Tourism statistics - New system enables like-with-like comparisons
Malta could introduce a data collection system within two years, which will enable it to get a more accurate picture of the real economic impact of tourism.The system is known as tourism satellite accounting (TSA) and was originally set up as a...
Malta could introduce a data collection system within two years, which will enable it to get a more accurate picture of the real economic impact of tourism.
The system is known as tourism satellite accounting (TSA) and was originally set up as a conceptual framework by the United Nations Statistical Commission in 2000.
The UN describes the TSA as "the only way to have an overall view of tourism's impact on the economy on an equal footing with all other sectors".
The system was explained during a recent Tourism Studies Association conference by Tania Sultana, who manages the research unit at the Malta Tourism Authority. TSA is aimed at enabling valid comparisons with other economic sectors as well as with other countries. It takes information gathered from various contexts and pieces them together to put together a more comprehensive measurement of the impact of tourism.
Malta has already made a few attempts to measure tourism, starting with a study by Cambridge consultants in 1990. This was followed in 2000 by a study on the economic impact of the sector, updated in 2003, which showed that tourism accounted for almost 30 per cent of Gross National Product and the same percentage of overall employment.
In 2005, EU funds were used to organise a feasibility study on introducing TSA in Malta. The MTA and the National Statistics Office are now trying to fill the current data gaps, Ms Sultana said.
The system is known as tourism satellite accounting (TSA) and was originally set up as a conceptual framework by the United Nations Statistical Commission in 2000.
The UN describes the TSA as "the only way to have an overall view of tourism's impact on the economy on an equal footing with all other sectors".
The system was explained during a recent Tourism Studies Association conference by Tania Sultana, who manages the research unit at the Malta Tourism Authority. TSA is aimed at enabling valid comparisons with other economic sectors as well as with other countries. It takes information gathered from various contexts and pieces them together to put together a more comprehensive measurement of the impact of tourism.
Malta has already made a few attempts to measure tourism, starting with a study by Cambridge consultants in 1990. This was followed in 2000 by a study on the economic impact of the sector, updated in 2003, which showed that tourism accounted for almost 30 per cent of Gross National Product and the same percentage of overall employment.
In 2005, EU funds were used to organise a feasibility study on introducing TSA in Malta. The MTA and the National Statistics Office are now trying to fill the current data gaps, Ms Sultana said.