Experimental statistics assess tourism’s economic impact

Today, Eurostat released a new webpage on tourism satellite accounts on Europe as part of our experimental statistics section.

The data released under the new experimental statistics presents indicators that help assess the economic contribution of the tourism sector, complementing the information collected across the accommodation sector and households, which focuses on visitor flows within and between countries.

Tourism satellite accounts (TSA) compile economic data for the tourism sector, such as gross value added and jobs created by tourism industries in European economies. This helps users understand the macro-economic dimension of tourism and its impact on the economy and labour market. The term 'satellite accounts' was introduced because TSA rely on the concepts of the national accounts system in identifying the tourism sector and quantifying its macro-economic importance.

The joint framework of TSA was established by the United Nations (UN), the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), Eurostat and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Its implementation and level of maturity differs strongly across Europe, while some countries publish TSA regularly as an official statistical product, TSA is still under development in other countries. Therefore, the aggregate at European level is presented as experimental.