World Tourism Organization
Tourism Statistics
and the Tourism
Satellite Account (TSA)
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.
3UHYLRXVO\ WRXULVP PHDVXUHPHQW ZDV EDVHG PRVWO\ RQ
approximations from related areas of measurement (migration 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
ILJXUHVRQWKH*'3RUHPSOR\PHQWDWWULEXWDEOHWRWRXULVP
Data compiled according to these two frameworks is
comparable between countries, groups of countries and over
WLPH7RGD\PDQ\FRXQWULHVKDYHGHYHORSHGRUDUHGHYHORSLQJ
systems of tourism statistics based on these frameworks,
enabling them to better address tourism analysis and policy.
%DODQFH RI 3D\PHQWV VWDWLVWLFV ,Q  KRZHYHU WKH 8QLWHG
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.
The work of UNWTO
7KH8QLWHG1DWLRQVUHFRJQL]HV81:72 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."

7R IXOILO WKLV UROH 817:2 JDWKHUV VWDWLVWLFV IURP RYHU 

Did you countries and territories into a regularly updated database.

know?
7KHUNWTO Compendium of Tourism Statistics, produced
DQQXDOO\VLQFHSURYLGHVGDWDDQGLQGLFDWRUVRQLQERXQG
outbound and domestic tourism, as well as on the number and
types of tourism industries, the number of employees by
‡6WDWLVWLFVRQLQERXQGWRXULVPDUHUHODWLYHO\ZHOO
tourism industries, and macroeconomic indicators related to
developed in many countries and statistics on domestic
LQWHUQDWLRQDO WRXULVP 7KLV GDWD LV FRPSOHPHQWHG E\ WKH
and outbound tourism, employment and the tourism
UNWTO Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, which provides
industries are becoming increasingly available.
data, by country of origin, on arrivals and overnight stays
related to inbound tourism.
‡7KH76$JHQHUDWHVHFRQRPLFDJJUHJDWHVIRU
WRXULVPOLNH*'3DQGHPSOR\PHQWWKDWDUH
comparable to those of other economic activities
such as agriculture, mining or financial services.

‡$URXQGFRXQWULHVHLWKHUKDYHDFRQVROLGDWHG76$
RUDUHLQWKHSURFHVVRIGHYHORSLQJD76$H[HUFLVH

‡7KHUHDUHVHYHUDO6DWHOOLWH$FFRXQWVHGXFDWLRQ
KHDOWKXQSDLGKRXVHKROGDFWLYLW\EXWWKH76$LVWKH
RQO\RQHDSSURYHGE\WKH816WDWLVWLFDO&RPPLVVLRQ
The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA)
7RXULVP LV QRW FRQVLGHUHG DQ LQGXVWU\ LQ 1DWLRQDO $FFRXQWV
ZKLFK GHILQH LQGXVWULHV DFFRUGLQJ WR µZKDW¶ WKH\ SURGXFH DQG
µKRZ¶ZKHUHDVWRXULVPQHHGVWREHGHILQHGE\µZKR¶LHRQO\
when an economic activity caters directly, and in a significant
degree, to visitors can it be considered tourism).
$JDLQVWWKLVEDFNJURXQGWKH81GHYHORSHGWKHWHUP6DWHOOLWH
$FFRXQWDFFRXQWVDEOHWRPHDVXUHHFRQRPLFDFWLYLWLHVWKDWDUH
not defined as industries in National Accounts, such as the
,QLWVZRUNWRIXUWKHUWKHXQGHUVWDQGLQJRIWRXULVP¶VSRWHQWLDO
81:72 UHLQIRUFHV DQG SURPRWHV WKH LQWHUQDWLRQDO
FRPSDUDELOLW\ RI EDVLF WRXULVP VWDWLVWLFDO DQG 76$ GDWD
GLVVHPLQDWHVEDVLFWRXULVPVWDWLVWLFDODQG76$GDWDDQGIRVWHUV
the macroeconomic analysis of tourism; cooperates on
statistics within the UN system; and provides capacity building
IRU0HPEHU6WDWHVWRGHYHORSWKHLUQDWLRQDO6\VWHPVRI7RXULVP
6WDWLVWLFV
HQYLURQPHQWLQIRUPDWLRQDQGFRPPXQLFDWLRQWHFKQRORJ\,&7 7RXULVPGLUHFWFRQWULEXWLRQ
RUWRXULVP7KHTourism Satellite Account (TSA), advanced in selected economies*
E\81:72PDNHVWKHOLQNEHWZHHQLQGXVWU\VXSSO\DQGYLVLWRU
demand, generating economic aggregates on tourism Countries GDP(%) Employment(%)
FRPSDUDEOHZLWKWKRVHRIµWUDGLWLRQDO¶VHFWRUVOLNHDJULFXOWXUHRU
manufacturing, but also between countries and over time. Australia 2.6 4.5
%UD]LO    
7KH76$LVFRPSRVHGRIDVHWRIWHQWDEOHVHDFKUHSUHVHQWLQJ &DQDGD    
DGLIIHUHQWDVSHFWRIWRXULVPVHFRQRPLFFRQWULEXWLRQLQERXQG
&KLQD    
*HUPDQ\   
domestic and outbound tourism expenditure, internal tourism
,QGLD    
expenditure (inbound plus domestic), the production accounts ,QGRQHVLD   
RI WRXULVP LQGXVWULHV *URVV 9DOXH $GGHG *9$ DQG *URVV -DSDQ    
'RPHVWLF 3URGXFW *'3 DWWULEXWDEOH WR WRXULVP GHPDQG Republic of Korea 1.5 2.0
employment, investment, government consumption, and 6DXGL$UDELD   
non-monetary indicators. 6RXWK$IULFD   
6SDLQ    
By allowing tourism to be understood in the same way as other 8QLWHG.LQJGRP  
VHFWRUVRIWKHHFRQRP\GHPRQVWUDWLQJLWVFRQWULEXWLRQWR*'3 8QLWHG6WDWHVRI$PHULFD  
in the same way that is done for agriculture or construction, for
6RXUFH81:72
H[DPSOH  WKH 76$ UHSUHVHQWV D SRZHUIXO LQVWUXPHQW IRU
designing policies related to tourism development.

FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES:

UNWTO Statistics & Tourism Satellite Account Programme - statistics.unwto.org
Understanding Tourism: Basic Glossary -PHGLDXQZWRRUJHQFRQWHQWXQGHUVWDQGLQJWRXULVPEDVLFJORVVDU\
Compendium of Tourism Statistics -VWDWLVWLFVXQZWRRUJHQFRQWHQWGDWDDQGLQGLFDWRUV
TSA Data around the World: Worldwide Summary -VWDWLVWLFVXQZWRRUJVLWHVDOOILOHVSGIWVDBGDWDSGI
International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008 -
VWDWLVWLFVXQZWRRUJHQFRQWHQWLQWHUQDWLRQDOUHFRPPHQGDWLRQVWRXULVPVWDWLVWLFVLUWV
Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008
VWDWLVWLFVXQZWRRUJHQFRQWHQWWRXULVPVDWHOOLWHDFFRXQWUHFRPPHQGHGPHWKRGRORJLFDOIUDPHZRUNWVDUPI

World Tourism Organization RPW#81:72RUJUNWTO.org December 2011