CHAPTER FIVE

MEASUREMENT OF TOURISM STATISTICS

Tourism statistics deals with the collection and compilation (summarizing and
presenting) of data related to tourism activities. Gathering data on tourism is a
vital task for the government of a country. Governments need to know the
contribution that tourism makes to the economy in terms of income,
employment, balance of payments and investment. Sufficiently detailed figures
must be available in order to know how they have affected regional as well as
national economies. Information must be both quantitative and qualitative in
nature – that is, data should be provided about not only the numbers and
composition of tourists but also their nature and purpose.

5.1 Significance of measurement of tourism

 Enables new decision to be made: The collection and analysis of the statistics
enables new decision to be made and the part to be monitored. E.g. it
facilitates investment decision
 Evaluates the magnitude and significance of tourism to a destination:
Tourism statistics helps in evaluating the magnitude and significance of
tourism to a destination. Then the destination could be country, region or
district with in a region. The data collected can be utilized to quantify the
role and contribution of tourism to the country’s economy and the society.
 Helps in planning and development of physical facilities and infrastructure:
Tourism statistics helps to assess the need for and the capacities and the
requirements of air ports, roads, hotels and other facilities, the volume and
the characteristics of the tourist movement have to be determined
quantitatively. It is important to know the attributes like mode of arrival, the
kind of accommodation used, the amenities desired by the travelers, the
length of stay, the amount of money spent, and the purchase made etc. all
these information’s are essential for tourism planning.
 Helps to understand the changing tourism trend: Tourism statistics helps in
planning and forecasting travel requirements. Help in ascertaining the flow
of tourist traffic to various destinations. Whether a tourist a patronize beach
holiday, winter resort, historical site or any other area.
 Helps in marketing and promotion: For marketing and promotion, it is very
essential to know the profile of tourists, both actual and potential. It is only
after analyzing the socio-economic characteristics and ascertaining the needs
and wants of the visitor that effective marketing campaign can be launched.

Users of tourism statistics

The government: the government is more interested at immigration control,

considers tourism as a source of employment and revenue generation. Data is
collected on a national basis and mostly concerned with inward and outward
flow of visitors in the country and with the spending of the residents of the
country in places abroad.

The tourist organizations: the tourist organizations are concerned with

marketing and physical planning and development of destination. Their interest
is to measure the volume and value of the inward tourist traffic to assess the
magnitude and significance of tourism. They further need to know the
geographical distribution of tourist traffic, the breakdown of total expenditure
between accommodation, catering, transport, shopping, entertainment, etc. and
the other information about the pattern of tourist activities.

The providers of tourist services: they are usually the individual companies,
which are involved in marketing their particular products and with investment
in their own facilities. Some statistics particularly interests to these service
providers. Specific information on the type of holiday preferred is of main
interest to tour operators, frequent data on the occupancy to the hotel operator
etc.
5.2 Categories of Tourist Statistics

1) Volume statistics
It comprises of the number of tourists to a particular destination over a given
period. While counting it is normally the number of arrivals or visits and not the
number of tourists. It is the event rather than individuals with which the basic
statistics of volume is concerned. A half dozen trip by some individual will be
counted six events or tourists.

Length of stay is another main volume of statistics. It is measured in terms of

days or nights spent by tourist at the destination, and are normally expressed as
the average length of stay. The statistics of length of stay on the other hand
provide a general indication of their demand for overnight stay.

2) Expenditure statistics
It deals with the measurement of spending made by the tourist at the destination
and on the transportation or journey. This statistics is very important and
measures the value of tourism to the economy of particular destination. Tourist
spending determines that how much is the total volume of foreign exchange
enters a particular country.

Tourist spending for international tourism commonly covers all tourist

expenditure in the country including foreign tourist’s expenditure on shopping.
It however excludes payment to international carriers in respect to journey to
and from the country visited. Payment made in respect to journey to and from
the destinations do not necessarily accrue (result) to the destination and they are
therefore normally excluded from statistics of expenditure at the destination, but
fare payment to a country’s carrier represent income to the country visited.

Examples of tourist expenditures are as follows

 Package tours, Accommodation, Food and drinks, Transport, Recreation,
culture and sporting activities and Shopping etc…
 3) Characteristics statistics

It is very essential for those concerned with marketing and development of

tourism. The socio-economic characteristics of the visitors are an important area
of study under this topic.

The total volume of tourist arrivals and tourist nights are divided in to various
marketing segments according to the

 Modes of transport used (air transport- scheduled flights/ nonscheduled

flights/ other air services, water way transport- passenger liners and ferries,
cruises and other water ways services, land transportation- railways, motor
coach, bus and other public road transportation)
 Place of origin
 Tourist profile characteristics and tourist behavior patterns.
Tourist profiles means
 Age
 Sex
 Occupation
 Income
 Education
Tourist behavior patterns include
 Time of visit
 Mode of transportation used
 Traveling alone or in a groups
 Activities at the destination.
5.3 Methods of Measurement

The principal methods as far as basic volume statistics are concerned may be
divided in to three areas
1. Enumeration at the arrival and departure points: it is an administrative
procedure. Frontier arrivals may be counted by way of checking passports,
visas, disembarkation cards and the like. This is an accurate method of
obtaining the numbers and also providers information on length of
stay(departure dates)
2. Registration at hotels and other accommodation units: registration of the
tourist at the places of their stay, even cashing of travelers checques. The
registration forms of hotels provide information on number, length of stay
and tourist nights etc. and place of origin.
3. Sample surveys: Sample surveys of the population are made by means of
interviews and the use of questionnaires. Sample surveys are of different
forms.
 Household survey these are based on the knowledge of resident population,
and provide a balance view of domestic tourism for pleasure and business
purpose. A structured sample of household is constructed and the
interviewers are employed to collect the information using questionnaire.
Questions normally relate to:-
 Income
 Details of household members
 Economic activities
 Age, educational status, marital status
 Purpose and type of trips
 Place visited
 Source of funding
 Sources of information about the destinations
 Details of expenditure
 Information on foreign travel
 About those who do not travel and why?
  En route survey these are the surveys of travelers during the course of their
journey.
 Destination surveys: it is conducted at popular tourist destination or in
areas where there are high level of tourist activities on volume and the
value of tourism to the destination’s economy. Questions are asked on
opinions about the destination and associated attitude (month of visit, time
to travel, connectivity etc…)
 Survey of suppliers of tourist services: it is conducted to gain information
on occupancy rates, visitor numbers, and origin and destination data etc…

Statistical data of international, Continental and national tourism

Tourism is now one of the largest and most important industries in the world in
terms of employment creation and generation of foreign revenue. Simultaneously, in
Ethiopia tourism is becoming one of the important sectors contributing a lot in the
social, cultural, and economic development aspects of the country.

Global tourism experienced a mild 4% upturn in 2021, with 15 million more

international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) than in 2020 but remained 72%
below the levels of pre-pandemic year 2019 according to preliminary estimates. This
follows a 73% plunge in international travel in 2020, the worst year on record for
tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

International tourism rebounded moderately in the second half of 2021, with

international arrivals down 62% in both the third and fourth quarters, compared to
the same periods in 2019. Rising vaccination rates combined with softer travel
restrictions due to increased cross-border coordination and protocols, have all
helped release pent up demand in 2021.

Europe and the Americas recorded the strongest results by region relative to 2020
with arrivals up 19% and 17% respectively, though they remained 62% and 63%
below 2019 levels.
Africa saw a 12% increase in 2021 compared to 2020, though remained 74% below
2019 levels. In the Middle East arrivals declined 24% compared to 2020 and 79%
over 2019. In Asia and the Pacific, arrivals dropped 65% from 2020 levels and 94%
when compared to pre-pandemic values. By sub region, the Caribbean saw the best
performance in 2021, with international arrivals up 63% over 2020, though 37%
below 2019, with some destinations coming close to, or exceeding pre pandemic
levels.

Most Visited Countries in the World in 2022

1. France – 82.6 million visitors
2. The United States – 75.6 million visitors
3. Spain – 75.6 million visitors
4. China – 59.3 million visitors
5. Italy – 52.4 million visitors
6. United Kingdom – 35.8 million visitors
7. Germany – 35.6 million visitors
8. Mexico – 35.0 million visitors
9. Thailand – 32.6 million visitors
10. Turkey – 30 million visitors

Most Visited Countries in Africa in 2022

1. Egypt – 17 million
2. Morocco – 10.9 million
3. Tunisia – 6.437 million
4. South Africa – 5.7 million
5. Kenya – 1.48 million
6. Tanzania – 1.45 million
7. Rwanda – 1 million
8. Mauritius – 1 million
9. Zimbabwe – 895,338
Tourism Receipts

International tourism receipts grew back to hit the USD1 trillion mark in 2022, growing
50% in real terms compared to 2021, driven by the important rebound in international
travel.

Overall, travel and tourism in the U.S. are estimated to generate 190.4 billion U.S.
dollars that year. China and Germany followed on the ranking, with a travel and
tourism revenue of 154.1 billion and 66.23 billion U.S. dollars, respectively.

African countries with the largest international tourism receipts 2021. As of 2021, Egypt
ranked first in Africa with international tourism receipts of 8.9 billion U.S. dollars,
whereas Morocco and South Africa registered 3.81 and 2.11 billion U.S. dollars,
respectively

Problems and limitations of tourism statistics

 The industry itself is not well defined

 Depends on the visitors cooperation to provide information & Honesty
 Difficult to measure the impact of DT (VFR, use of tents, religious travel…)
 Double counting
 Difficulty of differentiating between tourists and other travelers, and between
them and the resident and working population.
 Generalization from inconvenient representative

Measuring domestic tourism is more difficult than measuring international tourism due
to:-
No entry and exit point registration.
No VISA, passport and disembarkation card requirement.
Confusion between tourists and non-tourists
National statistics on tourism should include:
The number of international visitors (arrivals) as well as the number of domestic
tourists
How these are distributed over the months of the year
The countries generating the international tourists and the regions generating the
domestic tourists
The growth, year on year, of those tourists
Their spending in absolute terms and how they distribute it between
accommodation, transport, shopping, catering and so on.
Their mode of travel – that is, what form of transport they use, whether they are
travelling independently or on an inclusive tour
The duration of their visit
The types of accommodation they use
The purposes of their visit – whether leisure, business, VFR
Demographic profiles – age, group composition, social class
Socio-graphic profiles – personality, lifestyle, interests and activities
What these tourists seek and the extent to which they are satisfied with what
they find.