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The OECD Guidelines for a Tourism Satellite Account, published in July 2000, provide a valuable tool for improving statistics on tourism and enhancing their credibility and for increasing statistical coverage of this activity and harmonising the data and their international comparability. The model specifies, in particular, how to calculate tourism value added. By using the information supplied by the account, public authorities will be able to target their decisions more accurately, to work towards better political recognition of tourism and to im91e the effectiveness and the evaluation of tourism policies.
Main objectives of the OECD Guidelines for a Tourism Satellite Account
The guidelines provide in-depth understanding of the structure of the tourism industry. They make it possible to identify the branches of tourism which generate the most value added, those that create the most jobs and those for which gross fixed capital formation is highest. Among other things, the information may be used to target investment to certain branches of tourism, to optimise human resources where weaknesses are most obvious and to support the development of niche activities.
The guidelines provide methodological guidance for national statistical offices, national tourism authorities and national tourist offices in the OECD countries. Their main objectives are to:
Present data on tourism based strictly on the principles of the System of National Accounts 1993 (SNA93)1 and compatible with the recommendations on tourism statistics adopted by the United Nations and the World Tourism Organization in 1993.2 Provide a set of accounts which allow drawing a parallel with other industries on a harmonised basis, comparable at international level. Offer policy makers insight into tourism and its socio-economic functions and impacts in their respective economies. Calculate tourism value added for a given list of commodities and industries in a coherent system.
The basic tables
The guidelines form a set of 14 interlinked tables, each showing a different aspect of tourism. Taken together, the tables provide an overall view of tourism as a socio-economic phenomenon and a means by which demand for tourism commodities can be linked to production of tourism commodities by tourism industries. They are accompanied by an Employment Module which supports the TSA on various points and provides an essential complement to analysis by giving characteristics of the "labour" factor which cannot be found in the TSA.
Tourism value added
The derivation of tourism value added is central to the whole development of the TSA. Tourism suffers from a lack of credibility; as it is not a standard "industry", its socio-economic significance has proved difficult to measure. Consequently, lacking an objective means of measuring tourism's value added against that of other standard industries, it is snot possible to assess its significance. The TSA specifies how we can calculate tourism value added by using basic information.
A pragmatic approach for the OECD countries
The guidelines provide a reference framework which enables Member countries to set up national tools to measure the economic importance of tourism within a broader context. Several OECD countries have already successfully implemented a tourism satellite account: Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. Other countries, such as Poland, Spain and Switzerland are beginning to work on implementation.
It will probably be several years before most OECD countries are in a position to complete most tables. However, the guidelines enable Member countries to improve the consistency and credibility of tourism statistics on a harmonised basis. Ultimately, they will provide an essential tool for defining and measuring the economic importance of tourism.
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1. UN, IMF, WB, OECD and CEC (1993), System of National Accounts 1993.
2. UN and WTO (1993), Recommendations on tourism statistics.
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