Hoteliers insist on proper yardstick to measure tourism's economic impact

The lack of a proper mechanism to measure precisely the economic impact of tourism is "worrying" the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, particularly when considering its multiplier effect and its contribution to a quarter of the GDP.

The MHRA has long been pushing for the creation of what is known as a tourism satellite account within the National Statistics Office.

Used increasingly in the EU and worldwide, the methodology is the recommended way of measuring the economic significance of tourism to a nation. It has the approval of the World Tourism Organisation, the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and Eurostat.

A plan to have a partial tourism satellite account in place by 2012 was "not good news" to the tourism industry, MHRA president George Micallef said. "It is a pity that, despite the strong reliance on the tourism industry, to date we do not have a tourism satellite account, unlike 17 European and other non-EU countries. This would help the government and other stakeholders understand better the impact of the sector on the national economy and assist the planning process," Mr Micallef said.

"It would also help everyone to precisely understand the dynamics of the tourism industry, allowing us to benchmark our performance with other competing destinations."

The lack of the measuring tool explained why some of the economic tourism figures quoted by various authorities were, at times, conflicting, Mr Micallef argued. It was even more worrying when considering that prevailing tourism patterns and trends were changing dramatically, he said.

He insisted: "The more informed and prepared we are to meet the challenges, the more we stand a chance of maximising the benefits from this important sector of the economy."

The MHRA felt it was "inappropriate" that the national official statistics featured the performance of economic sectors that represented a low three per cent of the GDP but not tourism. Instead, they featured the hotels and restaurants sector, which alone was nowhere near sufficient to gauge tourism performance and, at times, led to misleading results, Mr Micallef maintained.

The interpretation of the value added of hotels and restaurants was also misleading. It was considered low because of the way it was structured while that for the entire tourism industry was much higher, he explained.

"We cannot stress enough the importance of the proper interpretation of the tourism industry, which is also critical to the success of other sectors of the economy, including manufacturing and retail services, which are dependent on it."

Comprehensive tourism statistics were considered even more vital in view of the government's strategies, such as Vision 2015, and the economic reviews being undertaken within the Malta Council of Economic and Social Development, Mr Micallef said.

"How can we go about establishing where we want to be in a few years if we are not certain where we are today?"