212
countries and territories into a regularly updated database.
T|e UNWTO Compendium of Tourism Statistics, produced
arrua||y s|rce 19Z5, prov|des dala ard |rd|calors or |roourd,
outbound and domestic tourism, as well as on the number and
types of tourism industries, the number of employees by
tourism industries, and macroeconomic indicators related to
|rlerral|ora| lour|sr. T||s dala |s corp|ererled oy l|e
UNWTO Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, which provides
data, by country of origin, on arrivals and overnight stays
related to inbound tourism.
World Tourism Organization orluNwT0.or / UNWTO.org December 2011

UNWTO Statistics & Tourism Satellite Account Programme - statistics.unwto.org
Understanding Tourism: Basic Glossary - red|a.urWlo.or/er/corlerl/urderslard|r-lour|sr-oas|c-|ossary
Compendium of Tourism Statistics - slal|sl|cs.urWlo.or/er/corlerl/dala-ard-|rd|calors
TSA Data around the World: Worldwide Summary - slal|sl|cs.urWlo.or/s|les/a||/l||es/pdl/lsa_dala.pdl
International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008 -
slal|sl|cs.urWlo.or/er/corlerl/|rlerral|ora|-recorrerdal|ors-lour|sr-slal|sl|cs-2008-|rls-2008
Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008
slal|sl|cs.urWlo.or/er/corlerl/lour|sr-sale|||le-accourl-recorrerded-rel|odo|o|ca|-lrareWor|-lsarrl-2008
FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES:
Tour|sr d|recl corlr|oul|or
in selected economies*
Australia 2.6 4.5
8raz|| 3. .2
Carada 1.9 3.
C||ra 1.2 2.3
0errary 3.2 1.Z
lrd|a 2.8 1.
lrdores|a 2.5 3.5
Japar 1.9 2.9
Republic of Korea 1.5 2.0
3aud| Arao|a 2.9 .
3oul| Alr|ca 3.0 1.3
3pa|r .1 5.1
ur|led K|rdor 3.8 11.2
ur|led 3lales ol Arer|ca 2.Z 3.Z
3ource: uNwT0
Countries GDP(%) Employment(%)
The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA)
Tour|sr |s rol cors|dered ar |rduslry |r Nal|ora| Accourls
W||c| del|re |rduslr|es accord|r lo 'W|al' l|ey produce ard
'|oW', W|ereas lour|sr reeds lo oe del|red oy 'W|o' (|.e. or|y
when an economic activity caters directly, and in a significant
degree, to visitors can it be considered tourism).
Aa|rsl l||s oac|rourd, l|e uN deve|oped l|e lerr 3ale|||le
Accourl: accourls ao|e lo reasure ecoror|c acl|v|l|es l|al are
not defined as industries in National Accounts, such as the
erv|rorrerl, |rlorral|or ard corrur|cal|or lec|ro|oy (lCT),
or lour|sr. T|e Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), advanced
oy uNwT0, ra|es l|e ||r| oelWeer |rduslry supp|y ard v|s|lor
demand, generating economic aggregates on tourism
corparao|e W|l| l|ose ol 'lrad|l|ora|' seclors, |||e ar|cu|lure or
manufacturing, but also between countries and over time.

T|e T3A |s corposed ol a sel ol ler lao|es, eac| represerl|r
a d|llererl aspecl ol lour|srs ecoror|c corlr|oul|or: |roourd,
domestic and outbound tourism expenditure, internal tourism
expenditure (inbound plus domestic), the production accounts
ol lour|sr |rduslr|es, 0ross va|ue Added (0vA) ard 0ross
0oresl|c Producl (00P) allr|oulao|e lo lour|sr derard,
employment, investment, government consumption, and
non-monetary indicators.
By allowing tourism to be understood in the same way as other
seclors ol l|e ecorory - derorslral|r |ls corlr|oul|or lo 00P
in the same way that is done for agriculture or construction, for
exarp|e - l|e T3A represerls a poWerlu| |rslrurerl lor
designing policies related to tourism development.
lr |ls Wor| lo lurl|er l|e urderslard|r ol lour|sr's polerl|a|,
uNwT0 re|rlorces ard proroles l|e |rlerral|ora|
corparao|||ly ol oas|c lour|sr slal|sl|ca| ard T3A dala,
d|sser|rales oas|c lour|sr slal|sl|ca| ard T3A dala ard loslers
the macroeconomic analysis of tourism; cooperates on
statistics within the UN system; and provides capacity building
lor Veroer 3lales lo deve|op l|e|r ral|ora| 3yslers ol Tour|sr
3lal|sl|cs.