Item For Decision: Tourism Statistics

Statistical Commission Background document
Fifty-fifth session Available in English only

27 February – 1 March 2024
Item 4 (a) of the provisional agenda
Item for decision: tourism statistics
Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST):

Final Draft
Prepared by the World Tourism Organization

Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability
of Tourism (SF-MST)
FINAL DRAFT
Draft prepared for UN Statistical Commission
2 February 2024
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS

STATISTICS DIVISION - UNITED NATIONS
Table of contents
List of abbreviations and acronyms....................................................................................................i

1. Introduction........................................................................................................................... 1
1.1. What is the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism? ... 1
1.2. What are the benefits of using SF-MST?................................................................. 4
1.3. Defining sustainable tourism .................................................................................... 6
1.4. Measuring the sustainability of tourism.................................................................... 8
1.5. Building SF-MST using existing statistical frameworks ......................................... 11
1.6. Structure of SF-MST document ............................................................................. 13
2. Key features of SF-MST .................................................................................................... 15
2.1. Conceptual focus of SF-MST ................................................................................. 15
2.2. Measuring sustainability in SF-MST ...................................................................... 18
2.3. Measurement coverage of SF-MST....................................................................... 19
2.4. Core statistical concepts and treatments ............................................................... 20
2.4.1. Concepts and definitions concerning visitors ........................................... 20
2.4.2. Concepts and definitions concerning the economic contribution
of tourism .................................................................................................. 22
2.4.3. Relevant recording treatments.................................................................. 25
2.4.4. Cross-cutting measurement issues .......................................................... 26
2.5. Measuring the sustainability of tourism at sub-national levels .............................. 28
2.5.1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 28
2.5.2. Defining tourism areas for measurement ................................................. 30
2.5.3. Delineating local tourism destinations for statistical purposes ................. 32
2.6. SF-MST indicators and statistical outputs ............................................................. 34
2.6.1. Types of statistical outputs ....................................................................... 34
2.6.2. Summary of SF-MST measurement themes and indicators .................... 36
2.6.3. Considerations in the implementation and application of SF-MST .......... 38
3. Measuring the economic dimension .................................................................................. 41
3.1. Introduction............................................................................................................. 41
3.2. Measuring the sustainability of visitor flows and expenditure................................ 42
3.2.1. Visitor flows ............................................................................................... 42
3.2.2. Tourism expenditure ................................................................................. 44
3.3. Measuring the economic structure and performance of tourism industries .......... 45
3.3.1. Economic structure ................................................................................... 46
3.3.2. Economic performance ............................................................................. 47
3.3.3. Distribution of economic benefits .............................................................. 49
3.4. Measuring the employment aspects of tourism ..................................................... 51
3.4.1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 51
3.4.2. Measures of employment for tourism ....................................................... 52
3.4.3. Characteristics of employment in tourism industries ................................ 55
3.4.4. Measuring occupations within the tourism industries ............................... 57
3.5. Measuring tourism investment in produced assets and related infrastructure ...... 58
3.6. Measuring tourism related government transactions ............................................ 62
3.7. Measuring the economic dimension for sub-national spatial areas ...................... 65
4. Measuring the environmental dimension ........................................................................... 69
4.1. Introduction............................................................................................................. 69
4.2. Measuring pressures and impacts on the environment due to tourism................. 71
4.2.1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 71
4.2.2. Measuring GHG emissions for tourism..................................................... 72
4.2.3. Accounting for solid waste generated by tourism activity......................... 75
4.2.4. Measuring water resources used in tourism ............................................. 77
4.2.5. Measuring energy use in tourism activity ................................................. 83
4.2.6. Other environmental flows ........................................................................ 87
4.3. Measuring the connections between tourism and ecosystems ............................. 88
4.3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 88
4.3.2. Accounting for ecosystem extent .............................................................. 90
4.3.3. Accounting for ecosystem condition ......................................................... 92
4.3.4. Accounting for ecosystem services .......................................................... 94
4.4. Measuring activities of tourism industries aimed at improving environmental
outcomes ................................................................................................................ 96
4.4.1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 96
4.4.2. Environmental transactions related to tourism ......................................... 97
4.4.3. Employment in environmental activities ................................................... 99
4.5. Measuring the environmental dimension at the sub-national level ..................... 101
4.6. Annex 4.1: General considerations in measuring the environmental dimension
of tourism.............................................................................................................. 102
4.6.1. Geographical scale and frequency of compilation.................................. 103
4.6.2. Estimating the tourism share of environmental physical flows ............... 103
4.6.3. Accounting for the location of the environmental flows .......................... 105
4.6.4. Distinguishing the production and consumption perspective ................. 106
4.6.5. Estimating indirect environmental flows ................................................. 108
5. Measuring the social dimension....................................................................................... 111
5.1. Introduction........................................................................................................... 111
5.2. Statistical framing for the measurement of the social dimension ........................ 112
5.2.1. Conceptual framing of the social dimension ........................................... 112
5.2.2. General considerations in measuring the social dimension ................... 115
5.3. Measuring the visitor’s perspective ...................................................................... 116
5.4. Measuring the host community perspective ........................................................ 120
5.5. Measuring the tourism suppliers perspective ...................................................... 124
5.6. Measuring the governance perspective ............................................................... 129
6. Implementation and application of SF-MST .................................................................... 135
6.1. Introduction........................................................................................................... 135
6.2. Institutional arrangements for implementation ..................................................... 135
6.3. Approaches and considerations in implementing SF-MST ................................. 137
6.3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 137
6.3.2. Specific considerations in implementation ............................................... 138
6.4. Expectations concerning data quality .................................................................. 140
6.5. Potential applications and extensions of SF-MST ............................................... 143
6.5.1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 143
6.5.2. Measurement of indirect and induced environmental flows..................... 144
6.5.3. Other areas of application and extension ................................................ 146
Annex 1: SF-MST Research agenda ........................................................................................... 149
Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 151
Glossary........................................................................................................................................ 159
Figures
Figure 1.1: Using statistical frameworks to link data and policy ...................................................... 1
Figure 1.2: The coverage and role of SF-MST ................................................................................ 2
Figure 1.3: Relationship between policy areas and the key dimensions of sustainability ............... 6
Figure 2.1a: Traditional view of systems ........................................................................................ 16
Figure 2.1b: Nested view of systems ............................................................................................. 16
Figure 2.2: Tourism areas .............................................................................................................. 31
Figure 2.3: The role of SF-MST in linking data inputs to indicators and analysis ......................... 35
Figure 3.1: Linkages between measures of employment in tourism ............................................. 54
Figure 4.1: Employment data for assessing the three dimensions of sustainability of tourism ... 100
Figure 6.1: Key factors in determining statistical quality .............................................................. 142
Figure 6.2: Direct, indirect and induced effects of tourism .......................................................... 145
Tables
Table 2.1: Themes and potential indicators covered by SF-MST.................................................. 37
Table 3.1: Data on visitor flows (number of trips) .......................................................................... 43
Table 3.2: Data on tourism expenditure (currency units) ............................................................... 45
Table 3.3: Main characteristics of establishments in the tourism industries.................................. 47
Table 3.4: Data on tourism supply of tourism products (currency units) ....................................... 48
Table 3.5: Data concerning the distribution of economic benefits ................................................. 50
Table 3.6: Characteristics of employment in tourism industries .................................................... 56
Table 3.7: Gross fixed capital formation of tourism industries ....................................................... 60
Table 3.8: Measures of the stock of tourism specific and related produced assets ...................... 61
Table 3.9: Tourism related Functions of Government – COFOG classes ..................................... 63
Table 4.1: Tourism GHG emissions account (‘000 tonnes) ........................................................... 74
Table 4.2: Tourism solid waste account (tonnes) .......................................................................... 76
Table 4.3: Tourism water flow account (cubic metres) .................................................................. 80
Table 4.4: Monthly recording of water use and availability (cubic metres) .................................... 81
Table 4.5: Water resources asset account: Tourism connected catchments (cubic meters)........ 82
Table 4.6: Tourism energy flow account (joules) ........................................................................... 86
Table 4.7: Generation of air pollutants ........................................................................................... 87
Table 4.8: Regional ecosystem extent account (‘000 hectares) .................................................... 91
Table 4.9: Species account for tourism-related mammals of southern Africa
(numbers of animals)...................................................................................................................... 94
Table 4.10: Environmental transactions related to tourism industries ........................................... 99
Table 4.11: Sources of tourism environmental flows by type of trip ............................................ 107
Table 5.1: Measurement themes for the social dimension of tourism ......................................... 115
Table 5.2: Visitor flow and engagement data by local tourism destination.................................. 118
Table 5.3: Employed persons in tourism industries by key characteristics
for the social dimension................................................................................................................ 126
List of abbreviations and acronyms
BPM Balance of Payments Manual

COFOG Classification of the Functions of Government
CORSIA Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation
CPC Central Product Classification
DMOs Destination Management Organizations
DPSIR Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response
DWMF ILO Decent Work Measurement Framework
EEA Environmental Economic Accounting
EGSS Environmental Goods and Service Sector
EP Environmental Protection
EPA Network European Environmental Protection Agencies
ESG Environmental, Social and Governance
EGSS Environmental goods and services sector
ETIS European Tourism Indicators System
EU European Union
EU-SILC EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions
EUROSTAT Statistical Office of the European Union
EW-MFA Economy-Wide Material Flow Accounts
FDI Foreign Direct Investment
FTE Full-time Equivalent
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GFCE Government Final Consumption Expenditure
GFCF Gross Fixed Capital Formation
GFS Government Finance Statistics
GHG Greenhouse Gases
GIS Geo-spatial Information Systems
GSTC Global Sustainable Tourism Council
IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency
ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization
ICATUS International Classification of Activities for Time-Use Statistics
ICLS International Conference of Labour Statistician
IEA International Energy Agency
IGET Interest Group Environment and Tourism
ILO International Labour Organization
INRouTe International Network on Regional Economics, Mobility and Tourism
INSTO International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories
IRES International Recommendations for Energy Statistics
IRTS 2008 International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008
ISCED International Standard Classification of Education
ISCO International Standard Classification of Occupations
ISIC International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities
ISO International Organization for Standardization
IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature
IUCN GET IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology
i
IY2017 International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development
JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency
LAU Local Administrative Units
LAV Limits of Acceptable Change
LEED Local Employment and Economic Development
LFS Labour Force Surveys
LRTAP Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution
MRIO Modelling Using Multi-Regional Input-Output
MST Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism
NACE Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community
NQAF National Quality Assurance Framework
NGO Non-governmental organizations
NSO National Statistical Office
NTA National Tourism Authority
NUTS Nomenclaturei of Territorial Units for Statistics
OECD Organisation for economic Co-operation and Development
OLADE Organización Latinoamericana de Energía
OPEC Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
RM Resource Management
ROS Recreation Opportunity Spectrum
SCP Sustainable Consumption and Production
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
SEEA System of Environmental-Economic Accounting
SEEA EA System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting
SIDS Small Island and Developing States
SF-MST Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism
SME Small and Medium Establishments
SNA System of National Accounts
TAS Tourism Acceptance Score
TME Tripartite Meeting of Experts
TIPs Toolkit of Indicators for Projects
TSA Tourism Satellite Account
TSA: RMF 2008 Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008
UN United Nations
UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
UNEP United Nations Environment Program
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNFCCC United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change
UNSD United Nations Statistics Division
UNWTO World Tourism Organization
VAT Value Added Taxes
VIM Visitor Impact Management
VOC Volatile Organic Compounds
W3C World Wide Web Consortium
ii
1. Introduction
1.1. What is the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of

Tourism?
1.1. Tourism can have a range of effects on the economy, the natural and built environment,
the local population at the places visited and the visitors themselves. Given the range of
direct and indirect effects and the wide spectrum of stakeholders involved, there is a need
for an integrated approach to tourism development, management and monitoring.
1.2. The Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) is a
multipurpose conceptual framework designed to support the recording and presentation of
data about the sustainability of tourism. It aims to organize data about tourism’s economic,
environmental and social connections and effects in a holistic way, considering differences
across geographic scales from local to national and international levels.
1.3. Statistical frameworks provide a structure for organizing data and statistics using common
concepts, definitions, classifications and reporting rules. Statistical frameworks also
connect defined concepts and organizing principles with the information needs of users.
Collectively, they establish a common language for measurement and the presentation of
data. Statistical frameworks are applied in all areas of official statistics and play the role of
transforming source data into well-accepted and authoritative statistics that can be used to
support many aspects of decision making (Figure 1.1). By providing a coherently organized
landscape of the main data, statistical frameworks help identify data gaps and areas of
duplication, and support efforts to collect the data that matters most.
Figure 1.1: Using statistical frameworks to link data and policy
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) 1

SF-MST – Chapter 1. Introduction
1.4. The concepts and definitions described in SF-MST are expected to remain relatively stable
over time. At the same time, it is likely that (i) data sources will change over time – due, for
instance, to the emergence of new or alternate data sources and spatially rich data sets;
and (ii) there will be ongoing changes in policy themes, aspirations and targets. Maintaining
a statistical framework at the heart of measurement, with periodic refinements to ensure
alignment with decision making contexts, ensures that data can be linked to policy in
meaningful ways and that effective comparisons can be made on an ongoing basis,
notwithstanding the ongoing changes in data sources and policy needs.
1.5. SF-MST does not provide a detailed description of methods and data sources for its
implementation. Following established statistical practice, it is intended that compilation
guidance will be developed separately to provide details of data sources and methods, and
guidance on appropriate implementation processes and governance. In addition, SF-MST
does not establish a standard set of indicators for reporting purposes. While a range of
indicators can be derived using the data organized following the SF-MST, the determination
of an agreed set of indicators is a complementary process that will consider the relevance
of different indicators and the feasibility of measurement.
1.6. The general coverage and role of SF-MST are shown in Figure 1.2. The figure highlights
that SF-MST encompasses measurement of the economic, environmental and social
dimensions of tourism and is intended to support application at all spatial scales, from the
local tourism destination level to the global scale. Further, SF-MST is concerned with what
should be the focus of measurement. The topic of how data might be collected and
transformed following the concepts and definitions of SF-MST is described in supporting
statistical compilation guidance. The topic of who might use the data and why it might be
used should be the subject of ongoing discussions between compilers of statistics and
various decision makers and stakeholders – SF-MST is intended to provide a common
language to support these discussions.
Figure 1.2: The coverage and role of SF-MST
2 World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

1.7. Broadly, SF-MST will be relevant to three key groups of stakeholders each having different
connections to information for decision making about the sustainability of tourism. These
groups are :
i. data producers, including but not limited to national statistical offices (NSOs), for whom
SF-MST supports the compilation of comparable and robust statistics;
ii. data analysts who work with and integrate data from various sources and provide
information to decision makers, for whom SF-MST provides a common focal point for
standard definitions, classifications and organization structures that facilitate
integration and more consistent, comparable and meaningful data analysis; and
iii. decision makers across public and private sectors, for whom SF-MST describes a
common language for discussion of progress towards the sustainability of tourism.
1.8. SF-MST is primarily intended for use by national statistical offices (NSOs) and related
technical agencies whose role is to collect data and compile statistics for all areas within a
country for a range of statistical themes. In many countries, the collection and compilation
of tourism statistics also involves the national tourism authority (NTA) which can both
support data collection and ensure a close link between tourism statistics on the one hand
and tourism policy on the other. Consistent with all statistical frameworks, implementation
of SF-MST is not mandatory and it is anticipated that countries will progressively develop
SF-MST based data sets in a modular and step-wise manner in line with national
circumstances, policy priorities and available resources.
1.9. The broad coverage of statistical topics within the scope of SF-MST provides a wide range
of opportunities to connect tourism statistics to policy, including economic development,
climate change, circular economy, disaster preparedness, employment and social and
cultural heritage. It is highlighted that the broad coverage of topics supports discussion of
many aspects of the sustainability of tourism but the organization of data across these
topics does not provide a direct assessment of whether tourism is sustainable in any given
context. Such assessments require data from SF-MST together with a range of information
and assumptions such as on preferences of local communities, projected patterns of visitor
movements and the capacity of transport infrastructure.
1.10. SF-MST also has the potential to support measurement activities at a tourism destination
level within a country. This is particularly relevant from a sustainable tourism perspective
since destination management has often been a focus of the research and efforts towards
improving the sustainability of tourism. The potential use of SF-MST at the local destination
level does not imply that an NSO must compile tourism statistics at that detailed geographic
scale. Rather, there is the opportunity for SF-MST to provide a common data language
such that measurement work at different scales can be more readily connected and
mutually reinforcing.
1.11. In addition, SF-MST will be relevant to experts and organizations involved in the analysis
and dissemination of information about the sustainability of tourism at all geographic
scales. Again, the use of a common language for the organization and presentation of
tourism statistics should support more consistent and coherent analysis and reporting on
performance.
1.12. Finally, SF-MST will be relevant to tourism decision makers across the public and private
sectors. National level data on the sustainability of tourism should directly inform national
policies on tourism and will also provide an overarching context within which specific

tourism activities and destinations can make their decisions. Sub-national statistics,
including destination level data, may be of more direct use for individual operators or
destination managers but will also provide national level decision makers a richer
understanding of the variations across destinations within their country that are likely to be
of interest in assessing questions of sustainability.
1.13. Depending on the decision making context, additional data and information may be
required that is not filtered through statistical frameworks directly. For example, data on
projected visitor arrivals, ecological thresholds or planning regulations will lie outside the
scope of statistical frameworks. As well, in the case of tourism, the range of potential data
sources including company reports, university research, big data, remote sensing and
satellite data, environmental monitoring data, tourism observatories and others, will mean
that not all data observations can be captured. Nonetheless, SF-MST provides a common
starting point for measurement and for discussions about data requirements to feed policy
design.
1.2. What are the benefits of using SF-MST?
1.14. The importance of developing a common framework to support comparison is very high to
secure progress towards more sustainable tourism. It may appear that integration of
information, for example, about a destination, is sufficient for a single group of decision
makers such as local/destination managers. However, it is clear that decisions by different
groups are interconnected. For example, local and national policy choices influence each
other, as do the policy choices of different government departments and agencies.
1.15. Further, given the range of stakeholders involved in the compilation, analysis and use of
data on the sustainability of tourism, there may be considerable barriers to progress if
different stakeholders have information that, being based on varying definitions and
measurement boundaries, lead to different conclusions and recommendations. The
statistical approach described in SF-MST works to overcome these information barriers
and support more harmonized and inclusive decision making.
1.16. Beyond support for comparison, the benefits of SF-MST include:

• Establishing a foundation for providing a single, coherent and comprehensive picture
of the sustainability of tourism and its trends.
• Describing a common language for discussing the sustainability of tourism by tourism
actors, alongside key policy areas such as planning, industry and business,
infrastructure, environment, social affairs, finance and central banks.
• Monitoring and benchmarking the performance of tourism activities and the impacts of
different policies on a consistent basis with other sectors and in different destinations
• Providing a basis for identifying and assessing opportunities to optimize the use of both
existing and new data sources.
• Improving co-ordination in data collection and organization, effectiveness of training
and capacity building, and institutional arrangements for the governance and
management of statistics on tourism.
• Establishing a robust basis for the design of, and investment in, integrated data and
technology solutions to support the compilation and dissemination of statistics on the
sustainability of tourism across multiple agencies.

1.17. Statistical frameworks also embody and support the application of a range of qualities
reflecting the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics 1 including relevance,
impartiality, equal access, scientific principles, professional ethics, transparency,
confidentiality for data reporters, national coordination and international cooperation.
Collectively they support the production of credible statistics, a pre-condition for having a
reliable evidence base for determining appropriate policy measures.
1.18. With sufficient, timely and adequate data to generate credible statistics, it is possible to
undertake different types of analysis of tourism more consistently and credibly. This, in turn,
is required to evaluate meaningfully the different social, economic and environmental
aspects of tourism. For instance, consistent application of analytical frameworks such as
driving force-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) frameworks (European
Environment Agency, 1999) can be undertaken. In addition, given that tourism activity
involves movement across borders, there are direct benefits of comparability where
different countries and regions apply common definitions, classifications and measurement
boundaries and hence support analysis of cross-border effects.
1.19. Examples of policies and analyses that can be supported by data organized following SF-
MST include those concerning in the labour market for tourism industries; the use of energy
and other natural resources; responses to climate change including minimizing greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions; developments in host communities including small and medium
enterprises, local culture, economic prospects and general quality of life; and assessing
the vulnerability and resilience of tourism industries and associated locations to potential
systemic effects (e.g. water shortages, energy crises, pandemics).
1.20. Overall, the science-based and consensus-backed approach of statistical data provides
credibility, raises awareness, fosters dialogue among different stakeholders, feeds more
effective and coherent policy, supports evaluation and review of outcomes, and promotes
transparency and stronger institutions. Most directly, it supports a more informed
assessment of the opportunities and risks facing tourism.
1.21. At the same time, it is important to acknowledge that SF-MST does not provide all of the
information relevant to building the evidence base for tourism decision makers. Two main
points are noted:
• In focussing on the integration of data across different dimensions of sustainability, SF-
MST does not immediately require the development of high frequency, real time data
or the development of data at a micro scale, e.g. with respect to specific tourism
industries. These will be important areas for data development for some purposes.
• SF-MST does not describe a range of analytical and other applications of data that will
be relevant in supporting decision making on tourism’s sustainability. For example,
analysis of the effects of environmental disasters, the longer term effects of climate
change, or the implications of investments in technology are not discussed.
1.22. The presence of a statistical framework represents an amalgamation of the wide array of
measurement work on the sustainability of tourism that has developed over recent
decades. Indeed, in many respects, SF-MST can be considered a culmination of
developments in measurement efforts seeking to assess the wide range of positive and
negative effects of tourism activity. By synthesising the key lessons from past work and
1
A/RES/68/261, available at https://unstats.un.org/unsd/dnss/gp/FP-New-E.pdf [09/01/2024]

benefitting from other statistical developments in the measurement of sustainability, SF-

MST can lower the barrier to entry for both data producers and policy makers who are often
confronted with too many measurement choices. At the same time, this version of SF-MST
should not be regarded as a final statement but rather as a common starting point for future
developments in the measurement of the sustainability of tourism.
1.3. Defining sustainable tourism
1.23. Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon related to the movement of people
outside their usual place of residence. It has an impact on the economy, the natural and
built environment, the local population at the places visited and the visitors themselves2.
1.24. Sustainable tourism is tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic,
social and environmental impacts whilst addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the
environment and host communities3.
1.25. Sustainable tourism is a multi-faceted concept that involves (i) making optimal use of
environmental resources, including maintaining essential ecological processes and helping
to conserve natural resources and biodiversity; (ii) respecting the socio-cultural authenticity
of host communities, by conserving their living cultural heritage and traditional values and
contributing to intercultural understanding and tolerance; and (iii) ensuring viable, long-term
economic operations that provide socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly
distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social
services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation4.
1.26. Depending on one’s perspective, different aspects and areas of focus of sustainable
tourism will be relevant. To support understanding of the different potential entry points,
Figure 1.3 shows the connections between 12 policy areas and the three key dimensions
of sustainable tourism.
Figure 1.3: Relationship between policy areas and the key dimensions of sustainability
Source: United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) & United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), 2005)
2
International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008 (para. 1.1)
3
UNEP/UNWTO 2005, Making Tourism More Sustainable: A Guide for Policy Makers
4
UNEP/UNWTO 2005, Making Tourism More Sustainable: A Guide for Policy Makers.

1.27. Further, to support application of sustainable tourism concepts, UNWTO and others have
developed guidelines for the sustainable management of tourism 5 covering all kinds of
tourism in all types of destinations, including mass tourism and the various niche tourism
segments. These guidelines embody sustainability principles concerning the
environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a
suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee
tourism’s long-term sustainability.
1.28. Thus, sustainable tourism development requires the informed participation of all relevant
stakeholders, as well as strong political leadership to ensure wide participation and
consensus building. Sustainable tourism is best considered as a continuous process rather
than a target state and, as such, its practice requires constant monitoring of impacts and
introducing the necessary preventive and/or corrective measures whenever necessary.
Sustainable tourism should also maintain a high level of tourist satisfaction and ensure a
meaningful experience for tourists, raising their awareness about sustainability issues and
promoting sustainable tourism practices amongst them6.
1.29. The concepts, principles and practices of sustainable tourism 7 have been a topic of
discussion in tourism circles for many decades 8 . The ongoing and building interest in
sustainable tourism has been driven by two key factors. First, there was the energizing
influence of the 1987 Brundtland Commission report “Our Common Future” and the
subsequent 1992 Rio Summit on sustainable development. While the ideas around
sustainable development had been under discussion for some time prior, this work and the
high-profile engagement placed sustainable development clearly on the “political map”.
1.30. The response to these ideas has been reflected in a range of contributions to policy and
measurement concerning sustainable tourism. These contributions include milestone
reports What Tourism Managers Need to Know (UNWTO, 1997) and Making Tourism More
Sustainable: A Guide for Policy Makers (UNEP/UNWTO, 2005); as well as several UN
General Assembly resolutions on sustainable tourism for poverty eradication and
environmental protection (e.g. A/RES/69/233 and A/73/274 in 2014 and 2018 respectively).
1.31. Further, the ideas have been embraced in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015.
Tourism’s connection to the SDGs has been an ongoing focus for UNWTO and has given
additional impetus to the long-standing work on the sustainability of tourism described
above. Examples of UNWTO work in relation to the SDGs include regular reports to the
UN General Assembly9, the publication “Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals
– Journey to 2030”10 and the joint UNWTO-JICA publication “Tourism and the Sustainable
Development Goals: A Toolkit of Indicators for Tourism Projects”11.
5
UNEP/UNWTO 2005, Making Tourism More Sustainable: A Guide for Policy Makers.
6 Ibid.
7
Here we include the development of ‘sustainable tourism’ products and the discussion around the sustainability of tourism
more holistically.
8
See for example Wagar (1964); Wenkam (1975); and Cohen (1978).
9
All reports are available at https://www.unwto.org/sustainable-development/unga
10
World Tourism Organization and United Nations Development Programme (2017), Tourism and the Sustainable Development
Goals – Journey to 2030, UNWTO, Madrid, DOI: https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284419401
11
World Tourism Organization (2023), Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through Tourism – Toolkit of Indicators for
Projects (TIPs), UNWTO, Madrid, https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284424344

1.32. The second key factor has been the tremendous growth in tourism activity over the past
decades reflecting ongoing increases in household income and the long-term decline in
relative prices of travel. This growth has established five lines of interest in tourism’s
sustainability:
i. the reality that in contributing a larger share of economic activity in most countries,
tourism activity is contributing more to the use of environmental resources and its
negative impact on the natural environment is increasingly evident.
ii. the notion that tourism activity can provide a path by which lower income countries and
regions might improve their standard of living and support more sustainable
development.
iii. the recognition of the dependence of tourism activity on its environmental and social
contexts and the need to keep these underpinning resources in good condition and
even contribute to their protection and improvement.
iv. the understanding that tourism has benefits for residents in tourism destinations and
visitors (and their origin countries) from a wider social perspective including through
personal wellbeing and relaxation, social cohesion, and building peace and mutual
understanding across locations.
v. the potential for tourism to build a wider appreciation of a country’s reputation and
hence serve as an impetus for foreign investment to underpin sustainability more
generally.
1.33. The profile of sustainable tourism was further enhanced when 2017 was declared the
United Nations International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development (IY2017). The
discussion around IY2017 recognized that tourism has the potential to contribute, directly
or indirectly, to all the 17 SDGs. In particular, targets relating to sustainable tourism are
explicitly referenced in SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth, SDG 12 on
responsible consumption and production and SDG 14 on life below water.
1.34. Finally, tourism’s sustainability has taken on new angles as a result of the effects from the
Covid-19 pandemic. Tourism was the most affected of all sectors, with businesses, jobs
and livelihoods around the world severely impacted. This was particularly true for many
developing countries, especially small island developing states (SIDS), as well as for
women and youth, for whom tourism is a leading source of opportunity. In turn, the Covid-
19 crisis represented an opportunity to rethink the tourism sector and its contribution to the
people and planet, to build back better towards a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient
tourism sector that ensures the benefits of tourism are enjoyed widely and fairly. Both the
downturn in travel and the return of tourism post Covid-19 have highlighted the importance
of data on all aspects of tourism and its connection to economic, environmental and social
contexts.
1.4. Measuring the sustainability of tourism
1.35. A key contribution of UNWTO in measuring the sustainability of tourism has been the
description of sets of indicators that respond to policy and destination management needs,
most notably the 2004 UNWTO Guidebook for Indicators of Sustainable Development for
Tourism Destinations. Building on earlier work, the Guidebook identified a very large
number of indicators (over 700) across 40 issue areas covering all dimensions of
sustainable development. This work highlights the importance of measurement in

supporting the design and implementation of policy and practices that support sustainable
tourism, but also the complexity involved in learning valuable policy lessons from extensive
and varied indicators.
1.36. Implementation of such indicators has been promoted through the UNWTO Network of
Tourism Observatories initiative 12 created in 2004 to support monitoring the economic,
environmental and social impact of tourism at the destination level and the continuous
improvement of sustainability and resilience in the tourism sector.
1.37. From a statistical perspective, the International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics
2008 also recognized the relevance of measuring tourism’s sustainability describing in
broad terms the connections between tourism and environmental and social issues and
explicitly recommending “that linking tourism and sustainability be considered a priority”
(IRTS 2008, 8.45).
1.38. A range of additional indicator work has taken place in parallel, particularly in Europe (see
Box 1.1). These indicator initiatives have been important in: highlighting the relevance of
measuring the performance of countries and destinations as part of attaining sustainable
tourism objectives; recognizing the need to consider all three dimensions of sustainable
tourism; and identifying the primary measurement themes within the three dimensions.
Box 1.1. Selected sustainable tourism indicator initiatives

Eurostat13 released a comprehensive review in 2006 of the measurement of sustainable tourism. The work proposed
20 indicators, primarily from economic and environmental domains, and including some social/cultural indicators, all
set within the DPSIR indicator framework14. The indicator set was intended to be applied at regional/sub-national level.
In 2022, Eurostat, jointly with the Member States, started working on a set of indicators on the sustainability of tourism
that can be compiled from existing official statistics. As new data sources or better disaggregation techniques become
available, the set will be deepened and widened. The main headings identified are i. economy, ii. labour market, iii.
social and cultural (other than labour market), iv. environmental and v. digitalisation.
The OECD15 summarized the findings of a workshop in 2010 considering the relationship between tourism and
sustainable development. It saw three main challenges for sustainable tourism - climate change, resource
conservation and social cohesion – consistent with the themes identified in earlier tourism sustainability work.
OECD´s work on Indicators for Measuring Competitiveness in Tourism (2013)16 created a limited set of meaningful
and robust indicators useful for governments to evaluate and measure tourism competitiveness in their country over
time and to guide them in their policy choices. An OECD review of statistical initiatives measuring tourism at
subnational level17 (2016) gathering work undertaken at sub-national level on tourism statistics and covers a wide
range of issues and is usually supported by general indicators focusing on demographic, GDP, labour force,
environmental, land cover or innovation.
The European Commission launched a European Tourism Indicators System (ETIS) for sustainable destination
management18. This initiative commenced in 2013 and defined 43 core indicators that have been trialed in a number
of destinations. The work aims to also support global initiatives such as the UN 2030 Development Agenda and the
related 10FYP on Sustainable Production and Consumption Patterns and the shift towards Sustainable
12
See http://insto.unwto.org
13
See "Methodological work on measuring the sustainable development of tourism", available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/tourism/methodology/projects-and-studies.
14
DPSIR: Driving force, Pressure, State, Impact, Response used by EEA. This framework is an extension of the pressure-state-
response framework proposed for environmental indicators and indicators of sustainable development developed by OECD (1994).
See also “Environmental indicators: Typology and overview” available at http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/TEC25
15
See e.g. Workshop on sustainable development strategies and tourism:
http://www.oecd.org/cfe/tourism/workshoponsustainabledevelopmentstrategiesandtourism.htm); Climate change and tourism policy
in OECD countries (http://www.oecd.org/cfe/tourism/48681944.pdf)
16
Dupeyras, A. and N. MacCallum (2013), “Indicators for Measuring Competitiveness in Tourism: A Guidance Document”, OECD
Tourism Papers, 2013/02, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5k47t9q2t923-en
17
OECD (2016-11-18), “An OECD Review of Statistical Initiatives Measuring Tourism at Subnational Level”, OECD Tourism
Papers, 2016/01, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5jln3b32hq7h-en
18
See: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/tourism/offer/sustainable/indicators_en.

Consumption and Production (SCP)19. The European Commission developed an EU Tourism Dashboard20 in 2022.
It is an online knowledge tool aimed at promoting and monitoring the green and digital transitions, and the socio-
economic resilience factors of EU tourism. The indicators are grouped in three policy-related pillars: i. environmental
impacts, ii. digitalization, iii. socio-economic vulnerability.
Since 2021 the Network of Heads of European Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA Network,
https://epanet.eea.europa.eu/) is continuing to work on tourism and environment, through its new Interest Group
Environment and Tourism (IGET)21). The EPA Network has undertaken to share its environmental expertise and
environmental data deriving from environmental monitoring activities to support the process of selecting indicators
relating to the environmental dimension of tourism sustainability. The desired direction is to help provide a more
complete picture of tourism in the context of monitoring above all the environmental pressures and impacts
inevitably generated by the demographic pressure of tourism.
In addition, the private sector is increasingly aware of the need to measure and report in a consistent way and is
engaging in a variety of initiatives, including on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting and certification
standards – issues that governments and international (legislative) bodies are also increasingly turning attention to.
1.39. A particular feature of sustainable tourism measurement work to date has been the diversity
of approaches that have been developed. While all have similar motivations and generally
encompass similar themes, the diversity of approaches hampers the potential to compare
performance and outcomes among destinations and across scales. Thus, “while the
research related to sustainable indicators in the fields within the tourism sector is constantly
growing, there are inconsistencies at the implementation and aggregation level, especially
when it comes to measuring these indicators. Different metrics, units, measures and
reporting forms are used by the different actors in the tourism sector”22.
1.40. Some indicators used in the various sustainable tourism indicator sets can be derived from
data collected following the definitions and standards for tourism statistics presented in the
IRTS 2008 and Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework (TSA:
RMF). Examples include visitor numbers, tourism expenditure, and tourism contribution to
GDP. However, since there are relatively few tourism statistics produced for sub-national
areas and the range of sustainability themes covered by tourism statistics is limited, there
tends to be a gap between the data required to support derivation of the various sustainable
tourism indicators and the standard set of tourism statistics. SF-MST aims to reduce this gap
by broadening the scope of tourism statistics and hence supporting the derivation of
sustainable tourism indicators across a range of themes relevant for sustainability.
1.41. Most commonly, the development of statistics commences from a well-established and
broadly agreed concept that can be the focus for the development of rigorous definitions,
classifications and measurement methods. Examples include population growth,
unemployment, inflation, economic growth and visitor numbers.
1.42. For the measurement of sustainability, there are generally agreed concepts reflecting the
central idea of meeting the needs of the present generations while not compromising the
potential for future generations to meet their needs23. However, while this concept may be
generally agreed, converting this concept into a measurable definition for statistical
purposes has proved very challenging.
19
The 10YFP, an outcome of Rio+20, is a global framework that enhances international cooperation to accelerate the shift
towards SCP
20
https://tourism-dashboard.ec.europa.eu/
21
https://epanet.eea.europa.eu/reports-letters/epa-network-interest-group-on-citizen-science/epa-network-interest-group-on-
environment-and-tourism
22
Abstract, 2014 UNWTO workshop report on Improving evidence-based decision making in the tourism sector
23
Brundtland, 1987

1.43. As reflected in the extensive discussion on the measurement of sustainability from a

statistical perspective in the work of the Conference of European Statisticians24, there is
common agreement that measurement should encompass three primary dimensions –
economic, environment and social. This scope is needed to recognize the importance of
environmental and social factors when considering sustainability, for example concerning
climate change and income distribution. Further, it is generally accepted that whether or
not a context can be considered sustainable will be dependent on the time horizons being
considered, the territorial scale of analysis (e.g. local destinations or countries), the
perspective of the analysis (local business, government official, visitors, host
communities) and the relative importance placed on different themes across the economic,
environmental and social dimensions.
1.44. The precise combination of time horizons, territorial scales, perspectives and themes has
not been agreed, in large part because the circumstances and priorities will vary
significantly from place to place and over time. Consequently, the data and indicators that
should be the singular focus of measurement cannot be defined, i.e., a single measure of
sustainable tourism is not a meaningful concept that can be applied across different
countries and destinations. However, it is possible to provide a consistent and comparable
framing for the variety of measures that will be relevant in an assessment of the
sustainability of tourism irrespective of where or when an assessment is undertaken.
Describing such a consistent framing is the primary objective of SF-MST.
1.5. Building SF-MST using existing statistical frameworks
1.45. The development of SF-MST builds directly on well-established statistical frameworks for
tourism statistics and provides the expansion of the system of tourism statistics. Within the
UN system, UNWTO has a mandate for the collection and dissemination of tourism
statistics and the development and implementation of associated international statistical
standards. The work dates back as far as 1937 with the first definition of an “international
tourist” and extends through more than 80 years. It includes provisional guidelines on
tourism statistics released in 1978; initial developments on tourism economic accounts in
the 1980s and 1990s; the 1993 Recommendations on Tourism Statistics; and the 2001
Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework.
1.46. A feature in the development of tourism statistics has been the role of international
conferences in providing platforms to launch each stage of development 25 . The
developments in measuring the sustainability of tourism are no exception, with the profile
of work being strongly endorsed at the 6th International Conference on Tourism Statistics
held in Manila in June 2017. A key outcome from the conference was the Manila Call for
Action on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism, a joint declaration of Ministers, Chief
Statisticians and other conference participants26. Among a range of actions, the Manila Call
for Action explicitly requests the development of SF-MST, a call that had been endorsed at
the 48th session of the United Nations Statistical Commission meeting held in March 2017
and that was reinforced as a key area of work at the UNWTO General Assembly in
September 2017.
24
UNECE, 2014
25
IRTS, 2008 Chapter 1 (UNWTO, 2010) provides a description of the historical development of tourism statistics.
26
https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/unwtodeclarations.2017.26.01

1.47. Prior to the development of SF-MST, the most recent advances in tourism statistics were
reflected in the international standards for tourism measurement, the International
Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008 (IRTS 2008) (UNWTO & UN, 2010) and the
Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008 (TSA:RMF
2008) (UNWTO, UN, Eurotat and OECD, 2010). The IRTS 2008 provides the main
concepts, definitions and classifications for measuring visitor flows and characteristics,
tourism expenditure, and the industries that cater to this demand. A key feature of the TSA:
RMF is the reconciliation of the supply (business) and the demand (visitor) sides of tourism
activity, and hence the presentation of data on the economic contribution of tourism in a
coherent fashion and consistent with the rest of a country’s statistical system..
1.48. The design of SF-MST, explained in detail in Chapter 2, uses a multiple capitals framing
as a conceptual structure for the discussion of sustainability and as the starting point for
the organization of a wide range of monetary and non-monetary data across the economic,
environmental and social dimensions. The use of a multiple capitals framing supports the
integration of data from existing statistical frameworks, in particular from accounting
frameworks. SF-MST thus reflects the results of tailoring these various frameworks to the
tourism context. The following paragraphs summarize the key connections to non-tourism
statistical frameworks brought together in SF-MST.
1.49. First, the TSA:RMF 2008 reflects the application to tourism of the accounting approach of
the United Nations’ System of National Accounts (SNA). The SNA 2008 (UN et al, 2010) is
the current version of this international standard and provides the basis for the
measurement of economic activity and economic wealth, including for example measures
of GDP. The measurement scope of the SNA encompasses a range of other standards for
economic statistics including the balance of payments statistics, government finance
statistics and price statistics each of which have separate, but integrated, statistical
standards.
1.50. In tailoring the SNA to the measurement of tourism activity, the TSA:RMF 2008 describes
in detail the accounting framework for describing tourism’s role in economic activity using
a set of 10 interlinked tables. The TSA:RMF 2008 provides the detail required for the
assessment of the economic dimension within SF-MST and additional economic themes
are incorporated by extending the TSA: RMF through the adaptation of the wider SNA
framework.
1.51. Second, the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) Central Framework

2012 (UN et al, 2014) is the overall international statistical standard for the measurement
of the environment and its relationship to the economy. The SEEA, like the TSA:RMF 2008,
is an accounting-based framework that uses and adapts the accounting concepts and rules
of the SNA. In 2021, the SEEA was extended to consider finer, sub-national, spatial scales
through the development of standards for ecosystem accounting as described in SEEA
Ecosystem Accounting (UN et al, 2021). Ecosystem accounting organizes data on
ecosystems and their links to economic activity and is well suited to provide insights into
the connection of tourism to the environment at local scales.
1.52. SF-MST takes advantage of the common origin of the SEEA and the TSA:RMF 2008 in the
SNA which allows the environmental dimension of tourism to be coherently integrated with
the economic dimension. The integration of the SEEA and the TSA:RMF 2008 is an
important component of SF-MST.

1.53. Third, while some aspects of tourism employment are included in the TSA:RMF 2008 as
relevant to the measurement of the economic dimension, SF-MST extends the set of data
by integrating other statistical standards and guidelines developed by the ILO covering for
example data on characteristics of employed persons and decent work. These data allow
assessment of both the input of labour into the production of tourism goods and services
and the characteristics of the underlying labour force.
1.54. Collectively, through these core statistical frameworks and others described through this
document, SF-MST demonstrates how concepts and definitions that have already been
endorsed by the statistical community can be combined to take advantage of existing and
new data sources to tell a more comprehensive story about the sustainability of tourism. In
that sense, SF-MST should not be considered as a “stand alone” sustainability framework
for tourism, but rather as a demonstration of the potential of statistical frameworks to
operate in a joined-up fashion.
1.55. SF-MST is the first statistical framework to demonstrate the potential to integrate across
economic, environmental and social dimensions. At the same time, this development builds
on significant contributions over many years in both the statistical domain and in other
sustainability measurement initiatives. Further, it responds to the wider calls for
measurement systems that record performance beyond the economic dimension or
“beyond GDP”. The demand for such systems has been growing ever louder, especially
through the adoption and promotion of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Thus,
while SF-MST may be considered a unique statistical framework, its technical content
builds on a strong history and its motivation responds to an increasing demand.
1.6. Structure of SF-MST document
1.56. After the introduction (chapter 1), chapter 2 provides a comprehensive description of the
key features of SF-MST including its conceptual design, its statistical foundations, its
approach to measurement at the sub-national level, and its measurement themes and
indicators. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 describe the relevant concepts, definitions, measurement
boundaries, SF-MST outputs (including accounts, tables and indicators), and measurement
issues for the economic, environmental and social dimensions of tourism respectively.
Collectively, these chapters provide the core of the statistical framework in terms of
determining the potential areas of measurement and describing the various stocks and
flows that are the focus of assessing sustainability. The majority of the descriptions in these
chapters are applications of existing statistical standards and guidance. It is not intended
to repeat all relevant material but to explain how these existing materials can be integrated
and applied to the challenge of measuring tourism's sustainability.
1.57. As for all statistical frameworks, SF-MST is not intended to provide compilation guidance
or implementation advice. Nonetheless, to support initial discussion and ahead of the
preparation of relevant additional documentation, Chapter 6 provides a general introduction
to a range of implementation and compilation topics. Annexes provide supporting
information on classifications, a glossary of key terms, references and a research agenda.

2. Key features of SF-MST
2.1. Conceptual focus of SF-MST
2.1. The primary intent in the design of SF-MST is to describe an integrated statistical
framework that operationalizes measurement within the scope of the UNWTO/UNEP broad
definition of sustainable tourism (see para 1.22). Specifically, SF-MST aims to provide a
common set of concepts, definitions, classifications and reporting structures to guide and
underpin measurement of tourism across its economic, environmental and social
dimensions and at different territorial scales and locations.
2.2. The design of SF-MST recognizes the importance of reflecting the interactions between
the economic, environmental and social dimensions at different spatial scales, from
national and global scales to sub-national and destination scales. This supports the
application of the UNWTO/UNEP definition of sustainable tourism which is generally
embodied at a finer spatial scale (e.g., in relation to host communities). At the same time,
interactions at a local level occur within a broader setting and issues that gain more
relevance at national and global scales, such as concerning financial markets and climate
change, need also to be considered. Thus, from a statistical perspective, SF-MST aims to
ensure consistency in definition that supports comparison from local to national and global
scales.
2.3. SF-MST also recognizes that individual contexts, such as for a single tourism destination,
are usefully characterized in terms of “nested systems” – i.e. where the economic system
is embedded within a social context which in turn sits within an environmental system. This
“economy - in society - in nature” perspective (Costanza et al, 2012) is shown in Figure
2.1b in contrast to the more traditional conception of the relationship between the three
dimensions in Figure 2.1a where the economy, the environment and society are distinct
systems, even if slightly overlapping.
2.4. Using a framing that reflects the close relationships between the dimensions in order to
consider the sustainability of tourism supports::
• Inclusion of all three primary dimensions of sustainability
• Recognition that there are fundamental dependencies of the economic dimension on
both the social and environmental dimension
• Explicit consideration of the importance of location and the varying connections
between the dimensions in different locations.

SF-MST – Chapter 2. Key features of the SF-MST
Figure 2.1a: Traditional view of systems Figure 2.1b: Nested view of systems
2.5. One consequence of applying a systems framing is that SF-MST does not establish a
“single” measure of sustainable tourism nor does it establish the rules by which a specific
context should be considered sustainable (see also paras. 1.40-1.42). These would require
determining the appropriate thresholds and preferences across all of the dimensions of
sustainability such that the outcomes observed were considered sustainable. Establishing
such thresholds and preferences is not an appropriate statistical task. For example, it is
appropriate for statisticians to measure water quality but not to establish the thresholds that
reflect the suitability of water for human consumption. Thus, the focus of SF-MST is
organizing a sufficiently comprehensive set of data such that decision-makers and other
stakeholders at different locations and at different scales can make their own assessments
of the sustainability of tourism in an integrated and well-informed way.
2.6. The assessment of sustainability is one of many different types of system-related

assessments. Other system-related concepts that are commonly the focus of assessment
and analysis in tourism include: resilience and risk and, carrying capacity. While there are
differences in the nature of the assessments of each of these concepts, due to the fact that
they are focus on assessment of systems then from a measurement perspective there is
much commonality in the data requirements. The following examples highlight potential
applications of data in relation to different systems-related concepts.
• The measurement of water use by tourism industries relative to water availability will
provide insights into the dependence of tourism activity on a given water supply and
the associated potential vulnerability of tourism activity to the effects of drought.
• Data on the age and skills of employees in tourism activities can provide insights into
the risks that may arise if there is limited staff development and opportunity within the
sector or there is increasing competition for people with similar skills sets in other
industries.
• Measurement of the condition of ecosystems commonly used by visitors and
associated patterns of use may support assessment of the risks associated with loss
of biodiversity.
• Recording information on the location of tourism activity and the quality of tourism
related infrastructure (including roads, rail lines, etc.) will support analysis of the
potential effects of natural disasters and long term effects of climate change such as
sea level rise.

• Organizing data on the economic dependence of countries and locations on tourism

activity can inform understanding of the risks to the wider economy of large global or
local shocks such as pandemics and natural disasters.
2.7. In general then, from a systems perspective, tourism is cross-cutting sector impacted in its
development by a complex sets of risks such as those related to natural disasters, health
and/or socio-economic crises, geopolitical distress. Climate change poses today one of the
highest and wider reaching risk factors for the sector together with the ongoing
technological, demographic and social changes. Building resilience is thus increasingly
recognized as a prerequisite to ensure the sustainable development of tourism. This spans
from ensure an adequate framework for crisis preparedness and management but also at
the outset ensuring that risk and resilience are an integral component of tourism
development in all its paillars ― economic, social and environmental. The measurement
aim then is to provide data that help identify potential areas of risk and vulnerability if
contexts change, and recognizing that context change may be both driven by tourism
activity itself or result from non-tourism related events and changes.
2.8. The overarching principles of resilience thinking and risk-informed management directly
influence sustainable development endeavours. While the concept of resilience is still
subject to a variety of definitions and interpretations depending on the context in which it is
studied, there are several general resilience principles and indicators that allow for an
operationalization of the concept. Basic principles of resilience that can be considered
using SF-MST data include: diversification (of source markets (both internationally and
domestically), products, industries (having tourism characteristics and others), dependency
on tourism, , levels of employment and education, governance social networks (building
strong stakeholder cooperation). .
2.9. Overall, the intention in the development of SF-MST is not to provide direct answers to
each of these systems-related topics. Rather, the intended role of SF-MST is to provide a
coherent and holistic baseline description of tourism, including changes over time, and thus
support a wide range of assessments and analyses. This role should support more
proactive management of systems to which tourism activity is connection. SF-MST does
not, of itself, evaluate the sustainability, resilience or carrying capacity of a given system,
this is the role of analysts and decision-makers. The development of a common information
set for those analysts tasked with undertaking such assessments should enable decision
makers to recognize the connections within and across systems more readily and hence
design and implement more integrated solutions and responses..
2.10. It is not expected that in the early implementation of SF-MST there will be sufficient
resources to organize all of the data required to support all the assessments that might be
imagined. In that sense, the role of SF-MST is describing a pathway for the development
of more integrated data in relation to tourism activity and establishing a common language
for the concepts and definitions that are used to describe the systems to which tourism is
connected. Regarding the implementation of SF-MST, this implies that the approach that
must be adopted should be flexible and modular. That is, for different countries and different
locations the emphasis should be on organizing data that are most relevant to the decision
making context and progressively building a richer data set over time, in line with
circumstances and priorities.

2.2. Measuring sustainability in SF-MST
2.11. The concept of sustainability has been framed in several different ways but a common
understanding is that it embodies considerations of economic, environmental and social
dimensions. For the purposes of SF-MST, an enduring starting point for measuring
sustainability is the definition of sustainable development of the 1987 Brundtland
Commission report. This report defines sustainable development as development that
“meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs”27.
2.12. The development of SF-MST uses a multiple capitals framing to provide both a
comprehensive and consistent measurement scope and a basic narrative for the
consideration of the sustainability of tourism. At the core of a multiple capitals framing is
the relationship between (i) the underlying stocks or endowments of capital encompassing
four main types of capital: namely produced, natural, human and social capital; and (ii) the
flows of benefits including monetary and non-monetary benefits from those stocks. In
respect of the Brundtland Commission definition of sustainable development, the aim is
thus to understand whether the flow of benefits can be sustained in the future. The use of
a multiple capital approach to underpin the measurement of sustainability has been
reflected in a range of statistical work including in the Conference of European Statisticians
Recommendations on Measuring Sustainable Development28.
2.13. The inclusion of a comprehensive set of capitals allows data to be integrated to support
analysis of the quantity and quality of stocks underpinning tourism including produced
assets and infrastructure (e.g. hotels, roads), environmental assets (e.g. beaches, forests,
water resources) and human and social capitals (e.g. labour force, institutional networks).
This scope of stocks then supports integrated measurement of the flows of benefits
accruing from those stocks (e.g. earnings of tourism employees, tourism value added,
visitor satisfaction) and the pressures and effects of tourism activity on those stocks (e.g.
GHG emissions, declines in water quality).
2.14. From a measurement perspective, a multiple capitals framing can be implemented using
accounting frameworks and a feature of SF-MST is its combination of existing accounting
frameworks, including TSA, SNA and SEEA (see section 1.5). The use of accounting
frameworks to organize data for a multiple capitals framing works well since accounting
rules provide a sound theoretical framing for recording data, in both monetary and non-
monetary terms, on stocks and flows and can provide a structured and consistent approach
to the integration of data across economic, environmental and social dimensions. Clear
definitions and measurement boundaries for each of the various stocks and flows can be
established which, in turn, supports comparability and encourages understanding of the
interlinkages between different themes.
2.15. Multiple capitals framings do have limitations. Concerning their scope, work to date has
found it can be difficult to fully articulate relevant themes in the social dimension of
sustainability into a stocks and flows framing. Consequently, most work on multiple capitals
has focused on organizing data concerning produced, natural and human capital. Further,
27
(UN World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, p423).
28
UNECE (2014) https://unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/stats/publications/2013/CES_SD_web.pdf

since most work on multiple capitals has considered each type of capital separately, there
is an ongoing requirement to develop better approaches to integration across the different
capitals.
2.16. While a multiple capital framing is the primary underlying framing in SF-MST, measurement
of the stocks and associated benefits is readily connected to other framings for the
organization of data about sustainability. For example, the data in SF-MST can also support
analysis using the DPSIR framework in terms of the drivers and pressures within a system
(e.g. population growth, GHG emissions, air pollution), the current state of stocks and flows,
impacts on the stocks of capital (e.g. the effects of climate change on local ecosystems),
and the responses to the changes in the stocks and flows (e.g. through regulations,
environmental protection expenditure, investments in infrastructure).
2.3. Measurement coverage of SF-MST
2.17. The measurement coverage of SF-MST supports the integration of information on the three
primary dimensions of sustainability – economic, environmental and social - and across
different spatial scales from local to global scales. All forms of tourism are within scope
including domestic and international trips, and both tourists and same-day visitors. The
breadth of data brought together in SF-MST should enable multiple perspectives on
sustainability to be considered, including the perspective of tourism establishments (supply
side), the perspective of visitors (demand side) and the perspectives of host communities
and governments.
2.18. The following short descriptions are intended to provide a general sense of the coverage
with details provided in the following three chapters each covering one of the dimensions.
At the same time, it is important to recognize that there are linkages and overlaps between
the dimensions such that specific themes may be considered part of more than one
dimension, scale or perspective. For example, employment is relevant in both economic
and social dimensions, will need consideration at both local and national scales and will
have different meaning for establishments and host communities. Thus the separation of
discussion into three themes is intended simply as a means to present the range of relevant
themes and data and does not imply that each dimension should be analyzed separately.
2.19. The economic dimension covers the production and consumption associated with tourism
activity in terms of associated goods and services. This will commonly be reflected in
measures such as tourism expenditure, tourism consumption, and the output of tourism
industries. The economic dimension also includes description of the characteristics of
tourism industries and the production processes of tourism industries, capturing
investments in produced capital (hotels, transport infrastructure, etc.), employment in
tourism industries, and human capital (including education levels); and information on
tourism establishments including the number, size, industry class and ownership.
2.20. The environmental dimension concerns the stocks and changes in stock of
environmental assets, often referred to as natural capital, that either support tourism activity
through the provision of ecosystem services, and biodiversity; or are affected by tourism
activity. As well, the environmental dimension incorporates (i) measurement of the flows of
natural inputs into tourism production processes, such as flows of water and energy, (ii)
flows of residuals that are generated from tourism production and consumption including

GHG emissions, solid waste (including food waste and plastics), wastewater and other
pollutants; and (iii) activities of tourism establishments to improve environmental outcomes
(including green jobs).
2.21. The social dimension covers a range of social aspects related to tourism activity. The
data about the social dimension is organized to encompass four perspectives: (i) the visitor
perspective covering visitor flows, visitor engagement with and appreciation of host
communities, visitor satisfaction and visitor access to and participation in tourism; (ii) the
host community perspective covering the pressures exerted by tourism and impacts of
tourism on the host community; (iii) the tourism suppliers perspective covering the
characteristics of employed persons, entrepreneurship and decent work; and (iv) the
governance perspective covering tourism strategy, plans, regulations, accessibility, health,
human rights and civic engagement and stakeholder participation.
2.22. In applying the conceptual coverage for measurement just described, it is necessary to
establish a geographic scope for measurement. The primary focus for SF-MST applies the
concept of economic territory of a country as defined in the System of National Accounts
and as applied in the IRTS 2008 and TSA:RMF 2008. The associated concept of residence,
and the fundamental tourism concept of usual environment, are described in the following
section.
2.23. In principle, the concepts encompassed in SF-MST can also be applied at a sub-national
level, reflecting the observation that countries can be of many different sizes. However,
there are many practical challenges in attempting a complete translation and focus must
therefore be placed on measurement that is both feasible and relevant. Thus, for countries
that have a small area, sub-national statistics on tourism may be of less relevance while
for larger countries, where tourism activity is concentrated in specific areas, analysis of
tourism may require some degree of sub-national measurement. As well, since the
measurement of sustainability requires consideration of economic, environmental and
social dimensions, it is the case that meaningful connection among these dimensions is
commonly best described at a relatively small geographical scale. Reflecting this, much
research and measurement of sustainable tourism has focused on the destination level.
2.24. Given these considerations, while the statistical descriptions in SF-MST relate most directly
to measurement at the national level, there is also a substantive description of
measurement of tourism’s sustainability at sub-national levels. Section 2.6 provides an
introduction and general principles and sections in chapters 3, 4 and 5 provides more
specificity on sub-national measurement for each of the dimensions.
2.4. Core statistical concepts and treatments
2.4.1. Concepts and definitions concerning visitors
2.25. Tourism is a demand-driven phenomenon. That is, the same economic activity providing
the same goods and services may be considered tourism, or not tourism, depending on the
status of the consumer, i.e. whether they are a visitor or not. This makes the concept of
“visitor” central to understanding whether economic activities qualify as tourism. From an

economic perspective, the demand side of tourism refers to the activities of visitors and
their acquisition of goods and services. The supply-side of tourism is understood to be the
set of productive activities that cater (mainly) to visitors.
2.26. The International Recommendations on Tourism Statistics 2008 (IRTS 2008) focuses on
the activities carried out by visitors and on measuring them in both monetary and non-
monetary terms. It provides a system of definitions, concepts, classifications and main
indicators that are internally consistent and that facilitate the link to the conceptual
frameworks of the national accounts, especially Tourism Satellite Accounts, Balance of
Payments, labour statistics and other statistics (see also para 1.45).
2.27. The framing of the visitor that is at the heart of tourism statistics and at the heart of SF-
MST, is clearly defined in IRTS 200829. The key definitions are:
• A visitor is a traveller taking a trip to a main destination outside his/her usual
environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose (business, leisure or other
personal purpose) other than to be employed by a resident entity in the country or
place visited (IRTS 2008, 2.9).
• A person’s usual environment is defined as the geographical area (though not
necessarily a contiguous one) within which an individual conducts his/her regular life
routines. It complements the concept of residence applied in economic statistics and
the concept of usual residence as applied in household statistics (which refers to the
place at which people reside) (IRTS 2008, 2.21 and 2.22).
• Tourism refers to the activity of visitors (IRTS 2008, 2.9).
• A visitor is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor) if his/her trip includes an
overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise (IRTS 2008, 2.13).
• A tourism trip is a trip undertaken by a visitor (see IRTS 2008, 2.29) and may be
categorized as domestic, inbound or outbound trip depending on the residency of the
visitor and the main destination. Domestic tourism is the activity of visitors on trips
within their country of residence, inbound tourism is the activity on trips within a
reference country by non-residents and outbound tourism is the activity on trips
outside a reference country by residents. These three categories constitute the
different forms of tourism. A domestic or an outbound tourism trip refers to the travel
of a visitor from the time of leaving his/her usual residence until he/she returns: it thus
refers to a roundtrip. An inbound tourism trip refers to the travel of a visitor from the
time of arriving in a country to the time of leaving (see IRTS 2008, 2.30).
• The three basic forms of tourism (inbound, domestic and outbound) can be combined
to derive other forms of tourism: internal tourism being the sum of domestic and
inbound tourism; national tourism being the sum of domestic and outbound tourism
and international tourism corresponds to the sum of inbound and outbound tourism.
2.28. Distinguishing the different forms of tourism requires application of the concepts of
economic territory and residence. To support consistency and comparability with other
statistics, these two concepts are defined following the System of National Accounts and
the Balance of Payments. The economic territory of a country is the area under effective
control of a single government. It includes the land area, airspace, territorial waters and
territorial enclaves30 in the rest of the world (SNA 2008 4.11 & 12). The residence of each
29
See IRTS 2008 Chapter 2
30
Territorial enclaves include embassies, consulates and military bases and the operations of international organizations. For
more details see 2008 SNA, paras, 26.24-26.45.

institutional unit (including households and enterprises) is the economic territory with which
it has the strongest connection, in other words, its centre of predominant economic interest
(SNA 2008 4.10).
2.29. Additional details on the definitions of visitors, trips and usual environment are provided in
IRTS 2008 Chapter 2 together with description of relevant inclusions, exclusions and
recommended treatments. These same definitions and treatments apply in SF-MST.
2.4.2. Concepts and definitions concerning the economic contribution of

tourism
2.30. In principle, the concepts of production, consumption and other economic variables that
are used in the measurement of the economic activity of tourism are the same as applied
for the measurement of other economic activities. However, the standard descriptions and
classifications of economic activities do not explicitly identify “tourism” as a stand-alone
economic activity and thus special efforts have been required to consistently identify and
measure the relevant flows. The issue arises because, as noted above, tourism is defined
from a demand perspective, and hence encompasses production activity that cuts across
a range of industries within the standard industrial classification view of economic activity
(such as accommodation for visitors, passenger transport, food and beverage serving
activities). In supply-side statistics, establishments are classified according to their main
activity, which, in turn, is determined by the activity that generates the most value added.
As a consequence, the grouping of all establishments with the same main activity which
serves visitors directly and is one of the tourism characteristic activities constitutes a
tourism industry31.
2.31. The relevant definitions, boundaries and classifications for the measurement of tourism
economic activity are presented in the Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended
Methodological Framework 2008 (TSA:RMF 2008) 32 is the international standard for
compiling tourism satellite accounts (TSA) and provides a conceptual framework for
understanding tourism from a macroeconomic perspective. It builds directly on the
concepts and definitions of the IRTS 2008 and complements it by providing the link to the
System of National Accounts, detailing the mechanism for bringing together tourism supply
and demand data in order to obtain the tourism share of different industries that form the
basis for measures such as Tourism Direct GDP, and presenting corresponding accounts
and analytical tables. The use of accounting principles at the core of tourism statistics
provides the basis for SF-MST to adopt an accounting approach for the organization of
information about the sustainability of tourism activity.
2.32. Key definitions used in the TSA:RMF 2008 are:

• Tourism expenditure is the amount paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and
services, as well as valuables, for own use or to give away, for and during tourism trips.
It includes expenditure by visitors themselves as well as expenses that are paid for or
reimbursed by others (see IRTS 2008, para. 4.2).
31
See IRTS 2008, para 6.14 and 6.15.
32
Related to TSA, two further manuals have been published by OECD in 2000 (“Measuring the Role of Tourism in OECD
Economies. The OECD Manual on Tourism Satellite Accounts and Employment”; https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/industry-and-
services/measuring-the-role-of-tourism-in-oecd-economies_9789264182318-en) and by by Eurostat (“European Implementation
Manual on Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA)”) in 2002.

• Tourism consumption expands the measurement boundary of tourism expenditure

to include consumption that does not involve monetary transactions such as services
associated with vacation accommodation on own-account, tourism social transfers in
kind and other imputed transactions(details are provided in TSA: RMF section B.2).
• Tourism supply is understood as the direct provision to visitors of the goods and
services that make up tourism expenditure (IRTS 2008, 6.2)
• Tourism characteristic products are those consumption products that satisfy one or
both of the following criteria: (i) tourism expenditure on the product should represent a
significant share of total tourism expenditure; (ii) tourism expenditure on the product
should represent a significant share of the supply of the product in the economy (IRTS
2008, 5.10).
• Tourism characteristic activities are the activities that typically produce tourism
characteristic products (IRTS 2008, 5.11).
• An establishment is an enterprise, or part of an enterprise, that is situated in a single
location and in which only a single productive activity is carried out or in which the
principal productive activity accounts for most of the value added (SNA 2008, 5.14). A
Tourism establishment is an establishment whose main activity is a tourism
characteristic activity.
• Tourism industry is the grouping of those establishments whose main activity is the
same tourism characteristic activity (IRTS 2008, 6.2, 6.14 and 6.15).
2.33. The majority of tourism expenditure is on tourism characteristic products and the majority
of the supply is provided by tourism characteristic activities. Thus, the primary focus in the
TSA:RMF 2008 is recording the production, income and value added of tourism industries
and reconciling this information with data on tourism expenditure.
2.34. Box 2.1 presents the top-level categories for tourism characteristic products and tourism
characteristic activities (tourism industries). In an economy wide setting, products comprise
both goods and services. It is not possible to establish a standard list of tourism-related
goods acquired for and during trips that would be meaningful worldwide because it is not
possible to achieve sufficient homogeneity among countries in terms of the goods
purchased by visitors (IRTS 2008, 5.39). As a result, the focus in defining products is almost
exclusively on services, except for country-specific tourism characteristic goods such as
souvenirs and handicrafts. Further, for the purposes of international comparability the
measurement focus is on categories 1-10.
2.35. Although there is an apparently close match between the set of products and activities as
shown in Box 2.1, there is not a one to one relationship. In practice, a single tourism
establishment may produce a range of products even though it will be classified to its main
product (IRTS 2008, 5.11 and 5.14, as well as TSA:RMF 2008, 3.8-3.10).
Box 2.1. Categories of tourism characteristic consumption products and tourism characteristic
activities (tourism industries)
Products Activities / Industries
1. Accommodation services for visitors 1. Accommodation for visitors
2. Food and beverage serving services 2. Food and beverage serving activities
3. Railway passenger transport services 3. Railway passenger transport
4. Road passenger transport services 4. Road passenger transport
5. Water passenger transport services 5. Water passenger transport
6. Air passenger transport services 6. Air passenger transport
7. Transport equipment rental services 7. Transport equipment rental

8. Travel agencies and other reservation services 8. Travel agencies and other reservation services activities
9. Cultural services 9. Cultural activities
10. Sports and recreational services 10. Sports and recreational activities
11. Country-specific tourism characteristic goods 11. Retail trade of country-specific tourism characteristic goods
12. Country-specific tourism characteristic services 12. Other country-specific tourism characteristic activities
Source: IRTS 2008, Figure 5.1 and Annex 3 and 4.
2.36. The TSA:RMF 2008 covers a range of economic topics, framed into 10 interrelated tables
as follows:
• Tourism expenditure (inbound, outbound, domestic, internal) and other components of
tourism consumption, by product (TSA Tables 1 to 4).
• Production accounts of the tourism industries (TSA Tables 5 and 6).
• Employment (TSA Table 7).
• Gross fixed capital formation (TSA Table 8).
• Tourism collective consumption (TSA Table 9).
• Non-monetary indicators (TSA Table 10).
2.37. In order to ensure a complete measurement coverage there are a range of additional
concepts that are described at length in the IRTS 2008 and the TSA-RMF 2008, including
tourism connected products, non-tourism related consumption products, non-consumption
products such as valuables, tourism gross fixed capital formation and tourism collective
consumption and employment in the tourism industries. It also highlights particular issues
such as the treatment of vacation homes, the recording of transactions with travel agencies
and the treatment of consumer durables purchased for tourism purposes.
2.38. Tourism characteristic products refer to outputs from processes of production as defined in
the SNA and applied generally in economic statistics. However, the term “tourism product”
is also understood in tourism circles to refer to a combination of different services and
experiences associated with a specific centre of interest, such as nature tours, life on farms,
visits to historical and cultural sites, visits to a particular city, the practice of specific sports,
the beach, etc. Accordingly, specific types of tourism products thus emerge such as nature-
based tourism, culinary tourism, ecotourism, city tourism, sun-and-sand tourism, agro-
tourism, health tourism, etc., as professionals in tourism look to market specific packages
or destinations.
2.39. From a measurement perspective, all the activity associated with these types of tourism
products is encompassed by the measurement themes and associated concepts and
definitions described in SF-MST. Where considered appropriate, SF-MST might be applied
in relation to a single tourism product to consider its sustainability. However, a focus on a
single or a selection of tourism products, for example on ecotourism, will not provide an
appropriate measure of the sustainability of tourism for a given location or country.
2.40. The primary focus of measurement of SF-MST is on visitors and on tourism industries. This
is the same pragmatic primary focus recommended for implementation of the IRTS 2008
and TSA:RMF 2008 in several areas of measurement. Conceptually, the measurement
focus could be broadened to provide a complete coverage of the environmental and social
connections linked to all visitor expenditure (i.e. beyond tourism industries). In some cases,
where relevant data covering the whole economy are available, measurement using
broader coverage will be appropriate. However, in general, given the practical
measurement challenges in covering the additional economic, social and environmental

aspects of SF-MST in a comprehensive fashion across all measurement themes, and

recognizing the relevance of statistics on the core of tourism activity, this primary focus of
SF-MST on tourism industries is considered appropriate.
2.41. Beyond the production and consumption of tourism products, there are some specific
additional areas of measurement described in the TSA:RMF 2008 that are incorporated
and expanded in SF-MST. These concern employment in the tourism industries, tourism
gross fixed capital formation and tourism collective consumption. Content on each of these
topics is included in SF-MST in chapters 3, 4 and 5 including relevant concepts, definitions
and treatments.
2.4.3. Relevant recording treatments
2.42. The use of the TSA:RMF 2008 to organize data on the economic aspects of tourism
underpins the recording of the economic dimension within SF-MST and also provides the
basis for building a more complete framework incorporating environmental and social
dimensions. From a measurement perspective, in addition to the conceptual building blocks
described above, there are a number of other accounting-based recording rules that are
applied in SF-MST to support the compilation of coherent data across the various
dimensions. There are no altered or additional recording treatments applied in SF-MST
than those that are present in the statistical frameworks on which it is based, predominantly
the IRTS 2008, TSA: RMF 2008, SNA, BPM, SEEA and various ILO labour statistics
standards. Three specific aspects are highlighted here.
2.43. Time of recording. To ensure that data about different variables in different dimensions can
be meaningfully compared, it is important that data are recorded consistently in relation to
agreed periods of time, e.g. a year, a month. When recording data in monetary terms, the
general rule is that transactions are recorded when ownership changes and the
corresponding claims and obligations arise, or are transformed or cancelled. Transactions
internal to one economic unit are recorded when economic value is created, transformed
or extinguished. This approach is called an accrual approach.
2.44. Ideally, when recording data in non-monetary terms, for example, numbers of visitors, cubic
metres of water used, the time of recording should align with the time of recording of any
corresponding flows recorded in monetary terms. Depending on the data sources available,
implementing this alignment may be challenging but nonetheless, it is important to seek as
much coherence as possible such that data for different variables pertaining to a reference
year (e.g. 2024) can be appropriately interpreted.
2.45. Data concerning stocks, for example, the area of land used for tourism, number of hotels,
should be recorded in relation to the beginning or end of a given reference year. As well,
given the seasonal nature of tourism in many contexts, data on stocks may also be
collected consistently through a reference year to support analysis of seasonal variation.
2.46. Units of measurement. For measurement in monetary terms, all entries must be measured
in terms of money, usually in the currency of the reference country. In most cases, the entries
are the monetary values of the actual transactions. For measurement in non-monetary terms,
the unit of measurement will vary depending on the variable being measured. Thus, for
example, visitor flows are generally measured in terms of numbers of visitors; flows of energy

are generally measured in terms of energy content, such as joules; labour input may be
measured in terms of numbers of people or hours worked. Units of measurement that are
applied should be clearly defined in any presentations of statistical outputs.
2.47. Gross and net recording. The terms “gross” and “net” are used in a wide range of
measurement contexts, in particular concerning accounting. In the SNA, the term “net” is
generally used to indicate whether an accounting aggregate has been adjusted for
consumption of fixed capital (depreciation). In other situations, the term “net” is used simply
to refer to the difference between two entries. In SF-MST, as far as possible the terms
gross and net are avoided. This is intended to limit the potential for confusion in the use of
these terms. At the same time, the general goal through SF-MST is to describe the relevant
concepts in what might be considered “gross” terms so that all assumptions and
relationships can be fully articulated.
2.48. Further, compilers are encouraged to record data in gross terms as much as possible and
then explain any subsequent calculations that may be required to derive estimates and
indicators that are often the focus of analysis and reporting. For example, analytically it
may be of interest to understand the contribution of a tourism destination to climate change
using an indicator of net GHG emissions. In this case, SF-MST recommends recording
information on both the GHG emissions and the carbon sequestered as inputs to the
derivation of the indicator.
2.4.4. Cross-cutting measurement issues
2.49. The consistent application of concepts, definitions, measurement boundaries and recording
rules is intended to support the organization of data in a coherent manner across the
different dimensions. In turn this is intended to support integrated analysis across the
economic, environmental and social dimensions and provide an appropriate level of
credibility to assessments of sustainability. Within this general framing of recording that is
described across chapters 3, 4 and 5, there are three additional topics of general relevance
across all dimensions. In this section the topics of seasonality and tourism shares are
discussed. The third topic concerns measurement at sub-national levels which is discussed
in detail in Section 2.5.
2.50. Seasonality. In many locations, tourism is a seasonal phenomenon with the level of activity
affected by regular changes in climate (summer, winter) and long-standing patterns of
religious, educational and other holidays. As a result of these sub-annual patterns, the
analysis of annual data can miss important within year variation. Particularly with respect
to sustainability, challenges for particular destinations may emerge predominantly at those
times where there are peaks in visitor activity – for example in managing demand for
transport or water. The challenges may also concern the ongoing capacity to supply tourism
characteristic products in cases where ongoing employment in tourism cannot be assured
to those living locally.
2.51. While the analytical relevance of sub-annual data is clear in many cases, the collection and
organization of data across all areas of sustainability on a quarterly or monthly basis may
be far beyond the capacity of compiling agencies. Also, at a national level, variations within
a year, may be of less relevance to decision making which might focus, for instance, on
overall infrastructure requirements.

2.52. Consequently, it is recommended that sub-annual data be collected for a limited selection
of variables such that the potential concerns about capacity, and emerging changes in
seasonal patterns, can be monitored effectively and additional data collected for specific
topics. At a minimum it is recommended that sub-annual data on a monthly basis be
collected on visitor flows, visitor expenditure and employment in tourism. For sub-national
areas, monthly, weekly, or even daily data on these topics may be of high relevance
together with information on pressures on local environments, for example water use.
2.53. Tourism shares. Assessing the contribution and impact of tourism relies on making clear
connections between the activity of visitors and the surrounding economic, environmental
and social context. In most contexts, changes in economic, environmental and social
contexts in aggregate (i.e. due to all factors) will be potentially observable but the
contribution and impact of tourism – tourism’s share - will be far less observable.
2.54. In the economic dimension, the approach that has been developed through the TSA:RMF
2008 to identifying the contribution of tourism to economic activity involves reconciling
measures of tourism expenditure with measures of the production of goods and services
for visitors at a detailed level and hence determining to what extent tourism expenditure
contributes to the output and value added of industries across the economy, particularly
tourism industries. In this context, the proportion of output or value added attributable to
tourism is referred to as the tourism ratio for a given industry. The most high-profile indicator
that applies this approach is Tourism Direct gross domestic product (GDP).
2.55. There is less experience in determining the tourism share in the environmental and social
dimensions. At destination levels, where there is a relatively high level of visitor activity,
making associations and assumptions concerning changes in context and visitors might be
more readily achieved, yet at national level such assumptions are likely to be more difficult
to make.
2.56. Notwithstanding the measurement challenges, approaches to determining tourism shares

have been developed for a number of themes within the environmental dimension and
these approaches are described in Chapter 4. The descriptions include the related question
of whether assessment of the impact of tourism should be considered from the perspective
of the visitor (a consumption perspective) or the supplier of tourism products (a production
perspective)33.
2.57. A closely related topic concerns the measurement of indirect and induced effects which
relate to flow-on effects of tourism beyond the direct effects that can be recorded based on
data compiled in the TSA and SF-MST. The measurement of indirect and induced effects
requires the organization of additional information on other (non-tourism) industries, and
the wider environmental and social contexts. For example, the measurement of the indirect
effects of tourism on agriculture due to food consumption by visitors will require information
on the agriculture industry and its economic, environmental and social context.
2.58. SF-MST does not encompass the full range of information that would be required to
measure all indirect and induced effects, noting particularly that this would also require a
single reference location to have information on all of the other locations that are
connected. In this respect a clear distinction is made in SF-MST between the organization
33
See TSA:RMF 2008, para. 4.50 related to “tourism ratio” and para. 4.51-4.53 related to “tourism share.

of economic, environmental and social data concerning tourism and the analysis and
modelling that would be required to assess indirect and induced effects. Nonetheless, at
relevant places in Chapters 3, 4 and 5, there is discussion of the types of indirect and
induced effects that might be considered as part of a wider analysis.
2.5. Measuring the sustainability of tourism at sub-national levels
2.5.1. Introduction
2.59. The development of the concept of sustainable tourism over the past 25 years has had a
clear and direct focus on the sustainability of tourism activity at sub-national levels. In 2008
in Cebu, the Philippines, within the Resolution of the Sixth International Tourism Forum for
Parliamentarians and Local Authorities there was an explicit “request to deliver general
guidelines on measuring tourism at the regional and local levels”. This request was
reinforced by the Mediterranean Community in their 2019 report for EU regions and other
countries in the Mediterranean: “Ensuring an effective monitoring of tourism sustainability
in the Mediterranean region”34.
2.60. Notwithstanding these examples of calls for action at the sub-national level, in contrast,
from a statistical perspective, the development of standards and measurement guidance is
generally focused on the development of national statistics to support national
governments and international comparisons. In tourism statistics, the IRTS 2008 and the
TSA: RMF are both focused on national level data although they both recognize the
relevance of sub-national measurement and many concepts and definitions are universally
applicable in principle35. This section describes an approach to building harmonized data
at the sub-national level to support the analysis of tourism activity and its sustainability at
all scales.
2.61. The rationale for better understanding and analysing tourism at different territorial levels
lies in the fact that tourism is strongly territory-contingent, with flows of visitors occurring
unevenly across countries, regions, municipalities, or any other territorial entity. Tourism
and territory are closely intertwined not only because the natural or built territory is often
the main tourism attraction (e.g. an exotic beach, a vibrant city), but also because the
characteristics of a territory directly affect the design of tourism trips and itineraries, the
nature of the supply that caters to visitor consumption, the capacity to influence tourism
activity by means of policy and, consequently, the relationship between tourism and
sustainability outcomes.
2.62. In recognising the significance of territory, tourism destinations will be best served by
having a measurement framework and associated data that can underpin evidenced-based
decision making concerning the sustainability of tourism. More specifically, sub-national
tourism statistics are needed to:
• Reflect the importance of specific spatial features of tourism destinations.
• Recognise that visitor characteristics and their expenditure patterns can vary markedly
among tourism destinations.
34
https://az659834.vo.msecnd.net/eventsairwesteuprod/production-kuonicongress-
public/59d20c2a75ba419a883ce7694be030c1
35
See IRTS 2008 Chapter 8, section C “Measuring tourism at sub-national levels” and TSA:RMF 2008 Annex 7 “Adaptating the
Tourism Satellite Account at the subnational levels”

• Analyse tourist behaviour and satisfaction in tourism destinations, including activities

undertaken, itineraries and places visited, mobility, and places of expenditure.
• Understand the attitudes of host communities towards tourism and the impacts of
tourism on them, for example in terms of employment opportunities, cultural offer,
traffic congestion or higher prices.
• Design policies and make appropriate investments (such as the infrastructure that
needs to be put in place) that are specific to the objectives and the environmental and
social context of each tourism destination.
• Make comparisons of tourism and its sustainability, in terms of economic,
environmental and social outcomes, among tourism destinations and from sub-national
to national and broader scales for supporting benchmarking among tourism
destinations and ensuring action “on the ground” is consistent with national and
international policy aims.
• Provide inputs to the wide variety of analysis of drivers of change in tourism activity
and potential risks and constraints, including identification of seasonal patterns,
recognition of main types of tourism and market segments, early warning indicators of
future demand and changes in environmental context.
2.63. SF-MST provides a structured approach to the organization of data at sub-national level in
order to respond to this measurement challenge and to support decision making at relevant
scales. This does not imply that all economic, environmental and social tourism data must
be available at every spatial scale or for every area within a country. The general ambition
should be that the data compiled at the sub-national level is:
• appropriate for the spatial context allowing some flexibility in the selection of
measurement themes, and
• for a given theme, data are compiled using agreed definitions and classifications that
support comparability with other spatial areas and sub-national levels. For example,
data on visitor overnights at sub-national levels should be coherent with data on visitor
expenditure on accommodation at national level.
2.64. Further, since there will be differences in the data sources and the decision-making
contexts at sub-national levels, it means that the organization of data at sub-national level
is not a simple replication of national level methods and practices. Nonetheless, the longer-
term statistical ambition is to develop and integrate key sub-national data and national level
data to provide a coherent picture of tourism activity that is of most use to decision makers
and other stakeholders at different scales.
2.65. The framing described for SF-MST builds on a range of work including the statistical
guidance of the IRTS 2008 and the TSA: RMF 2008, the spatial accounting in the System
of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA), and work on
sub-national and sustainable tourism of UNWTO, including the UNWTO International
Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO), the International Network on
Regional Economics, Mobility and Tourism (INRouTe) and UNWTO publication A Closer
Look at Tourism: Sub-national Measurement and Analysis – Towards a Set of UNWTO
Guidelines36, and the INRouTe network, among a number of other materials.
36
International Network on Regional Economics, Mobility and Tourism and World Tourism Organization (2013), A Closer Look at
Tourism: Sub-national Measurement and Analysis – Towards a Set of UNWTO Guidelines, UNWTO, Madrid,
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284414963

2.5.2. Defining tourism areas for measurement
2.66. Compilation of sub-national statistics requires consistent use of terms and definitions with
respect to different spatial areas for measurement operating at different geographic scales.
A common entry point for the compilation of sub-national statistics is the use of
administratively defined areas. The following five types of administratively defined spatial
areas are applied in SF-MST, noting that the term sub-national is used to refer to spatial
areas below the national level:
Global (or international) encompassing both all countries and all marine areas.
Supra-national referring to groupings of countries, usually in contiguous areas,
including for example, Africa, the Middle East, the South Pacific. Within international
statistics these are commonly referred to as “regions”, but the term region is reserved
here in relation to certain sub-national areas (see below).
National being the most common level of statistical measurement and the level of
government that sets the overarching legislative and policy frameworks and engages
with other countries.
Regional referring to any level of administrative unit between the national and the
municipal level. Countries may use terms such as state, region, province, county, etc
to refer to these spatial areas. The term regional does not refer to aggregations of
countries.
Municipal or city referring to the level of administrative units corresponding to local
populations. Large cities may have a number of municipalities and some municipalities
may be sufficiently large such that sub-municipal areas can be defined (e.g. districts,
arrondissements, boroughs). In some cases, the municipal scale may encompass a
combination of land uses including, for example, urban, agricultural and natural areas.
There will be close connections between this spatial area and local spatial areas.
2.67. A tourism destination might relate to any of these administratively defined spatial areas
i.e. to a supra-national area (e.g. the Pacific), a country, a region or a municipality. In
addition, a tourism destination may refer to a more specific local area (e.g. an area within
a city) or to a combination of different spatial areas (i.e. combinations of local areas,
municipalities or regions) to establish a spatial scope that is of analytical interest. Examples
of such combinations include the Costa del Sol (as a combination of municipalities along
the Spanish coast) and the Alps (as a combination of regions across several countries in
Europe). SF-MST can be applied for these different combinations and compilers are
encouraged to clearly document how combinations of spatial areas have been formed.
2.68. In the discussion of sustainable tourism, the concept of a tourism destination is most
commonly associated with spatial areas defined at the local level, i.e. contiguous areas or
zones (a) within a given municipality or (b) across multiple municipalities, that have a
relationship to tourism. To provide a structured approach to the organization of data at this
scale, SF-MST defines two types of local tourism areas: local tourism destinations and
local tourism connected areas. These definitions provide a common basis for
measurement and implementation of SF-MST at these scales in cases where there are
resources available and there is high relevance from a destination management perspective.
2.69. For statistical purposes local tourism destinations are those spatial areas satisfying the
following demand or supply criteria:
• Demand criteria: areas where a significant share of consumers are visitors and which
attract a significant share of visitors to the wider region or country;

• Supply criteria: areas where the tourism industries represents a significant share of the
economy of that spatial area and which have a significant share of the tourism
industries of the wider region or country.
Local tourism destinations should include supply of a wide range of tourism characteristic
products (see Box 2.1) and are delineated primarily based on economic factors as
described in the criteria.
2.70. In addition to local tourism destinations, in some cases it may be relevant to identify local
tourism connected areas referring to areas that have connections to tourism and are
relevant for the measurement of the sustainability of tourism but which do not have high
concentrations of tourism activity. These areas would therefore be delineated primarily on
the basis of environmental and social criteria considering the extent to which they may be
impacted by or may support tourism activity. Examples could include areas where a high
number of residents are employed in tourism, areas of high biodiversity (such as protected
areas, whale watching zones), tourism-related ecosystem assets (see section 4.3.2) and
areas providing important natural inputs (such as tourism connected water catchments, see
section 4.2.4).
2.71. In summary, tourism areas encompass (i) tourism destinations defined by administrative
boundaries; (ii) local tourism destinations including spatial areas within municipalities and
combinations of spatial areas across municipalities; and (iii) local tourism connected areas.
The links between these areas are shown in the figure below.
Figure 2.2: Tourism areas

2.5.3. Delineating local tourism destinations for statistical purposes
2.72. To best support coherence and interpretation in measuring the sustainability of tourism, an
overarching system of spatial boundaries is required that supports the integration of data
across measurement themes. That is, relevant areas must be defined such that available
data for all relevant themes can be meaningfully attributed to them. Consequently, for each
type of spatial area, the relevant spatial boundaries must be mutually exclusive. In some
cases, the spatial areas will be nested, for example municipalities will be within regions,
and regions within countries. Although relatively small, the spatial areas of local tourism
destinations and local tourism connected areas, may cross municipal or regional
boundaries. However, it is recommended that local tourism destinations are mutually
exclusive and all local tourism connected areas are both mutually exclusive among
themselves and also not overlap with local tourism destinations.
2.73. National statistical offices should establish registers and lists of each distinct occurrence of
different tourism areas, extending as needed existing registers and spatial information
sources. The registers of tourism areas should made publicly available such that all
compilers and users of tourism related data can reference the same spatial boundaries.
This process should include ensuring reconciliation and alignment with spatial boundaries
applied in other statistical contexts for each of the different types of spatial areas. As noted
above, from this register of spatial units, it may be of interest to combine spatial areas to
create aggregate of specific interest. When tourism destinations are defined, it should be
possible to make a valid comparison to the rest of the territory, i.e. non-tourism, for the
same type of area. For example, it should be possible to compare a tourism region to non-
tourism regions within the same country.
2.74. Traditional statistical approaches to the delineation of small spatial areas involve the use
of administrative units, for example, municipalities. In turn, these areas are commonly
delineated based on concentrations of people and the households they comprise. For
certain types of information and in certain contexts it might be relevant to use fine-scale
administrative units to delineate local tourism destinations. In the European Union, it is
recommended to apply spatial boundaries consistent with the Nomenclature of territorial
units for statistics (NUTS) and local administrative units (LAU). Organization and release
of data for these areas will be highly relevant since the jurisdiction of decision-makers is
likely to be defined by these boundaries.
2.75. However, using administrative units for understanding the sustainability of tourism
(including analyzing the behaviour of visitors, the productive activities of tourism industries
and associated environmental stocks and flows) is likely to be analytically limiting given the
likelihood that tourism and visitor activity will commonly be concentrated in specific areas
within an administrative unit (i.e. tourism activity is not evenly distributed across
administrative units) and also that tourism dynamics do not respect administrative
boundaries. Hence, delineation of local tourism destinations and local tourism connected
areas will require the use of additional factors and criteria considering approaches that
underpin the delineation of social-ecological systems (see, for example, Leslie et al.,
201537 ) and the way that spatial areas for tourism have been identified in the tourism
research literature (see, for example, Hernandez-Martin, et. al., 201638).
37
Leslie, H.M et al (2015). Operationalizing the social-ecological systems framework to assess sustainability. PNAS Vol 112 No 19
38
Hernández-Martín, R. et. al. (2016). Identifying micro-destinations and providing statistical information: A pilot study in the
Canary Islands. Current Issues in Tourism, 19(8), 771–790.

2.76. It is recommended to use the following criteria in delineating local tourism destinations:
• Non-overlapping: These areas should not overlap and it is recommended that each
area is territorially contiguous, noting the possibility of justified exceptions.
• High concentrations of tourism supply or demand: Measured using relevant tourism
concentration indicators, such as number of visitors per resident population. It is
recommended to focus on measuring tourism supply as this is considered the most
feasible pathway to delineating local tourism destinations.
• Internal homogeneity: Tourism within a single spatial area should share similar
features such as the type of tourist, products offered, type of accommodation,
sustainability issues. If there is large heterogeneity, splitting the spatial area should be
considered.
• Stability and flexibility: These areas should be relatively stable over time with changes
to spatial boundaries made infrequently on the basis of considering significant changes
in context.
• Confidentiality: These areas must be of sufficient size to respect statistical
confidentiality.
• Feasibility of measurement: These areas should be delineated with consideration for
the type and range of data that are likely to be available or may reasonably be expected
to be collected.
• Public and private engagement: Stakeholders in local tourism destinations must be
involved in the discussion to ensure the data are aligned with the needs of decision
makers.
2.77. In establishing the set of spatial areas for tourism measurement, it is essential that those
working in tourism destinations are involved in the discussion to ensure that their insights
into how spatial areas are defined are considered and that information is generated that is
suitable for analysis and policy for sub-national spatial areas. In particular, the spatial
boundaries should take into consideration historical context, physical barriers and local
neighbourhoods. Generation of boundaries based solely on algorithms is not
recommended.
2.78. Once a set of local tourism destinations is established, for analytical purposes, it may be
of interest to group together destinations that have common topographical and
geographical characteristics. Examples of possible groupings include: cities, coastal and
small island destinations, mountain destinations and urban destinations. The use of
common measurement themes and indicators (e.g. tourism concentration indicators) within
such groupings may be of considerable benefit in comparing alternative policy solutions. It
is anticipated that on the basis of the principles provided in SF-MST it will be possible to
develop more specific guidance for specific types of destinations.
2.79. Different types of local tourism destinations may have different sustainability challenges
and consequently, the determination of spatial boundaries in different places may need to
consider additional criteria. For example, in cities, places of accommodation may differ from
the places visited in which case it may be appropriate to distinguish the city center as a
distinct local tourism destination. And for rural destinations the definition of local tourism
destinations may be only relevant where there is a concentration of visitors at a level that
generates sustainability challenges.

2.80. Local tourism connected areas should be delineated as necessary to support tourism
sustainability analysis. They should not overlap with local tourism destinations and, if an
area satisfies the criteria for a local tourism destination then it should be treated as such
rather than treated as a local tourism connected area.
2.81. In practice, a range of spatial data sources will be relevant in delineating local tourism
destinations and local tourism connected areas. Relevant data will include: population
census zones/areas; zip code boundaries; national grid cell boundaries; vegetation cover
data, and administrative boundaries. It is expected that ongoing developments in the
management of spatial data and the compilation of sub-national statistics will facilitate
ongoing extension of the range of tourism statistics that can be compiled and disseminated
at these finer scales, in particular very granular grids (e.g. <100m grids).
2.6. SF-MST indicators and statistical outputs
2.6.1. Types of statistical outputs
2.82. The implementation of SF-MST involves integrating input data from a wide variety of data
sources covering the economic, environmental and social dimensions of tourism. The input
data are integrated using the definitions, classifications and measurement boundaries of
SF-MST to generate a coherent output dataset. The data from an SF-MST output dataset
can then be presented and disseminated, most commonly in tabular form, but also
potentially in the form of maps depending on the type of source data. This can then feed
related data visualization formats.
2.83. There are three forms of tabular output in SF-MST which are collectively referred to as SF-
MST outputs. SF-MST accounts are tabular outputs that present data using a structure
that reflects accounting rules, for example ensuring entries for stocks and flows are
consistent and that the total supply and use of goods and services balances. SF-MST
tables are tabular outputs that present data using a single measurement unit but which do
not have an accounting structure. Combined presentations are tabular outputs that
present data using a mixture of measurement units (e.g. data in monetary and non-
monetary units). In some cases, not all of the data in a combined presentation is described
within SF-MST, for example population data from national censuses. These are referred to
as supplementary data.
2.84. SF-MST output data can also be used to derive indicators that summarize performance.
Indicators are often collated to established indicator sets. There are three types of
indicators that are considered in SF-MST: (i) totals and aggregates (e.g. total visitor
numbers, tourism direct GDP); (ii) structural statistics (e.g. share of inbound visitors of total
visitors, proportion of tourism employment in total employment); and (iii) ratio indicators
(e.g. number of visitors compared to local population; energy use per visitor). SF-MST itself
does not incorporate a definitive indicator set for assessing the sustainability of tourism.
This section lists the set of themes covered by SF-MST and notes some indicators that are
commonly considered in the measurement of those themes. Then, through chapters 3, 4
and 5, as each measurement theme is discussed, relevant indicators are described in more
detail. No composite indexes, involving the weighting and aggregation of a selection of
indicators, are described in SF-MST. The links among all of these different components
are presented in Figure 2.3.

Figure 2.3: The role of SF-MST in linking data inputs to indicators and analysis
2.85. There are two primary types of SF-MST accounts – supply and use accounts and asset
accounts. Supply and use accounts can be compiled in both monetary and non-monetary
terms and relate to balancing the flows of goods and services among different economic
units, including households, and between the economy and the environment (for example
concerning flows of water and energy). They may also be structured so as to show flows
between different spatial areas. Supply and use accounts compiled in monetary terms
contain the information required to estimate tourism gross value added and related
measures of economic activity.
2.86. Asset accounts can be compiled in monetary and non-monetary terms as well. They are
designed to show the opening and closing stocks of specific asset types (e.g. produced
capital, natural capital, human capital) and changes in the stocks of those assets over an
accounting period (e.g. one year). Changes in stocks of assets will include those due to
investment, depreciation and degradation.
2.87. The accounts described in SF-MST are based on the existing accounting standards of the
TSA: RMF and the SEEA and adopting relevant accounting principles from the SNA as
appropriate. The relevant accounting principles concerning, for example, the definition of
economic territory, time of recording, and monetary valuation, are not summarized here.
However, a general note is made that where measurement in monetary terms is
undertaken, compilers should be aware of the relevant valuation concepts and methods in
particular in relation to non-market valuation, for example concerning ecosystem services.
Generally, compilers are encouraged to read the relevant sections of the accounting
documents listed above.
2.88. SF-MST tables present data required to assess the sustainability of tourism but the table
structures do not embody accounting rules. Examples of SF-MST tables include
presentation of data on employment, demographics of tourism establishments and visitor
movements, including a range of disaggregations about characteristics of each of these
themes. SF-MST tables will be particularly relevant for the organization of data at sub-
national and local scales where the compilation of SF-MST accounts is likely to be more
challenging in relation to data requirements.

2.89. Each SF-MST account and table stands alone in the sense of providing a coherent set of
information. At the same time, within SF-MST, each account and table is part of an overall
system in which linkages can be made among different outputs each focusing on a specific
aspect. Further, this system of accounts and tables is designed for connection to similar
accounts and tables concerning other activities, (e.g., agriculture, retail, or finance), and
hence SF-MST accounts and tables can support integrated approaches to planning and
decision making.
2.90. SF-MST combined presentations are designed to support the communication of

information on the sustainability of tourism and the derivation of indicators. Combined
presentations provide a means to bring together a range of information from more disparate
sources and usually cover a number of topics in a single presentation and use a mixture of
measurement units. In this context, the underlying accounts and tables provide the means
to ensure that data in combined presentations are coherent and consistently compiled for
any given topic, for example, environmental flows of water or energy.
2.6.2. Summary of SF-MST measurement themes and indicators
2.91. Table 2.1 provides a summary of the different themes and potential indicators covered by
SF-MST. They are grouped according to their strength of association with the economic,
environmental or social dimensions, noting that some themes and indicators may be
related to more than one dimension. To ensure consistency and comparability of data, all
SF-MST output data are grouped and classified using the consistent classifications.
2.92. Indicators are particularly important in providing clear signals for policy decisions and
choices – for example through monitoring the growth in visitor numbers, the trends in visitor
expenditure, the patterns of water use and the changes in tourism employment. Regular
and reliable information on these types of indicators is best provided by a statistical
framework since it ensures consistency in definition of indicators over time (including in the
choice of measurement units), the coherence between different indicators and the ability
to compare indicators among destinations, regions,countries and other economic activities.
For example, if each destination defined tourism industries and employment in a different
way, then there would be no means to be confident that trends monitored in one destination
could be sensibly compared to trends in other destinations.
2.93. The potential indicators included in Table 2.1 does not represent an agreed set of core
indicators that could be the focus of national or international reporting on the sustainability
of tourism. Rather, it reflects the range of different indicators that can be derived from an
SF-MST based data set. A complementary process will be completed to establish a set of
MST indicators for international reporting. It is noted as well that for each of the indicators
listed in Table 2.1 there are often variations in scope that can be applied (e.g. covering all
visitors or only tourists as opposed to also same-day visitors) and alternative denominators
that can be used (e.g. visitor nights, value added). Not all of these variations have been
described in the table.

Table 2.1: Themes and potential indicators covered by SF-MST

Dimension Measurement theme Potential Indicators
General Length of stay Average length of stay of inbound and domestic tourists
indicators
Tourism concentration Number of visitors (per 100 residents; Number of visitors per hectare of
habitable land
Tourism visitor dependency Number of inbound visitors (total/tourist/same day) relative to total internal
visitors (total/tourist/same day)
Tourism seasonality Variations in visitor arrivals (total/inbound/tourist/same day) on a regular time
horizon and in regular frequencies.
Economic Visitor expenditure Average internal tourism expenditure per visitor

((total/inbound/domestic/tourist/same day)
Tourism economic structure Share of large and SME tourism establishments, Share of resident owned
tourism establishments relative to all tourism establishments
Tourism economic Tourism direct GDP; Tourism share of total output for each tourism industry
performance
Distribution of economic Share of compensation of employees relative to tourism direct value added in
benefits the tourism industries
Employment in tourism Total employment in tourism industries (# jobs/# employed persons/ #
employees); Share of employed persons in tourism industries relative to total
economy; Share of women in jobs/employed persons/employers in the tourism
industries; Labour productivity of different tourism industries
Tourism investment Total gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) in tourism specific fixed assets
relative to total GFCF of tourism industries; Total GFCF by tourism industries
and relative to total economy GFCF
Government tourism-related Total tourism related government final consumption expenditure
transactions
Environmental GHG emissions Internal tourism GHG emissions per visitor; Internal tourism GHG emissions
per unit of tourism direct GDP
Solid waste flows Tourism Solid waste generated by tourism industries per visitor/tourist; Tourism
solid waste generated per unit of tourism direct GDP; Share of Tourism solid
waste generated by tourism industries and relative to total solid waste
Water flows Tourism water use per visitor/tourist and per visitor overnight; Tourism water
use per unit of tourism value added
Wastewater Tourism wastewater per visitor overnight
Water resources Annual tourism water use by tourism industries as a proportion of the net
change in stock of water resources.
Energy flows Total tourism end-use of energy products by tourism industries
Ecosystem extent (for Share of tourism-related ecosystem assets to the total tourism area;
tourism areas) Percentage of protected areas (marine and terrestrial) to total tourism area
Ecosystem services flows for Total recreation related services in a tourism area
tourism areas
Social Visitor satisfaction Share of visitors satisfied with overall experience at destination; Number of
repeat visitors, Extent to which visitors would recommend a destination
Host community perception Overall perception of host communities of visitors
Decent work Share of compensation of employed persons relative to tourism direct value
added in the tourism industries; Share of employed persons in tourism
industries who are informally employed;
Governance Implementation of standard accounting tools to monitor the economic and
environmental aspects of tourism sustainability (see SDG indicator 12b.1)

2.94. The potential indicators listed in Table 2.1 are described in more detail in Chapters 3, 4 and
5 as part of the description of the various measurement themes and the associated
accounts and tables for the organization of data. Thus, these indicators are provided for
illustrative purposes and should not be considered to reflect the complete range of data
that is organized within SF-MST.
2.95. For international reporting purposes a selection of SF-MST based indicators will be
identified as the focus for data collection by UNWTO. At the same time, SF-MST can also
be used to support reporting to other international processes including the SDGs. Within
the official SDG indicator set there are two indicators specifically related to tourism namely
SDG indicator 8.9.1 Tourism Direct GDP as a proportion of total GDP and in growth rate
and SDG indicator 12.b.1 Implementation of standard accounting tools to monitor the
economic and environmental aspects of tourism sustainability. The compilation of data for
SF-MST may also be undertaken to complement and provide additional insights to
reporting on other international conventions such as the UNFCCC concerning GHG
emissions and the Convention on Biological Diversity concerning data on ecosystem
extent, condition and services. In these contexts, data for SF-MST purposes should be
considered a sub-set within a wider information set for a given measurement theme.
2.6.3. Considerations in the implementation and application of SF-MST
2.96. The SF-MST as introduced in this chapter has a wide coverage of themes and, on first
impression, implementation maybe considered challenging. To support implementation a
dedicated chapter, Chapter 6, has been included in SF-MST that describes a range of
issues that compilers should consider in implementation of SF-MST. Four key messages
are noted here:
• There is no expectation that all SF-MST outputs and indicators should be compiled
immediately. Compiling agencies are encouraged to use a flexible and modular
approach that takes into consideration the context, resources and priorities.
• While the development of tourism statistics for some of these topics is less advanced,
for many of the topics there are existing statistical standards, infrastructures, and
methods in place, which indicate that implementation of SF-MST is not starting from
zero.
• Implementation will require involvement from a range of agencies including data
producing/supplying entities and data using entities. It is expected that national
statistical offices (NSOs) and national tourism administrations (NTAs) will play leading
roles.
• Substantial progress on the implementation of SF-MST can occur in advance of a
country compiling a tourism satellite account following the TSA:RMF 2008 or various
environmental-economic accounts following the SEEA.
2.97. In adopting a flexible and modular approach, it is envisaged that the tourism statistics
community will work towards the compilation of a core set of data for assessing the
sustainability of tourism that can be used for international comparison. While such an
approach means that not all countries will implement all possible parts of SF-MST at the
same time or in the same order, for the data that is produced, countries and destinations
will be able to effectively compare, exchange experiences and understand common
challenges through the application of the same concepts, definitions and data organizations
structures.

2.98. While measurement undertaken by national statistical systems may be more limited at the
municipal and local tourism destination scales, this should not be interpreted as meaning
that there is little measurement activity since many local tourism destinations will collect
and utilize information specific to their area. Indeed, the allocation of resources to this task
is likely to be significant and gains may be observed by supporting a coordinated approach
to compiling statistics across multiple local tourism destinations within a country. Public
administration at different levels, national and regional statistical institutes, universities and
other stakeholders may also be involved. By way of example, in such an approach, national
statistical institutes may provide methodological guidance while agencies in local tourism
destinations collect and compile data.
2.99. Finally, it is noted that on the basis of the concepts and definitions described in SF-MST, it
is envisaged that a range of materials to support implementation will be developed
progressively. These could include more detailed methodological guidance on the
derivation of indicators or more detailed descriptions of data collection techniques, such as
the use of big data. Such materials would supplement the wide range of information that is
currently available to support implementation of statistics across the economic,
environmental and social dimensions which - though not specifically targeted at tourism -
could be used in combination with SF-MST to provide appropriate initial guidance on how
measurement may be tailored to a tourism context.

3. Measuring the economic dimension
3.1. Introduction
3.1. The activities of visitors drive a range of economic benefits at local, national and global
scales. These benefits include incomes earned by tourism establishments, wages and
salaries paid to employees in tourism establishments and indirect benefits to economic
units that supply goods and services to tourism establishments. Recording these various
economic benefits has been a focus of tourism measurement over recent decades. From
a sustainability perspective, the focus lies in assessing whether the benefits that have been
received in the past can be anticipated to continue to be received in the future.
3.2. Making an assessment of the future economic viability of tourism activity requires
consideration of a number of factors. In terms of maintaining production, tourism
establishments will be dependent on the availability of labour, technology, infrastructure
and levels of ongoing investment and finance. In turn, these factors will be connected to
factors such as the size and ownership structure of establishements and the characteristics
(including age and skills) of the work force.
3.3. Economic viability of tourism for a given country or destination will also be driven by the
extent to which people continue to travel for tourism purposes. This can be influenced by
many things, including potentially large disruptions due to conflict or pandemics,
movements in exchange rates and prices, or changes in travel preferences. The link
between economic viability and these types of factors indicates that measurement in the
context of sustainability needs to record information on a range of structural elements
underpinning the production and consumption of tourism outputs in addition to the standard
measurement of tourism expenditure and tourism value added. The measurement aim then
is to provide data that help identify potential areas of risk and vulnerability if contexts
change, recognizing that context change may be both driven by tourism activity itself or
result from non-tourism related events and changes.
3.4. Beyond this more economically focused assessment, the economic viability of tourism will
also be impacted by wider social and environmental trends. For example, in some locations
tourism activity may be directly dependent on environmental features such as beaches or
rivers. In these cases, the declining quality of the environment whether related to tourism
activity or not, will be a driving factor in assessing economic viability. These types of
systemic connections highlight that economic viability cannot be considered in isolation.
Indeed, in some situations there may be direct challenges in balancing the desire for
economic benefits with the expected implications for environmental and social outcomes.
The integrated framing for measurement described in SF-MST is intended to support
understanding these wider connections.
3.5. In this context, there is a range of economic factors that should be considered in assessing
sustainability of tourism recognizing that relevant environmental and social factors are
considered in Chapters 4 and 5. To assess the economic sustainability of tourism, it is
recommended to measure the following economic factors:
• Visitor flows – i.e. the extent to which current patterns of visitor flows will continue or
change in the future.
• Tourism expenditure – i.e. the extent to which current patterns of visitor expenditures
will continue or change in the future.

SF-MST – Chapter 3. Measuring the economic dimension
• Economic performance and structure of establishments in the tourism industries

– i.e. the extent to which the performance, composition and characteristics of these
establishments will continue or change in the future.
• Produced assets, including infrastructure, used by establishments in the tourism
industries– i.e. the extent to which the produced assets used to support tourism activity
have sufficient capacity to supply goods and services to visitors in the future.
• Employees of establishments in the tourism industries – i.e. the extent to which there
are sufficient people with appropriate skills and experience (human capital) to supply
goods and services to visitors in the future.
• Government tourism-related revenues and expenditures – i.e. the extent to which
government invests in and support tourism activity.
3.6. Measuring visitor flows and their characteristics, and the economic benefits associated with
tourism activity has been a long standing focus of tourism statistics and is reflected in the
content of the statistical standards for tourism, namely the International Recommendations
for Tourism Statistics 2008 (IRTS 2008) and the Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended
Methodological Framework 2008 (TSA:RMF 2008). As a result of this statistical
development, there is significant statistical guidance for the measurement of the economic
dimension.
3.7. The economic factors concerning sustainability listed above are discussed in the remaining
sections of the chapter. Generally, all of the data required for assessing each of the factors
can be sourced from the IRTS 2008 and TSA:RMF 2008. The extensions to these
standards included in SF-MST concern: additional detail on the characteristics of tourism
establishments and characteristics of employment in tourism (extending TSA:RMF 2008
Table 10); an introduction to the measurement of tourism occupations; an introduction to
measurement of the sustainability of individual tourism establishments; an extended
discussion on tourism gross fixed capital formation building on the TSA:RMF 2008; a
description of tourism-related government revenues, expenditures and transfers; and a
discussion on the distribution of economic benefits including the seasonality of these flows.
Also included in the chapter is a separate section on the measurement of economic factors
related to the sustainability of tourism at sub-national scale applying the general description
of relevant sub-national measurement issues in Chapter 2.
3.2. Measuring the sustainability of visitor flows and expenditure
3.2.1. Visitor flows
3.8. To understand the sustainability of tourism activity, the recommended starting point for
measurement is ongoing recording of visitors flows. The total number of visitors (i.e. tourists
and same-day visitors) to a country or destination is a key indicator of sustainability from
an economic perspective when considered in relation to, for example, total tourism
expenditure, the income that can be generated for tourism businesses, the number of
employment opportunities and the available infrastructure (e.g. transport and
accommodation facilities). In addition, there will be connections to environmental and social
dimensions of sustainability.

3.9. Following IRTS 2008 chapter 3 on the characterization of visitor and tourism trips, a trip
can be classified by the visitor’s socio-economic characteristics or by specific features of
the trip. Visitor flows and tourism trips should be classified according to a range of
breakdowns including:
• Forms of tourism: inbound, domestic and outbound
• Trips characteristics including: duration, main purpose (nine main types are listed in
IRTS 2008), types of ‘tourism product’, origin and destination, modes of transport, types
of accommodation.
• Visitor characteristics including sex, age, economic activity status, occupation, annual
income, education and country of residence.
3.10. Table 3.1 provides a basic structure for the organization of relevant data building on
TSA:RMF 2008 Table 10a (Number of trips and overnights by forms of tourism and classes
of visitors) and Table 10b (Inbound tourism: number of arrivals and overnights by modes
of transport). Additional detail can be added to this table as required.
Table 3.1: Data on visitor flows (number of trips)39
39
The trip is the statistical unit of tourism statistics, visitor is an attribute of the trip (IRTS Compilation Guide, para. 2.36)

3.11. Since there are a lage number of potential characteristics it will be necessary for compilers
to develop statistics that are relevant to their context and their data availability. It is
recommended that these different characteristics of trips should be measured for visitor
flows at both national and regional level. Thus, countries are encouraged to expand this
set using the information on characteristics of visitors as presented in the IRTS 2008. In
addition, it will be relevant to collect total visitor flows on a monthly basis to facilitate
assessment of seasonality.
3.12. From an economic sustainability perspective, the key question is whether a country or
destination is overly dependent on a specific type of visitor. In general, over-reliance on
specific type of visitor may heighten the risks of sustaining tourism activity in a country or
destination if circumstances change (for example due to natural disasters, pandemic or
exchange rate volatility). Thus, if visitors are predominantly from a particular country and
relationships with that country change, visitor flows may be affected; or if visitors are
predominantly arriving by air and issues arise with air transportation then economic
sustainability may be affected. Consequently, understanding the composition of visitor
flows, the seasonality of visitors and how these patterns are changing over time will help
identify critical points of economic dependency. All of the different breakdowns of visitors
presented in Table 3.1 may be of relevance depending on the context. For example, some
destinations may be dependent on specific modes of transport (e.g. air transport).
3.13. At a national level, an important economic dependency indicator concerning visitor flows is
the number of inbound visitors relative to total internal visitors (inbound + domestic).
A high ratio of inbound visitors may point to potential economic risks if circumstances
change such that visitors from other countries are not able to travel. Therefore, for example,
domestic tourism - taking into account trips within the country of reference – was important
during the COVID-19 pandemic as a stabilizing factor for the tourism economy
compensating partly for the loss of inbound tourism in many countries.
3.2.2. Tourism expenditure
3.14. The natural extension of measuring visitor flows is the measurement of tourism
expenditure. It is recommended that data on tourism expenditure is collated for all of the
classes of visitor flows listed above (i.e. by type of visitor, by forms of tourism and by visitor
characteristics). In the first instance, this data can provide richness to the discussion of
economic dependency since the expenditure per trip ratio will likely vary for different types
of visitors. Thus, from a purely economic perspective, there will be heightened risks around
sustainability in case where the incomes of tourism establishments are dependent on high
levels of expenditure from specific classes of visitors.
3.15. Table 3.2 provides a summary presentation of TSA:RMF 2008 tables 1-3. For different
forms of tourism (inbound, domestic, outbound; and further disaggregated by tourists and
same-day visitors) it shows the levels of expenditure on different tourism characteristic
products. This additional detail on the products purchased by visitors provides insight into
which tourism establishments are likely to be affected if there are changes in levels of
tourism expenditure, including via changes in visitor flows.

3.16. Information on tourism expenditure per visit in aggregate measured over time can point to
changes in the composition of types of visitors and be used as an indicator of changes in
the income arising from tourism activity. The core sustainability indicator for a reference
country concerning tourism expenditure is average internal tourism expenditure per
visitor, where internal tourism expenditure is the sum of domestic and inbound tourism
expenditure. Measurement of expenditure on outbound tourism will remain of relevance to
the extent in order to monitor the potential implications of shifts in the patterns of travel for
a reference country.
Table 3.2: Data on tourism expenditure (currency units)
3.3. Measuring the economic structure and performance of tourism industries
3.17. Data about visitor flows and tourism expenditure gives insight into the demand side of
tourism and from this data conclusions may be drawn as to which economic activities are
most likely to be affected if there are changes in tourism demand. However, to understand
the economic implications and to understand the potential economic response, it is
necessary to know the types of establishments that supply tourism products and their
economic performance over time.
3.18. In focusing measurement on tourism establishments it is recognized that in many

instances, there may be an important contribution to tourism activity from the informal
economy where there is no registration of economic units and hence difficulties in collecting
data. Conceptually, informal activity and the economic units involved, commonly
households, are within the measurement scope as discussed in this section but in practice
their inclusion in statistics may not be possible.

3.19. The measurement of the economic activity of tourism focuses on tourism establishments
as this provides a level of measurement that is most attuned to the interaction with visitors.
However, within the wider field of economic measurement, the more common data
collection unit is at the enterprise level. This may equate to an establishment but may also
comprise a number of establishments. Where data are not available at the establishment
level, the following areas of measurement can still be undertaken at the enterprise level
accepting that the level of precision may not be as high with respect to identifying tourism
activity.
3.3.1. Economic structure
3.20. Data on the characteristics of tourism establishments is most readily organized by utilizing
and extending the information available in a business register. A business register is a
central listing, often maintained by the national statistical office or taxation office, that lists
all establishments within an economy, classifies them to standard industry classes and
attributes data about other characteristics. Where business registers exist, it is most
common for them to be maintained at an enterprise level since at this level a much larger
range of economic and financial data are available. However, for tourism measurement
purposes, particularly for sub-national measurement, establishment level data are most
informative and business registers should be encouraged to identify a minimum number of
characteristics at the establishment level (e.g. location, turnover, employment) to support
a richer understanding of tourism’s economic structure.
3.21. Within the structure of a business register, for those establishments classified as being
involved in tourism industries (following the classes listed in Box 2.1, Chapter 2), it is
possible to assess the economic structure of tourism using variables such as:
• industry class (by ISIC class (or relevant equivalent classification such as NACE));
• size of establishment (e.g. in terms of turnover or employment);
• employment (e.g. by sex, occupation, skills, experience);
• ownership (resident or non-resident); and
• legal entity (corporation, unincorporated/household business).
3.22. A basic framing for the organization of data on the characteristics of tourism establishments
is presented in Table 3.3. For tourism industries, this table presents data on the number of
establishments, their size in terms of number of employees, whether the ownership is by
resident or non-resident units and the type of legal entity. The table adapts and significantly
extends the TSA:RMF 2008 Table 10d: Number of establishments in tourism industries
classified according to average number of jobs.
3.23. An assessment of sustainability using the types of data in Table 3.3 could be made by
considering whether there are imbalances in composition of tourism establishments. At a
national level, relevant indicators include the share of large tourism establishments in
tourism industries (where large may be defined as having more than 100 employees40),
the share of small and medium establishments (SME) in tourism industries and the
share of resident ownership of tourism establishments.
40
There are no internationally agreed thresholds to define a large establishment.

3.24. The assessment of sustainability could also involve analysis of changes in the structure of
tourism establishments over time and analysis of the demographics of tourism
establishments in terms of how many new establishments are created, how many close,
their average business life, etc. Another factor relevant to economic viability concerns the
levels of financial liabilities held by tourism establishments. High levels of debt will increase
the exposure of relevant establishments to changes in interest rates in addition to potential
changes in tourism activity. All of these measures will give insight into the stability of the
economic structure and give a sense of its sustainability.
3.25. Where available, business registers are most commonly developed at a national level to
include all economic units within a country, with the relevant data derived mainly from
administrative data sources and business statistics (e.g. structural business statistics).
Since many aspects of assessing tourism’s sustainability should be considered at a sub-
national level, it will be appropriate to place focus on determining the geographical location
of the operations of tourism establishments. Given the ongoing advances in geospatial
economic statistics41 there is likely the potential to develop location-based information on
tourism establishments to support assessment at finer geographic scales and there is
increasingly geo-location information about establishments stored within the business
register. Such data can be used to derive indicators of tourism concentration.
Table 3.3: Main characteristics of establishments in the tourism industries
3.3.2. Economic performance
3.26. In addition to recording information on the characteristics of tourism establishments,

measures of economic sustainability must also incorporate data on the economic
performance of tourism establishments over time. Following the measurement framework
of the TSA, economic performance can be assessed in terms of
• Production and turnover.
• Intermediate consumption.
• Compensation of employees.
41
See for example is about: http://ggim.un.org/UNGGIM-expert-group/

• Gross operating surplus and gross mixed income.

• Value added.
• Gross fixed capital formation.
3.27. The collation of data on these economic variables is summarized in accounting format in
the TSA:RMF 2008 Table 5 relating to tourism supply. Table 3.4 summarises the core data
from that TSA table, detailing the tourism characteristic products produced by each tourism
industry and the summary measures of economic performance for each industry. A key
indicator of economic performance is the measure Tourism Direct GDP (derived from TSA
Table 6). It is estimated by aggregating the value added of all tourism and non-tourism
industries that is associated with tourism expenditure and adjusting for taxes less subsidies
on products.
3.28. In terms of assessing sustainability, an important indicator that points to the dependence
of an individual industry on tourism activity is the tourism share of output estimated for
each industry as the total output of tourism characteristic products by an industry divided
by its total output. High tourism shares will point to high levels of dependence. It will also
be relevant to assess (i) the share of value added accruing to compensation of employees
and gross operating surplus, (ii) trends in output and intermediate consumption, and (iii)
the extent to which total tourism direct GDP is dependence on contributions from specific
individual tourism industries.
Table 3.4: Data on tourism supply of tourism products (currency units)

Tourism industries
Travel
Food & agencies &
beverage Railway Road Water Air Transport reservation Sports and Total Non
Accommodation serving passenger passenger passenger passenger equipment services Cultural recreational Other tourism tourism Total
for visitors activities transport transport transport transport rental activities activities activities activities industries industries economy
Output of Tourism characteristic products

Accommodation services
Food andpassenger
Railway beveragetransport
serving services
services
Road passenger transport services
Water passenger transport services
Air passenger transport services
Transport equipment rental
services
Travel agencies and other
reservation services
Cultural services
Sports and recreational services
Country-specific goods and services
Other output
Total Output
Total intermediate consumption
Gross value added
Compensation of employees
Other taxes less subsidies on production
Gross mixed income
Gross operating surplus
Indicators
Tourism share of output
Tourism direct value added
3.29. More generally, structural information about tourism demand and supply that is present in
TSA (especially Table 6) can be used to identify potential imbalances in tourism activity
concerning, for example, different forms of visitors (inbound, outbound or domestic), or
based on main purpose of trip), the use of imports to support tourist demand, and the
composition of value added across different tourism activities.

3.30. Within the main categories of tourism demand and supply presented in the TSA:RMF 2008,
additional detail might be incorporated within tables 3.3 and 3.4 to record data on specific
market segments (or “tourism products”) such as activities related to cruise ships,
ecotourism, cultural tourism or city breaks. For this purpose, data on the characteristics,
outputs, and value added of the specific market segment could be included in an additional
“of which“ column in either of the tables.
3.31. One driver of tourism activity is intermediation service activities, for example in relation to
accommodation. These intermediation activities may be carried out on digital platforms
(sometimes called online tourism platforms or sharing economy) or through non-digital
channels, such as mail and telephone. The measurement of these activities is of particular
interest in the context of sustainability since they may drive tourism activity towards specific
locations that might have unexpected social and environmental effects on those locations.
Analysis of the relationships between intermediation service activities and economic, social
and environmental outcomes can be facilitated using SF-MST although further
development of measurement practice in relation to these activities is required.
3.3.3. Distribution of economic benefits
3.32. A key question for economic sustainability is the extent to which the benefits associated
with tourism activity – for example in terms of wages and salaries to employees, profits to
businesses and taxes to government – can be considered to be well distributed and
expected to continue. For assessing these distributions, an initial question is examining the
relative shares of value added accruing to different economic units. At a macro-level, a
focus on the share of tourism value added accruing to employees in the form of
compensation of employees may be appropriate. However, more detailed analysis may be
possible considering, for example, the share of tourism compensation of employees
accruing to women or staff in non-management roles; or the share of gross operating
surplus accruing to small and medium sized businesses. In addition, a focus on value
added shares should be complemented with analysis of average returns per economic unit
(e.g. average wages per employee).
3.33. For some countries and destinations there may be interest in compiling measures of
tourism leakage where the operating surplus generated from tourism activities does not
fully accrue to local economic units but rather is also earned by non-resident units and not
reinvested in the local economy. Ideally, tourism leakage would be assessed by
distinguishing, in Table 3.4, the gross value added, compensation of employees and gross
operating surplus that accrues to resident and non-resident economic units. If this data is
not available, more basic indicators may be derived, for example, using information on the
ownership of tourism businesses from Table 3.3. Table 3.5 provides some indications of
the types of data that may be combined to derive indicators of the distribution of economic
benefits. In deriving indicators from the data listed in Table 3.5, it is important to ensure
that appropriate adjustment is made using the tourism ratio for each industry. If this
adjustment is not made, then industries with relatively lower tourism ratio – for example
food and beverage servings activities – may inappropriately dominate aggregated results
for the total of tourism industries.

Table 3.5: Data concerning the distribution of economic benefits
3.34. Another form of tourism leakage will arise where the inputs (e.g. food, fuel) to tourism
activity are imported in which case this will reflect a cost to the economy supplying the
tourism product and hence value added will not remain in the country. There is a substantial
program of work on measuring trade in value added of tourism activity (OECD 42 )
undertaken to understand these types of economic issues. The additional information on
the characteristics of tourism establishments provided in SF-MST would support
understanding more completely the implications that may arise from high levels of
dependence on imports to support tourism activity within a country.
3.35. More generally, a complete assessment of the distribution of economic benefits from tourism
would involve tourism value chain analysis. Such analysis considers not only the direct
effects of tourism activity but also the indirect effects through other industries both locally and
internationally. Such analysis will involve the use of input-output techniques. The data
organized following the TSA:RMF 2008, as presented in Table 3.4 are structured to directly
support such analysis through the common use of classifications and national accounting
principles which underpin input-output tables at national and multi-regional scales.
3.36. Economic benefits will also be distributed unequally over time. In many locations, a key
aspect in understanding the sustainability of tourism activity is the pattern of activity through
the year. Where tourism activity is very uneven across the year this will tend to place some
stress on those supplying tourism products if they do not have sufficient resources to
maintain their incomes through the non-tourism periods of the year. Key indicators of
seasonality will be demand-side variables such as visitor flows, tourism expenditure, and
accommodation occupancy.
3.37. Understanding the seasonal pattern of tourism activity will also be of relevance in
considering the environmental and social dimensions of sustainable tourism. For example
in relation to the use and availability of resources (such as water) in peak visitor periods,
and to questions of access and mobility (e.g. traffic congestion). In addition, consideration
of seasonal patterns in specific destinations will be of high relevance.
42
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/industry-and-services/providing-new-oecd-evidence-on-tourism-trade-in-value-added_d6072d28-en

3.4. Measuring the employment aspects of tourism
3.4.1. Introduction
3.38. Tourism characteristic activities can be a major source of employment since the activities
are generally service oriented and labour-intensive. Further, they can be a significant
source of employment for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups such as women, young
people, indigenous peoples and migrant workers that are often engaged in part-time,
seasonal and casual employment. Consequently, governments are often interested in
measuring the contribution of tourism in terms of generating jobs and providing people with
access to income.
3.39. At the same time, important challenges exist since jobs in the tourism industries can be
characterized by low wages, long working hours, a high turnover rate and limited social
protection. Shift and night work, seasonality, temporary and part-time employment, as well
as other non-standard forms of employment, including an increasing rate of outsourcing
and subcontracting are also common in tourism. More recently, the ongoing digitalization
of the economy and society is influencing tourism activities and the related employment.
3.40. The importance of measuring tourism employment was showcased at the 5th UNWTO
International Conference on Tourism Statistics held in Bali, Indonesia in April 2009. Under
the theme of “Tourism: an engine for employment creation”, the Conference highlighted in
the Bali Statement the importance of tourism in generating employment, “especially for
those segments of the population with less access to labour markets, such as women,
young people, immigrants and rural populations”. Thus employment is not only an
important theme from an economic dimension but is also of great relevance in securing
inclusive economic growth and social development. Thus issues around wages, education,
skills and decent work are all of relevance.
3.41. More recently, there has been growing interest in the extent of employment focused on
environmental activities, such as environmental protection. This has led to the development
of concepts around green jobs which are discussed further in Chapter 4 on the
measurement of the environmental dimension.
3.42. Overall, governments, tourism establishments and the community are looking for more
reliable statistical measures of tourism employment, including on special features such as
occupations, skills, level of education, income, compensation, hours of work of employed
persons and their conditions of work in the tourism sector. It is important that these
measures are comparable to performance in the rest of the economy to provide appropriate
benchmarking and reference points of measurement. Of particular interest are measures
of labour productivity where the output and value added generated by tourism is compared
to the hours worked in tourism.
3.43. Within the multiple capitals framing of SF-MST, employment is underpinned by human
capital. Using the concept of human capital is useful in interpreting information about the
characteristics of employment that are commonly measured, and in making connections
between the size and quality of the labour force and the potential to sustain tourism
industries and host communities. Further, the concept of human capital can be used to
underpin a narrative that highlights the relevance of investing in education and training to
support the maintenance and enhancement of the labour force available to work in tourism

and hence support the long term economic viability of tourism. There is also close
connection between human and social capital and the various social aspects of
employment, and hence further discussion on human capital is included in Chapter 5 on
the social dimension.
3.44. The focus in this section is on employment from an economic perspective as labour is a
critical factor of production in tourism activity. This includes measurement of the key
characteristics (skills, experience, demographics) of the tourism labour force that is available
to support tourism industries. Discussion of employment in the environmental sector and
green jobs is provided in Chapter 4 while a discussion of decent work, employee satisfaction
and the link between employment and local livelihoods is provided in Chapter 5.
3.4.2. Measures of employment for tourism
3.45. The importance of employment is reflected in the IRTS 2008 and the TSA:RMF 2008 with
chapters and sections dedicated to discussion of the measurement of employment and
jobs (see IRTS 2008 Chapter 7 and TSA:RMF 2008 Section 3.C.2). Tourism employment
measures from the TSA:RMF 2008 and IRTS 2008 stem from the same statistical sources
and use the same international employment concepts and classifications from the ILO
including standards on work relationships and informal work. This section describes the
range of measures that are available.
3.46. In the first instance, a key distinction must be made between the measurement of
employment in tourism industries and tourism employment. Employment in tourism
industries covers all jobs 43 in tourism industries while tourism employment provides a
measure of the number of jobs directly attributable to tourism demand in both tourism and
non-tourism industries. Each measure serves a different purpose and countries may adopt
one or more measure depending on the intended use and the data available.
3.47. Following the IRTS 2008, employment in tourism industries can be measured in three ways
with each measure relevant in different contexts. The key distinction between the measures
is that one person employed may hold more than one job and, where this occurs, not all
jobs will necessarily be in tourism industries. The three measures are the number of:
• employed persons44 in the tourism industries in any of their jobs;
• employed persons in the tourism industries in their main job;
• jobs in the tourism industries45.
Figure 3.1 below, adapted from IRTS 2008, Figure 7.3, sets out the linkages between these
different employment measures.
3.48. Where the intent is to determine the number of people who depend to some extent for their
livelihoods by working in the tourism industries, then a count of persons with a job (main or
other) in these industries would be appropriate. A measure based on a person’s main job
would serve to gauge those with significant attachment to the tourism industries.
43
A job is defined as a set of tasks and duties performed, or meant to be performed, by one person, including for an employer or
in self-employment.
44
Employed persons includes both employees and self-employed people.
45
IRTS 2008, Figure 7.1 provides a schematic showing the linkages between these measurement scopes.

3.49. If the intent is to make a comparison between tourism and non-tourism industries or
between the tourism industries and the economy overall, then a count of jobs in the tourism
industries would be more appropriate since a focus on the number of employed persons
would require an attribution of individuals across tourism and non-tourism industries.
However, note that the total number of jobs will be higher than total employed persons,
since a person can have more than one job and this is common in the tourism sector.
3.50. Separately from counts of jobs and employed persons, the intensity of work will vary. Thus,
it is likely to be relevant to collect data on the total number of hours worked in jobs by type
of industry and over time. By then dividing by the full-time average hours worked per job
an estimate of the full-time equivalent (FTE) employment can be derived which will equal
the number of full-time equivalent jobs (which will be lower than the number of employed
persons). Since employment in tourism is often characterized by part time work and also is
often heavily affected by seasonality implying less than a full year of work will be
undertaken, it will be important to make FTE adjustments for comparability purposes over
time and across countries46.
3.51. TSA:RMF 2008 Table 7 (Employment in the tourism industries) records (i) the number of
jobs in tourism industries; (ii) the number of hours worked; and (iii) the number of full-time
equivalent jobs. It also includes cross classification by sex and status of employment (either
employees or self-employed).
3.52. In addition to measures of employment in tourism industries, it is important to consider the

extent to which employment in the economy is attributable to tourism demand, a concept
referred to as tourism employment. Measurement of tourism employment involves
adjusting aggregate measures of employment in each industry using tourism shares to
account for the reality that not all output of each industry is consumed by visitors, i.e. the
total input of labour in each industry should not be solely attributed to visitor demand. To
estimate the tourism share of employment it is recommended to apply the tourism output
ratio for each industry on the assumption that, for each industry, there will be a stronger
relationship between levels of output and employment relative to levels of value-added and
intermediate consumption.
3.53. For sustainability measurement purposes, a number of indicators may emerge from these
data. Key indicators include the total employment in tourism industries in terms of
number of jobs and number of persons and the share of employed persons in tourism
industries relative to the total economy. More analytically, it may be relevant to compare
the total number of jobs to the total employed persons in tourism industries to provide
insights into the nature of the labour market, how it is changing over time and what the
future of work in the tourism industries might look like.
46
For more information on the calculation of FTE see:
https://unstats.un.org/wiki/display/IRTSCG/C.4.%09Full+time+equivalent+employment#:~:text=Full%E2%80%91time%20equiva
lent%20employment%20is,worked%20in%20full%E2%80%91time%20jobs.

3.54. Further, it may be relevant to derive measures of labour productivity, i.e. output per unit of
labour input (e.g. hours worked47, jobs). Measures of changes in labour productivity can
provide insights in the potential to generate additional output in the future which in turn
informs on the potential sustainability of tourism businesses and also the potential to secure
future increases in wages and salaries for employees.
3.55. Labour productivity measures can be compiled based on data from TSA tables providing
data on tourism output and value added, and data shown in the table above concerning
tourism employment. Methods for measuring productivity have been fully articulated in
OECD guidelines48. These can be readily compared over time and to other industries.
Figure 3.1: Linkages between measures of employment in tourism
47
Measures of hours worked should be compiled consistently with ILO standards for the measurement of working time – see
https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---stat/documents/publication/wcms_099576.pdf
48
https://www.oecd.org/sdd/productivity-stats/2352458.pdf

3.4.3. Characteristics of employment in tourism industries
3.56. For a more complete understanding of the sustainability of tourism with respect to
employment, it is important to collate information on the characteristics of the tourism labour
force. The IRTS 2008 provides a list of recommended characteristics to summarise
employment in tourism industries. These are:
• Employment by age group, sex and nationality/country of residence.
• Employment by type of establishment (size, formal/informal, etc).
• Employment classified by occupation (ISCO 200849) and status in employment.
• Permanent/temporary employment expressed in terms of number of jobs, hours of
work, full-time equivalence, etc.
• Employment by educational attainment, skill levels, vocational certifications.
• Levels of training provided, including on the job training.
• Hours of work (normal/usual, actually worked, paid for).
• Working time arrangements.
• Compensation of employees (including wages and salaries).
• Additional labour costs (e.g. worker transport, clothing, labour hire taxes).
• Mixed income of self-employed persons.
3.57. Statistical definitions and treatments for all of these characteristics are found in the
International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008: Compilation Guide50, and in
the relevant ILO and SNA publications.
3.58. The ultimate selection of characteristics that are relevant for an assessment of
sustainability will need to be made by compilers based on context and on data availability.
As an indication of how this information could be presented, Table 3.6 provides a set of
core variables for the purposes of international comparison that will also support a wide
range of discussions on the employment dimension of the economic sustainability of
tourism. These and other employment related characteristics will also be relevant in the
measurement of the social dimension of tourism discussed further in Chapter 5.
3.59. Collectively, these data provide a basis for the assessment of tourism’s human capital and
hence a basis for identifying potential labour requirements and developing relevant
investment strategies, including education and training programs. To support analysis,
indicators can be derived from the table by estimating the share of total tourism jobs in a
particular category. For example, indicators showing the share of females, the share of
managers, and the share of jobs held by people <20 years of age can be readily derived.
3.60. Note that the coverage of Table 3.6 are those employed persons in the tourism industries
with no adjustment for the relative contribution of tourism to the industry. Thus, for example,
the data referring to food and beverage serving activities will cover jobs that provide
services to both visitors and non-visitors. Table 3.6 excludes employment in industries in
the tourism value chain, i.e. indirect employment. Where there is particular interest in
employment in non-characteristic industries it is possible to extend Table 3.6 by including
additional industries and activities. This may be of high relevance when undertaking
measurement at sub-national levels since at finer scales the level of connection to tourism
49
https://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/docs/groupdefn08.pdf
50
See Chapter 7. Measuring employment in the tourism industries; available at:
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/tourism/publications/E-IRTS-Comp-Guide%202008%20For%20Web.pdf

may be higher. For example, employment in national parks and nature management may
be of high relevance in some contexts and data about employment in these activities could
be presented following the structure of Table 3.6.
3.61. For SF-MST, particular note is made of the characteristics concerning education, training
and occupation. There is generally a close link between education and vocational skills
held by an individual and their occupation. Together, these concepts help to provide a
bridge between the demand and supply of labour and hence may be of considerable
interest in the longer-term development of tourism and its potential for supporting economic
and sustainable development more broadly. The International Standard Classification of
Education (ISCED-2011) 51 is considered to be directly applicable in a tourism context.
Approaches for the measurement of occupation in tourism industries are discussed further
below.
Table 3.6: Characteristics of employment in tourism industries
Tourism industries
Travel
agencies &
Food & Railway Water Air Transport reservation Sports and Total
Accommodation beverage serving passenger Road passenger passenger passenger equipment services Cultural recreational Other tourism
for visitors activities transport transport transport transport rental activities activities activities activities industries
Number of persons employed

TOTAL
Sex Female
Male
Age (years)
15-19
20-29
30-39
40-59
>60
Average
Education level (ISCED-2011 classes)

Less than basic (ISCED lvl X & 0)
Basic (ISCED lvl 1 & 2)
Intermediate (ISCED lvl 3 & 4)
Advanced (ISCED lvl 5-8)
Level not stated (ISCED lvl 9)
Occupation (by ISCO-08 major groups)

Managers
Professionals
Technicans and Associate
Professionals
Clerical support workers
Services and sales workers
Skilled Agricultural, Forestry
and Fishery Workers
Craft and related trades
workers
Plant and machine operators
and assemblers
Elementary occupations
Earnings (relative to average earnings)

<30% average earnings
30-50% average earnings
50-70% average earnings
>70% average earnings
Hours of work (per week)

less than 15
15-40
40-48
48-60
more than 60
Nationality
National
Non-national
51
https://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/international-standard-classification-of-education-isced-2011-en.pdf

3.4.4. Measuring occupations within the tourism industries
3.62. Jobs are classified by occupation with respect to the type of work performed, or to be
performed (ILO, 2007). Data on occupational groups within the tourism industries provides
a policy and analytical connection between existing data on jobs in the tourism industries
(discussed above) and related information on relevant skills-specific labour demand and
supply in the tourism industries. In this context, it is valuable to collect and compile data
about occupations and skills related to jobs in the tourism industries to:
• Understand the nature and type of jobs to be found in industries that cater to the needs
of visitors and to monitor change over time; and
• Examine labour demand and supply in terms of occupations, skills and training
requirements.
3.63. To compile data about occupations and skills related to jobs in the tourism industries, the
starting point is the use of national occupational classifications that are based on the
International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO). These classifications group
jobs into categories of occupations based on work tasks, duties performed and skill levels
required.
3.64. At this stage, there is no specific recognition of tourism occupational categories in ISCO,
in part because of the special character of tourism as a cross-cutting economic activity. An
initial recommendation is to consider all occupations within tourism characteristic industries
as tourism characteristic occupations. Further development will propose a basic list of
tourism characteristic occupations for international comparability based on ISCO-08 using
the approach underpinning the set of tourism characteristic activities (based on ISIC Rev.
4) and tourism characteristic products (based on CPC, Ver. 2). This should reflect also the
ISCO-08 intention to develop thematic views for various activities, including tourism.
Development of an internationally agreed tourism typology of characteristics for a tourism
occupation will also be pursued.
3.65. A possible approach to identify tourism-characteristic occupations is to use the criteria

recommended in the IRTS 2008 to identify tourism products whereby tourism characteristic
products are those that satisfy one or both of the following criteria: (a) Tourism expenditure
on the product should represent a significant share of total tourism expenditure (share-of-
expenditure/demand condition); (b) Tourism expenditure on the product should represent
a significant share of the supply of the product in the economy (share-of-supply condition).
This criterion implies that the supply of a tourism characteristic product would cease to exist
in meaningful quantity in the absence of visitors (IRTS 2008, para 5.10). Applying this
criteria based approach, a tourism occupation can be identified in cases where the
occupation would either cease to exist, or would continue to exist only at a significantly
reduced level of employment, as a direct result of an absence of tourism. This approach
can be applied using data on employment and occupation in the economy, and deriving
tourism’s significance for each occupation in each tourism industry by multiplying the share
of total employment for an occupation that is in tourism industries by the corresponding
tourism value-added ratios for each tourism industry. 52
52
Through the application of this method, Statistics Canada identified 46 tourism characteristic occupations and 16 other
tourism occupations. For details see ILO (2013) https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---
stat/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_222947.pdf and S. Meis (2014) https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---
dgreports/---stat/documents/publication/wcms_243294.pdf

3.66. Further research is required however to articulate an agreed definition of a tourism

occupation and to develop measurement approaches that can be implemented in different
data availability contexts. As well, consideration should be given to the effects of assessing
the significance of tourism occupations at different scales (e.g. sub-national and national
scales) and to the indirect effects of tourism on employment and occupations in other
industries.
3.5. Measuring tourism investment in produced assets and related infrastructure
3.67. Within the multiple capitals framing of sustainability, the role of assets is central. Assets,
reflecting the stocks that supply capital services, underpin the capacity of systems to
generate benefits in the future. In this respect, an understanding of tourism related assets
is critical to understanding the economic sustainability of tourism. The focus in this section
is on produced assets with other types of tourism related assets, i.e. human capital and
environmental assets which are discussed in Section 3.5 and Chapter 4 respectively.
3.68. There are three types of produced assets defined in the SNA, namely fixed assets,
inventories and valuables. In terms of underpinning tourism production in the future, the
focus here is on fixed assets which are produced assets that are used repeatedly or
continuously in production processes for more than one year. Produced fixed assets
include dwellings, buildings and offices, machinery and equipment and intellectual property
products including computer software and databases.
3.69. The SNA distinguishes produced assets from non-produced assets which have economic
value but which are not themselves the result of production processes. A number of non-
produced assets are also environmental assets, including land and timber resources for
example. These assets are discussed further in Chapter 4 on the measurement of the
environmental dimension. There are also some non-produced assets, in particular
marketing assets and corporate brands, which also underpin productive activity and which
may be relevant in the context of tourism. They are not the focus of discussion here but
relevant extensions to the considerations here can be made following the treatment of
these assets in the System of National Accounts 2008.
3.70. The investment in and depreciation of capacity through improvement or decline in the
quantity and quality of produced assets is of particular interest in considering sustainability.
To assess capacity, focus is placed on organizing data about the stock of assets – their
quantity, size, quality and location. Further, understanding changes in assets over time
allows informed decisions about investments in new assets or the re-investment in existing
assets, particularly when considered in conjunction with information on expected patterns
of demand for tourism products.
3.71. For the economic dimension a key focus is thus on tourism fixed assets and tourism related
infrastructure. According to the TSA:RMF 2008 (para. 2.46), tourism driven investment can
be classified in three main categories, as follows:
• Tourism specific fixed assets which are used exclusively or almost exclusively in the
production of tourism characteristic products (e.g. cruise ships, hotel facilities, marinas,
vacation homes, etc.) (TSA:RMF 2008 2.44). TSA:RMF 2008 Annex 5 provides a
classification of tourism specific fixed assets in line with SNA 2008 and this should be
applied in SF-MST.

• Investments by tourism industries in non-tourism specific fixed assets (e.g. computers,

cars, furniture, hotel laundry services) which will reflect the balance of investment in
fixed assets by tourism industries. Though no specific classification exists for tourism
purposes, countries are encouraged to identify the following specific classes of non-
tourism specific fixed assets and to record which tourism industries purchase these
assets:
o transportation equipment;
o IT equipment and software;
o buildings and other construction; and
o other equipment.
• Tourism-related infrastructure which is put in place principally by public authorities to
facilitate tourism (TSA:RMF 2008 2.45). These may have been developed for the
specific purpose of supporting tourism activity, or they may facilitate or support tourism
activity even though this was not the primary/sole objective of the investment. Primary
types of tourism-related infrastructure are: airports, ports, railways stations and lines,
roads, car parks, and utilities (water supply and treatment, electricity and energy
supply, waste collection and treatment). Often these assets are not expressed as a
factor (cost) of production from the point of view of the industries catering to visitors,
even though the existence and use of these assets may be very important for carrying
out tourism activity. A clear example is the case of land transportation services, which
requires roads but which does not factor in the cost of roads (if no fee is attached to
their use) into the producer’s production costs.
3.72. While these paragraphs give a good overview of the different types of produced assets,
additional work is required to provide more substantive advice on precise measurement
boundaries and treatments. In this respect, special note is made of the potential relevance
of capital formation in dwellings intended to supply short-term accommodation for visitors.
The development of more detailed guidance on tourism produced assets is an item on the
research agenda.
3.73. In addition to these specific types of produced assets listed in the TSA:RMF 2008, focus
may also be placed on recording specific purposes of investment in assets. For example,
investments in improving the accessibility of hotels and other tourism-related venues may
be relevant and there is increasing interest in the level of investment in tourism related
innovation. Such innovation may concern, for example, hospitality management, search
and booking applications, payment and connectivity, ride hailing and intercity mobility. To
undertake measurement of innovation, best practice is to follow the statistical guidance in
the Frascati Manual 53 most recently released in 2015 (7th edition) concerning the
measurement of research and development.
3.74. In many instances, tourism-related infrastructure is provided and maintained by

governments as a public good for both visitors and non-visitors. As a result the investment
in infrastructure may not be recorded as expenditure by tourism industries. Thus, in a first
stage of measurement it is appropriate to identify the tourism related aspects of relevant
infrastructure, irrespective of which economic unit has undertaken the investment. In a
second stage, focus may be placed on estimating the extent to which tourism activities use
or are dependent on specific types of infrastructure. This may be undertaken by measuring
the share of use of infrastructure that can be attributed to visitors or tourism businesses.
53
https://www.oecd.org/innovation/frascati-manual-2015-9789264239012-en.htm

3.75. Table 3.7 provides a comprehensive table for recording expenditure on tourism specific
fixed assets and non-tourism specific fixed assets by tourism industries. Key indicators that
can be used for the assessment of sustainability are total gross fixed capital formation
in tourism specific fixed assets as a share of total GFCF of tourism industries, and
total GFCF in tourism industries relative to total economy GFCF.
Table 3.7: Gross fixed capital formation of tourism industries
3.76. Although the measurement of investment in fixed assets is commonly challenging, the
general ambitions of sustainability assessment require that attention be given to this task.
Initial estimates of investment (gross fixed capital formation) by asset type for the tourism
industries can be compiled using data sources and methods applied in the compilation of
economy wide measures of gross fixed capital formation in the national accounts. Common
approaches include the use of annual business surveys to capture data on expenditure on
produced assets particularly machinery and equipment, data on imports of capital
equipment (e.g. transport equipment) and data on building approvals and completions (e.g.
for hotels). These various data sources are commonly reconciled in supply and use tables
for the economy and hence will include estimates for tourism industries.
3.77. Ideally, measures of gross fixed capital formation would be compiled with associated
measures of the capital stock of these assets but this is a far more involved process.
Nonetheless, relevant measurement guidance at the economy wide level is provided in the
OECD manual on capital stock measurement 54 and could be applied to the tourism
industries. For individual asset types and industries, the key requirements are to collect
data on the levels of investment and the age and expected life of the assets. This
combination of information can be used to underpin models of investment and capital
stocks. Note that in some countries, there will be national accounts estimates of capital
stock by broad industry groups, e.g. accommodation and restaurants, transports that may
provide some general trends to support analysis and provide a starting point for compilation
of estimates at the appropriate level of detail for tourism industries.
54
https://www.oecd.org/publications/measuring-capital-oecd-manual-2009-9789264068476-en.htm

3.78. If a complete information set on tourism capital stock is available following the guidance
provided in the OECD manual, then it will be possible to provide estimates of consumption
of fixed capital (depreciation) for tourism related assets. To the extent that the depreciation
of assets is greater than the gross fixed capital formation this provides an indicator that the
capacity of tourism produced assets is declining and that further investment is required.
Also, tourism capital stock data are an input to the measurement of multi-factor productivity
which provides a more complete indicator of the extent to which tourism is becoming more
productive over time taking into account both inputs from labour and produced assets.
3.79. Where data are not currently available to fully capture investment related to tourism (i.e.
investments/assets by the tourism industries and investments/assets benefitting the
tourism industries and visitors directly), a realistic and useful first step is the collection of
data on the number, quality and capacity of tourism fixed assets and related infrastructure.
Examples of such data include number of hotel beds/rooms, road extent and quality
indicators, number of scheduled flights, cruise ship berths, number of taxis and tourism
related buildings quality indicators (e.g. building age, capacity to withstand natural
disasters).
3.80. To support analysis of the data on gross fixed capital formation, Table 3.8 provides a
structure for recording information about the stock of produced assets as described in the
previous paragraph and hence gives some insight into current and future capacity to
support tourism activity. Relevant data to support compiling these indicators may be
sourced from the same information sources described above for the measurement of gross
fixed capital formation and capital stock. In addition, particularly for data concerning
transport infrastructure, it would be relevant to consider data available in reports from
departments of infrastructure and similar agencies.
Table 3.8: Measures of the stock of tourism specific and related produced assets

3.81. An important perspective in the measurement of produced capital is the source of finance
for the investments. Thus while tourism production processes rely directly on the assets
themselves, the maintenance and expansion of capacity requires ongoing finance.
Increasingly, there is interest in providing finance to support sustainability objectives with
UNWTO investment Guidelines55 giving an example of what is relevant in that area. From
a measurement perspective, it will be relevant to record information on the sources of
finance for investments in tourism specific and related assets, in particular foreign direct
investment (FDI). At an aggregate level, relevant indicators will be total tourism FDI as a
share of the total tourism GFCF and total tourism FDI as a share of total FDI.
3.82. Generally this information is recorded on a project by project basis and is focused on flows
of finance for specific purposes rather than recording the actual investment of assets.
Consequently, it may be difficult to reconcile directly with estimates of gross fixed capital
formation presented in Table 3.7. At the same time, it is important that measures of FDI
align with the statistical principles for measuring cross-border flows outlined in the Balance
of Payments manual. This alignment is embedded in the primary database on FDI flows
operated by the OECD with the recording reflecting the OECD Benchmark Definition of
Foreign Direct Investment, 4th edition56.
3.83. Where data are available on a project level, further analysis would be supported by
recording information on any investment incentives (e.g. tax incentives) that may have
been applied, levels of employment generated through the project and the extent to which
the project was compliant with sustainability requirements and benchmarks.
3.84. For decision making purposes, and in support of the location-based assessment of tourism
sustainability, information on the location of tourism specific assets and related
infrastructure is likely to be important. Where possible and relevant, the data such as those
just described could be organized for sub-national tourism areas and destinations. Location
based information may be particularly applicable in risk assessments concerning the
impacts of natural disasters and the longer-term impacts of climate change, especially
since a large proportion of tourism activity takes place in coastal areas. As well, such
information on tourism-related assets could support analysis of accessibility, safety and
security, connectivity and other factors which can support and sustain tourism activities.
Additional discussion on these types of locational issues is presented in section 3.6 on sub-
national measurement in the economic dimension.
3.6. Measuring tourism related government transactions
3.85. The role of government in the development and promotion of tourism is well recognized at
all scales. A key role of the data organized following SF-MST is to support policy makers
from local and regional, to national and global scales, in having informed discussions about
the sustainability of tourism. In the economic dimension, data about the activity of
government in relation to tourism is reflected in transactions concerning government
expenditure and government transfers (including taxes, subsidies and other payments).
55
https://www.unwto.org/investment/unwto-investment-guidelines-SA1
56
https://www.oecd.org/daf/inv/investment-policy/fdibenchmarkdefinition.htm

3.86. The level of government expenditure on tourism, including tourism collective consumption,
will provide an indication of the extent to which there is active support for tourism activity
including in the public services and infrastructure which are important in ensuring the longer
term sustainability of tourism and improving the experiences of visitors. Measures of
tourism related taxes and subsidies also provide information on the extent to which
government is facilitating or restricting tourism activity, for example through arrivals or
departures taxes.
3.87. Data about these tourism related government transactions will be recorded in standard
national accounts and government finance statistics (GFS) following well established
statistical and accounting treatments. This section highlights the entries that may be of
most relevance to understanding government’s level of activity in supporting tourism in a
country or other jurisdiction. The discussion here should be considered together with the
more general discussion on governance in the context of sustainable tourism in Chapter 5.
3.88. Government expenditure comprises government final consumption expenditure (GFCE)

and government gross fixed capital formation. GFCE consists of expenditure incurred by
general government on both individual consumption goods and services and collective
consumption services (SNA 9.114). In the context of tourism, GFCE will most commonly
encompass expenditure on tourism promotion, development, research and development
and administration by relevant government agencies.
3.89. In addition, as part of GFCE, there will be individual non-market services provided by
governments that benefit visitors and exceed the values paid by the visitors themselves.
Examples include the costs of museums, performing arts, short-term education, and some
heatlh services. Following the TSA:RMF 2008 these expenditures should be recorded as
Tourism social transfers in kind and are included in measures of total tourism consumption
(TSA:RMF 2008 4.41).
3.90. Data on GFCE is classified using the Classification of the Functions of Government
(COFOG) (UN, 2000)57. The classes most relevant to tourism are shown in Table 3.9. The
indicator total tourism related government final consumption is the sum of government
final consumption expenditure in COFOG classes 04.5, 04.7.2, 04.7.3 and 08.2.
Table 3.9: Tourism related Functions of Government – COFOG classes
04 Economic affairs
04.5 Transport
04.7.2 Hotels and restaurants
04.7.3 Tourism
08 Recreation, culture and religion
08.2 Cultural services, including museums, art galleries, libraries, etc
3.91. Government gross fixed capital formation may also be classified using COFOG and hence
data for expenditures following the same classes just listed may be available. These data
would support the measurement of tourism gross fixed capital formation described in the
previous section.
57
The COFOG classification is available here https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/unsdclassifications/ . Supporting
implementation guidance from Eurostat is provided here https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3859598/10142242/KS-GQ-
19-010-EN-N.pdf/ed64a194-81db-112b-074b-b7a9eb946c32

3.92. While there is the potential to collect data at this level, in practice, data collected may relate
more to the structure of government departments and agencies. Hence where there are
changes in roles and responsibilities, it may be difficult to identify a direct connection
between the actual expenditures recorded in government accounting systems and the
functions (or purposes) of that expenditure. Nonetheless, discussion with relevant GFS
experts can support understanding the available data.
3.93. A specific part of GFCE related to tourism that is identified in the TSA:RMF 2008 is tourism
collective consumption. TSA:RMF 2008 2.57-2.65 provides an introduction to the
definition and measurement of tourism collective consumption highlighting the relevance of
government activity to support tourism both directly and indirectly, for example through
maintaining order and security and health systems. TSA:RMF 2008 also proposes a list of
products, following the Central Product Classification (CPC v2.158) that might be used to
identify the government production of collective non-market services related to tourism.
TSA:RMF 2008 Table 9 provides a structure for recording data about this expenditure by
level of government. The relevant product classes are:
• 85561 Tourism promotion services.
• 85562 Visitor information services.
• 91135 Public administrative services related to the distributive and catering trades,
hotels and restaurants.
• 91136 Public administrative services related to tourism affairs.
• Part of:
83700 Market research and public opinion polling services.
91260 Police and fire protection services.
92919 Other education and training services, n.e.c.
92920 Educational support services.
3.94. Government transfers comprise payments to government, such as taxes and fines, and
payments by government, such as subsidies. Taxes are compulsory, unrequited payments,
in cash or in kind, made by institutional units to government units (SNA 8.10). Data about
the value of these taxes usually available via detailed government finance statistics in terms
of the specific tax since each tax will generally have specific legislation concerning how it
is levied and collected. There are a range of taxes that may be considered tourism related.
Some, such as taxes on hotels, government airport and departure fees and similar amounts
levied directly on visitors may be considered directly related to tourism. However, visitors
will also likely pay general taxes as part of their expenditure while travelling, particularly
value added taxes (VAT). While some VAT may be reclaimed by visitors as they leave a
country, some amount will be paid and will be included in measures of tourism expenditure.
Estimating that component may apply relevant VAT rates for different products to estimate
tourism expenditure. Other taxes may include fuel taxes. Again estimates of these flows as
they pertain to tourism will require information on relevant tourism expenditures and rates
of taxation.
3.95. Subsidies are current unrequited payments that government units make to enterprises on
the basis of the level of these production activities or values of the goods and services that
they produce, sell or import. (SNA 7.98). Other government transfer payments include
social benefits to households, investment grants, transfers between levels of government
and transfers to non-profit institutions. A recent example of such transfer payments was
58
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/unsdclassifications/cpcv21.pdf

support provided to tourism businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic. These payments
by government can also be classified using COFOG and hence information on subsidy
payments related to tourism may be identified within government finance statistics. Unlike
the government expenditure recorded above, subsidies and other transfer payments do not
involve the purchase of goods and services.
3.7. Measuring the economic dimension for sub-national spatial areas
3.96. As explained in Chapter 2, the measurement of the sustainability of tourism for sub-national
spatial areas is aimed at providing both a richer understanding of the impacts of tourism
activity for policy makers and analysts at subnational level and more relevant information
for decision makers at subnational level. The nature of the measurement requirements
varies depending on the type of spatial area. The discussion here distinguishes between
measurement for regions and measurement for local tourism destinations. The relevant
issues for other sub-national spatial areas is encompassed in looking at these two types.
Generally the context for measurement will be examining trends over time however, at sub-
national scales, there may also be interest in measuring some components of the economic
dimension for specific major events which occur irregularly (e.g. world championships,
Olympic Games, music concerts). Indeed, appropriate analysis of trends may require that
the effects of such events is separately identified.
3.97. The measurement of tourism at the regional level is designed to provide a practical step
towards recognizing the value of sub-national data more generally as well as providing
useful information for decision making at the regional and national levels. The primary focus
of organizing information at a regional level is to understand the trends in tourism as an
economic sector at the regional level. This information will in turn support the assessment
of potential pressures on environmental and social dimensions of sustainability for local
tourism destinations. Thus, for example measures of visitor flows and numbers of tourism
establishments collated at regional level will likely provide important contextual information
for the analysis of outcomes concerning environmental quality, water use, waste generation
and traffic congestion who impacts will be more evident at local tourism destinations.
3.98. In addition, there will be some environmental and social themes that are relevant to
assessing sustainability that may be usefully analyzed for regional spatial areas. Examples
include energy use, water use, and employment. In these cases, understanding the context
beyond the local tourism destination in terms of energy supply, water supply and the labour
market, is likely to provide strong supporting information for the analysis of sustainability at
the local tourism destination level.
3.99. Related to the issue of strengthening the resilience of the tourism sector, aspects of building
resilience towards specific risks should be assssed on a sub-national level due to their risk-
specificity. Specific risk management tactics that account for preventing (e.g. economic
incentives), adapting (e.g. early warning systems, education programs), preparedness (e.g.
emergency energy and water suppy, shelters) and recovery (e.g. emergency funds) must
be made explicit at smaller regional scales and be tailored to the risk profile of the
destination.

3.100. There are a number of ways in which regional data may be compiled. Some data may
already be available at a regional level, e.g. on employment, population and
accommodation, either as regional estimates from national surveys and statistical
collections or from regionally specific data collections. In this situation, data can be readily
recorded in line with the data compiled at national level with the only caveat being to ensure
a reconciliation with national level totals (i.e. the sum of the regions is equal to the national
total) and to ensure consistency in the use of concepts and definitions.
3.101. Other information such as on the characteristics of tourism establishments would ideally
be sourced from a national level database – such as a business register – which contained
information to allocate establishments to each region. Where allocation of national totals is
being undertaken, it will be important to document the allocation techniques and ensure
consistency in the allocation methods used across a country.
3.102. For data related to visitors, i.e. visitor flows and tourism expenditure, it is likely that
significant care will be needed in determining regional allocations, particularly in situations
where visitors travel to multiple regions in a single trip (for example related to the GHG
emissions of inter-regional transport, which may be operated and owned by a company in
the origin, destination or a third region). On the production side, the main challenge is the
allocation of transport activity across regions. In this case production is normally allocated
in national statistics to the head office region but for regional statistics it will be more
relevant to allocate the national level of production based on the distribution of activity by
region, for example in terms of the number of flights landing in airports within each region.
Conceptually, these same challenges confront the compilation of national level aggregates
in relation to international travel. However, it is likely to be more difficult to resolve at
regional level if there is less data available concerning, for example, the duration of stay or
amount of expenditure with each region as part of a trip.
3.103. In all situations, it will be beneficial to develop maps showing the spatial distribution for
each variable of interest if data are available. Such maps will help to clarify and focus
attention for policy purposes, especially for those decision makers at national level.
3.104. Ideally, the integrated measurement of regional level data would incorporate the
compilation of regional TSA. Compilation of these accounts would provide a rich set of
information to support the assessment of sustainability 59 . However, the compilation of
regional TSA can be a challenging and costly task. A particular challenge is that allocating
tourism expenditure to its production in a particular regions – i.e. matching supply and
demand for tourism products is more difficult than attributing tourism expenditure to
countries. As well, there are often close economic connections between regions with
different regions benefitting from other regions in different ways and these linkages can be
difficult to identify60. It is therefore recommended that initial focus be placed on estimating
production, employment and expenditure on a common core list of tourism products and
industries across all regions and ensuring alignment with national aggregates. This work
will provide a strong basis for development indicators at a regional level.
59
See UNWTO Issue Paper Series, Regional Tourism Satellite Account; https://www.e-
unwto.org/doi/epdf/10.18111/9789284415649
60
For example, products demanded by visitors in a given region A is produced in another region B which contributes to Tourism
Value Added of region B

3.105. Through the compilation of regional level data, there is likely to be an important feedback
loop to the compilation of national data, including national TSA. Collaborative models of
statistical production between regional and national authorities should be encouraged. The
use of common statistical concepts, definitions, classifications, accounting rules and
principles of recording facilitates such collaboration.
3.106. For measurement at the local tourism destination level, based on the principles described
in Chapter 2, the core data that can be used to delineate local tourism destinations include:
visitor overnights, the number of establishments in the tourism industries, accommodation
capacity (rooms/beds) and the resident population and associated demographics.
3.107. In some local tourism destinations it may be common for a large proportion of
establishments to be dependent on tourism. For example, the output of local plumbers and
electricians may be be dominated by supply to tourism establishments. However, to ensure
a consistent measurement approach across scales, the scope of tourism characteristic
activities at sub-national levels remains as described in Chapter 2. The degree of
dependence at local tourism destination level can be assessed through the measurement
of indirect and induced effects.
3.108. In addition to data on visitor flows, establishments and accommodation capacity, the
measurement of the economic dimension for local tourism destinations should encompass
employment, output of tourism industries and measures of tourism seasonality. Beyond
these core themes, consideration may be given to measurement of the physical
characteristics of tourism related infrastructure and tourism collective consumption by local
government in the area.
3.109. Data on these topics can also be used to provide a general sense of tourism’s concentration
and how it is changing over time. At regional and national level these measures are also
relevant but at local tourism destination level there is additional relevance since tracking
such changes on a daily, monthly or quarterly basis can provide meaningful indicators of
pressures on the local area and its environmental, social and economic context.
3.110. In a similar vein, there will be considerable benefit in collecting data for these various
themes in relation to major events and festivals whose impact at local tourism destination
level is likely to be both significant economically (compared to their relative significance at
regional or national levels) and also create the potential for local environmental and social
impacts.
3.111. Also at local tourism destination level, it will be relevant to monitor the size and changes in
the wider accommodation activity including short term rentals that are made available
through various means. Again, the impact of short term rentals is likely to be of heightened
significance when considered at the local level.
3.112. In common with the measurement of regional statistics, measurement at the local tourism
destination level will require consideration of a wide range of data sources. Possibilities
include:
• Fine scale national data, for example from population census.
• Locally based surveys concerning community perceptions of tourism and visitor
perceptions of/satisfaction with destinations.
• Registers of tourism businesses at local, regional and/or national levels.

• Data from local utilities concerning water, electricity and waste.

• Data from local authorities and registers on land use, transport, accessibility,
governance arrangements.
• Data from local business groups on tourism industries and their employment.
• Remote sensing data (including from satellites and sensors).
• Big data collected from, for example, mobile phones and credit cards.
3.113. Wherever possible the data should be geo-referenced to facilitate meaningful connections
across datasets and increased applicability to local decision making. The potential for
compiling geo-refenced data is increasing steadily, including for visitor surveys. A range of
digital survey tools may be applied that output data in geo-referenced form.
3.114. In the initial phases, the challenge from a measurement perspective is likely to be finding
the resources to analyse and investigate the range of potential data sources and to work
towards understanding the data quality and the extent of coverage, access and time series.
At this scale of measurement there may also be important issues of confidentiality to be
considered.
3.115. One of the significant benefits in the application of SF-MST should also be that different
local tourism destinations can compare approaches to the measurement of the same
concepts and progressively improve and refine these approaches. For example, it may be
possible to develop and use similar questionnaires and related technology; and in the use
of remote sensing data it will also be more cost effective to measure the same variable for
different locations via a single approach with the data supplier.

4. Measuring the environmental dimension
4.1. Introduction
4.1. The connection between tourism activity and the environment is fundamental. In many
cases, what attracts tourists to travel and leave their usual environment is the motivation
to see and experience different locations and natural phenomena including countryside,
beaches, mountains, islands and iconic species. These environmental assets form part of
the tourism offer but are often not owned or managed by private operators. Also, in all
cases, the activity of tourism requires the use of natural resources such as energy and
water for its activities like transport and accommodation.
4.2. In addition, tourism activity has an impact on the natural and built environment. The IRTS
2008 recognizes that tourism can contribute “to irreversible damage to the environment
through pressure on fragile ecosystems, through construction of resorts or roads that
destroy the natural sites and heritage, through the pressure that is exerted on land, water
and air and through diverse processes of all kinds generating pollution, discharge of
residuals, erosion deforestation, etc.” (IRTS 2008, 8.35). Increasingly, the potential impact
of climate change related effects, such as rising sea levels and more frequent natural
disasters, on tourism activity is emerging, and conversely, the climate is impacted by the
emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) from tourism activity. The concerns around tourism’s
impact on the environment are often collected in discussion of concepts such as tourism
intensity and carrying capacity.
4.3. At the same time, visitors and tourism establishments in many locations are involved in
projects and initiatives that support environmental protection, ecosystem restoration and
the conservation of biodiversity and hence play a role as part of global policy efforts on
climate change (e.g. towards net zero GHG emissions) and reversing losses of biodiversity
(e.g. driving nature positive outcomes where the state of biodiversity is improved). Further,
given that tourism involves a variety of production and consumption contexts from transport
and accommodation to food consumption and recreation, there is substantial opportunity
for visitors and tourism industries to implement behaviours and solutions that contribute to
reducing environmental impacts. Relevant policy considerations in this context include
sustainable production and consumption patterns and circular economy.
4.4. Overall, in many contexts, tourism is regarded as an economic activity that has the potential
to be compatible with achieving a range of environmental sustainability goals. At the global
level this has been recognised in the SDG where the role of tourism in securing progress
towards sustainability is explicitly recognised in Goal 14 concerning Life below water and
specifically as part of Target 14.7 to increase the economic benefits from sustainable use
of marine resources. There are also links to the recently adopted goals of the Convention
on Biological Diversity in which improved ecosystem and biodiversity outcomes can be
secured through careful development of nature based tourism rather than alternative land
uses. Given this high policy relevant, the provision of clear and comparable baseline
information on the link between tourism and the environment underpinned by SF-MST can
build a richer understanding of potential policy pathways between ministries of tourism and
environment.

SF-MST – Chapter 4. Measuring the environmental dimension
4.5. Since each tourism destination has its own environmental context, the connection between
tourism and the environment will vary both across and within countries, reflecting the range
of locations, climates and ecosystems which people visit. This variation is particularly
evident at the sub-national level within a given country. Measurement must therefore allow
different locations to record the information of relevance to them while still supporting
comparison across locations.
4.6. Overall, measurement of the relationship between tourism activity and the environment is
essential to provide a meaningful information base that can support environmentally
sustainable management of tourism destinations and activities. Environmental
sustainability of tourism will thus require information across the following four broad
themes:
• The pressures that tourism activity places on the environment, for example, through
the release of GHG emission, other pollutants and the generation of waste.
• The use of natural resources such as water and energy as an input to the production
of tourism industries.
• The role of ecosystems as the location in which tourism activity takes place, including
for example the role that biodiversity plays in supporting tourism.
• The responses that tourism industries implement to reduce environmental pressures
and improve environmental outcomes.
4.7. These themes reflect, in general terms, core elements of the driving force-pressure-state-
impact-response (DPSIR) framework (EEA, 2019) that has been widely used to design and
evaluate various environmental policies. The information set provided by SF-MST should
support analysis of elements of the DPSIR framework in a common way across different
locations.
4.8. This chapter describes a systematic approach to the measurement of the tourism-
environment connection in each of the four themes by applying the principles of the System
of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA). Like the TSA as applied in measurement
of the economic dimension, the SEEA is a system that adapts the accounting concepts and
definitions of the System of National Accounts. Measurement within the SEEA framework
can be undertaken in physical and monetary terms. As a result, the focus of the SEEA is
on the alignment of measurement boundaries such that environmental data can be directly
and meaningfully related to associated economic data, through the use of consistent
definitions, measurement boundaries and classifications (for example of economic units).
4.9. As appropriate, definitions and descriptions from the SEEA are included in the chapter
recognizing that the relevant conceptual detail and associated methodological guidance
that has been developed as part of the SEEA should be actively consulted in compilation.
Further, compilation of estimates on environmental sustainability related to tourism is likely
to be significantly assisted through close engagement between tourism statisticians and
experts in environmental-economic accounting. In addition, experts in the collection of
environmental statistics and those engaged in environmental monitoring should be
connected to this work to best support effective and comparable data collection to underpin
SF-MST related measurement. Chapter 6 provides more discussion on the issues of
implementation and the associated institutional requirements.

4.10. To cover the relevant aspects of measurement of environmental sustainability in relation to

tourism the following approach is applied. Section 4.2 focuses on the measurement of
environmental flows, including GHG emissions, solid waste, water and energy, that are of
relevance in most tourism contexts and commonly act as pressures on the environment either
through pollution or excess use of resources. A key measurement challenge concerning
environmental flows is the appropriate attribution to tourism. Relevant conceptual and
methodological issues concerning attribution are presented in Annex 4.1. Section 4.3 focuses
on the link between tourism and ecosystems, including connections to biodiversity, providing
a structured approach to organizing data relevant to describing the dependence and the
impact that tourism has on the quality of ecosystems and the services they provide. Section
4.4 considers the responses that tourism industries may make to environmental matters
through expenditures, specific actions or employment pathways. Section 4.5 provides a brief
introduction to the measurement of environmental considerations at sub-national level
although it is noted that much of the measurement of the environmental dimension will involve
collection and organization of sub-national and location specific data.
4.2. Measuring pressures and impacts on the environment due to tourism
4.2.1. Introduction
4.11. An important discussion point concerning the environmental sustainability of all economic
activity is the negative impact that the activity has on the environment. Limiting or mitigating
these impacts is a common policy focus that emerges through, for example, policies to limit
greenhouse gas emissions, to regulate land development and to develop the circular
economy.
4.12. From a tourism measurement perspective, the focus is on two aspects. First, measurement
of the pressures exerted on the environment by tourism. Second, measurement of the
actual changes in the quality of the environment that arise as a result of these pressures.
To organize the relevant data the following groupings are relevant:
• Pollution and emissions as a result of the activity of tourism industries in supplying
goods and services to visitors.
• Pollution and emissions by visitors direct to the environment.
• Excess resource use, for example of water and energy, from visitors and tourism
industries.
• Changes in ecosystems due to the tourism activity resulting in a loss of natural
ecosystems.
• Changes in the quality of ecosystems including losses in species and biodiversity due
to tourism activity.
4.13. This section discusses the first three groupings of information, i.e. the recording of flows of
pollution and emissions, specifically GHG emissions and flows of solid waste and also flows
of water and energy. While there is a focus on these four types of environmental flows, the
same principles of recording can be applied for all environmental flows including emissions
to water, wastewater, air pollutants and other material flows. A short discussion on
measurement of these other flows is included at the end of this section. In many cases,
flows of pollutants and emissions have a detrimental impact on the condition (or health) of
ecosystems and biodiversity of species. The organization of data concerning changes in
the composition and condition of ecosystems and species is discussed in Section 4.3.

4.2.2. Measuring GHG emissions for tourism
4.14. Recording flows of GHG emissions that are attributable to tourism activity is a challenging
task for a number of reasons. A primary challenge is that the measurement of GHG
emissions is generally undertaken on a territory basis, i.e. the emissions that take place as
a result of activity in a given country or jurisdiction, irrespective of the residency of the
business or individual causing the emission. Since tourism involves people leaving their
usual environment (see 2.27) there will not be a simple alignment between the emissions
recorded for a country and the emissions that may be of interest from a tourism perspective.
Consequently, the following discussion identifies a number of different measurement
scopes and related indicators, each of which will be relevant in different contexts61.
4.15. Applying the recording approach recommended in Annex 4.1, GHG emissions for tourism
are recorded in a physical supply and use table as shown in Table 4.1. It presents
information on the generation of GHG emissions by tourism and non-tourism industries and
households by type of GHG emissions and is adapted from the air emissions account in
the SEEA Central Framework (Table 3.7). It records the total GHG emissions for the
tourism and non-tourism industries and also the proportion that is attributable to tourism
based on the use of tourism ratios. The generation of GHG emissions will be “used”
(received) by the atmosphere directly.
4.16. Table 4.1 separately identifies GHG emissions generated by visitors (both residents and
non-residents) directly within a reference country. An important source of these emissions
will be visitors using their own vehicles or rental vehicles for tourism activity. This follows
the treatment in the SEEA Central Framework (para 3.129). The column for households
included in this table is to record the emissions generated by visitors when staying with
other households, including for the purpose of visiting friends and relatives. Thus, for each
column in Table 4.1. an estimate of tourism GHG emissions is derived.
4.17. Following the recommended approach for the attribution of environmental flows to tourism
leads to the indicator Internal tourism GHG emissions which is calculated as the total
GHG emissions associated with domestic and inbound trips that are (i) generated by
resident tourism and non-tourism establishments (adjusted for their tourism ratio); (ii)
generated by visitors directly through their tourism activity; and (iii) the visitors’ share of
emissions generated by resident households when visitors stay with them. Ideally, internal
tourism GHG emissions will also include any GHG emissions associated with inbound
visitors pre- and post-trip tourism expenditure in their place of residence (i.e. by non-
resident establishments) and GHG emissions generated by non-resident passenger
transport operators who provide services for domestic and inbound trips.
4.18. The treatment of the GHG emissions associated with passenger transport is of particular
interest. These flows should be separately recorded for different types of passenger
transport based on the residence of the transport operator and applying a tourism share
recognizing that not all passenger transport concerns tourism. The use of a residence
principle for recording, consistent with the SEEA Central Framework, will exclude some
61
An extended discussion of the range of alternative GHG emission measurement scopes is presented in Gossling et al (2023)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517722001947.

GHG emissions related to passenger transport activity that will be of relevance. Therefore,
a supplementary item is included in Table 4.1 to record the GHG emissions of non-resident
passenger transport who bring visitors to reference countries or locations.
4.19. More broadly, the attribution of GHG emissions to visitors (as distinct from tourism
industries) will be of relevance to provide a consumption perspective, particularly in the
case of air passenger transport. A consumption perspective, as described in Annex 4.1,
attributes GHG emissions to the consumer of the relevant good or service. In SF-MST, a
consumption perspective is limited to the direct consumption of goods and services and
does not reflect an aggregation of all GHG emissions embodied across a supply chain.
Such measures which incorporate indirect flows of GHG emissions are often referred to as
“footprints”.
4.20. In practice, as described in Annex 4.1, there will be substantial measurement challenges
in fully applying a consumption perspective. In particular, it will be difficult to reconcile data
about visitors (and their country of residence) with data about the residence of the operator
of the aircraft (or other transport vehicle) and modelling using multi-regional input-output
tables will be required. An ideal way forward, in the case of air transport, would be the
development of international datasets 62 , which apply a consistent approach across
countries to attributing environmental flows according to the residence of visitors.
4.21. For those countries or locations interested in deriving indicative consumption-based

measures of GHG emissions, one approach is to assume an average environmental flow
per passenger and combine this with information on the number of trips and/or distance
travelled. Such an approach will not however capture differences in rates of environmental
flows across operators, which might be a significant factor, depending for example on the
age of the equipment/fleet, fuel efficiency and type of fuel used.
62
For example, the OECD has advanced work to produce global estimates of air emissions by country based on the SEEA and
aligned to the residence principle explained here, using the international database of the ICAO

Table 4.1: Tourism GHG emissions account (‘000 tonnes)

4.22. In general, progress towards environmental sustainability will be indicated directly by lower
total internal tourism GHG emissions and hence this will be a key indicator. In addition,
indicators of internal GHG emissions per visitor and internal GHG emissions per unit
of tourism direct GDP will also be relevant. The understanding of trends in GHG
emissions will relate directly to the sources of energy used by tourism industries. To the
extent that there is a movement towards using energy from renewable sources as recorded
in the energy physical flow account, this should help support progress towards lower
aggregate GHG emissions63.
4.23. Accounting for GHG emissions is related to but different from measurement of GHG
inventories as reported following the UNFCCC64. Many countries compile relevant statistics
on greenhouse gas emission inventories on a regular basis and there are close parallels in
the accounting for air emissions as described in the SEEA. An important consideration in
using SEEA based estimates in the context of SF-MST is that the data are organized in
line with the ISIC classification of economic activity which is also used as the basis for
classifying tourism industries. This permits a direct integration of data and supports the
consistency in interpretation envisaged through SF-MST.
4.24. Aside from alignment to industry classes, the main adjustments required to create a bridge
between SEEA based GHG accounts and data required for the UNFCCC greenhouse gas
emission inventories concern adjustments relating to the residency of economic units
including visitors and operators of transport equipment. Bridging between UNFCCC and
SEEA based estimates is described in more detail in the SEEA Technical Note on air
emissions accounting65.
4.25. Accounting for GHG emissions will also be closely related to accounting for flows of energy,
as discussed below. Because a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions is the
burning of fossil fuels, there are important connections between the measurement of air
emissions and the measurement of energy accounts. Indeed, data contained in energy
accounts may provide a good basis for the compilation of relevant sections of air emissions
accounts. Wherever relevant, a coherence should be developed between these two areas
of accounting, with a particular focus on ensuring consistent application of the residence
principle.
4.2.3. Accounting for solid waste generated by tourism activity
4.26. To record flows of solid waste for tourism a physical supply and use table is used – Table
4.2. This table contains information on the generation, collection and disposal of solid waste
by type of waste following the general structure of the physical supply and use table for
solid waste presented in the SEEA Central Framework Table 3.966.
63
Since the focus of measurement in SF-MST is on direct emissions, excluded from scope will be those GHG emissions related
to the production of electricity that is subsequently used by tourism industries. Where electricity use is a significant potential
source of indirect emissions by the tourism industries additional data may be incorporated by extending Table 4.1.
64
United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change
65
https://seea.un.org/sites/seea.un.org/files/seea_technical_note_-_air_emissions_13_july_draft.pdf
66
Note that Table 4.8 does not include a recording for solid waste products, i.e. solid waste that is subsequently sold.

4.27. Physical supply and use tables for solid waste would generally be compiled at a national
level and at annual frequency. However, accounts for specific municipal areas in which
tourism is a significant activity will be of relevance in many contexts. As well, measurement
at sub-annual frequencies to monitor peaks in waste generated by tourism activity may be
relevant. Where municipal level or sub-annual accounts are compiled, the structure of the
table to record the data is the same as for Table 4.2 although focus may be placed on
recording only the total generation of solid waste rather than specific types of waste.
4.28. The breakdown of economic activities identified in the tourism industries solid waste flow
account distinguishes the main tourism characteristic activities and the main industries
associated with waste collection and disposal. The categories of solid waste included in
Table 4.2 are those deemed most relevant for tourism industries and for the activities of
other industries that meet visitors’ demand67.
4.29. Of specific note is that the table supports recording data on food waste and plastic waste
both of which may be of policy interest in certain countries or locations, for example in
relation to policies concerning circular economy and sustainable production and
consumption.
4.30. The focus in Table 4.2 is on situations in which the solid waste generated is primarily
collected by tourism industries (e.g. hotels and restaurants) and hence, following the SEEA
Central Framework, is deemed to be generated by these industries. There will also be solid
waste generated by visitors that is not collected by these industries – for example the
collection of solid waste in public parks will include waste generated by visitors. This waste
should be recorded in columns for other industries depending on who collects the waste
(using for example data from local councils).
Table 4.2: Tourism solid waste account (tonnes)
67
The general, economy-wide categories of solid waste are described in Annex 1 of the SEEA Central Framework.

4.31. The column for households included in this table is to record the share of solid waste
generated by visitors when staying with other households, including visiting friends and
relatives.
4.32. Since the collection and treatment of solid waste, including its disposal in landfill, is a
spatially specific activity, it is relevant to record information on the generation of waste
within regions and local tourism areas as well as recording the areas to which this waste is
sent and stored.
4.33. Following the recommended treatment for recording environmental flows, the total flows of
solid waste for tourism and non-tourism industries should be adjusted by the relevant
tourism ratio to derive measures of tourism solid waste.
4.34. In general, progress towards environmental sustainability would be indicated by lower total
flows of solid waste and hence total tourism solid waste flows by tourism industries
will be a key indicator. In addition, to support an understanding of the trends in solid waste,
indicators of solid waste generated per visitor and solid waste generated per unit of
tourism direct GDP will also be relevant. Note that these indicators are limited to solid
waste generated by tourism industries, i.e. excluding waste generated by visitors recorded
under other industries or households.
4.35. Depending on the focus of analysis, indicators concerning specific types of solid waste may
also be derived for example concerning food waste and plastic waste. As there is an
increasing trend towards recycling and reuse, including for food waste, through the use of
alternative waste collection approaches (e.g. special bins, deposit schemes on glass
bottles), another indicator that could be compiled is the ratio of recycling and reuse to total
waste generated.
4.36. An introduction to the nature of accounting for solid waste is provided in the SEEA Central
Framework, section 3.6.5. Guidance on the definition of solid waste is provided in the
Eurostat Guidance on the classification of waste (2010) although it is likely that each
country will have established its own classes of waste and in the initial stages of developing
accounts, it is recommended to work with these national classifications in the first
instance.
4.37. The collection of information for tourism will likely require direct collection of information
from tourism industries, for example estimating the volume of solid waste generated per
visitor. Another approach may be to engage directly with waste collectors to understand
whether, for some large tourism establishments, specific information can be collated. As
for the estimation of water and energy flows described below, it will be necessary to
consider the generation and treatment of waste by more remote tourism establishments
who may manage their own land-fill, composting or incineration facilities.
4.2.4. Measuring water resources used in tourism
4.38. Water resources are an essential input to the operation of many tourism activities. For the
assessment of environmental sustainability, two aspects are relevant (a) the level of water
use by tourism activities; and (b) the availability of water. Since the level of water availability
can vary significantly by destination, it is recommended that measurement of water use

and water availability be undertaken at the catchment or watershed scale. This allows the
environmental context to be appropriately taken into account. In the context of assessing
the sustainability of tourism, it would be appropriate to focus only on those catchments that
can be considered connected to tourism. Tourism connected catchments are those
where the catchment is a part of, or overlaps with, a subnational tourism destination
(regions, municipalities, local tourism destinations or local tourism connected areas) as
defined in Chapter 2.
4.39. In addition, both water use and water availability in a given catchment can vary significantly
over the course of a year reflecting seasonal variation in both rainfall and visitor arrivals.
Indeed, since much tourism activity will take place during summer months when water
availability is commonly lower, considerable pressure may be placed on local water
supplies if there is not sufficient rainfall or storage capacity to meet visitor demand.
4.40. Following the SEEA, two accounts are relevant for the measurement of water resources in
the context of tourism. The first account is a physical supply and use table for flows of
water. It contains information on the supply and use of water and provides an overview of
water flows from the environment (commonly abstracted by water supply companies), and
the distribution and use of this water by tourism industries. The account also allows tracking
flows of water released by tourism industries including wastewater and return flows to the
environment.
4.41. Table 4.3 presents an adapted version of the SEEA Table 3.6, the physical supply and use
table for flows of water. The table records data on:
• The source of water abstracted for use either from inland water resources (lakes,
rivers, groundwater) or other water resources (e.g. sea water for desalination).
• Who is abstracting the water and then supplying it, most commonly water supply
businesses but own-account abstraction and supply is also recorded.
• Who is using water across all industries.
• Who is generating wastewater across all industries and who is receiving and treating
the wastewater.
• The return flows of water to the environment to ensure a balance in the table.
4.42. Ideally, Table 4.3 should be compiled at catchment level with multiple tables compiled to
cover all tourism connected catchments within a country as required. Where data are not
available to provide this level of detail, a national level supply and use table for water may
be compiled. If a national level SEEA account for water flows is available covering all
industries, compilers should ensure that the estimates for tourism industries are coherent
with the economy wide estimates.
4.43. Table 4.3 would normally be compiled on an annual basis recording the total flows over a
single year. However, seasonal variation in the use of water may be of particular interest
in some locations. Although it would be conceptually possible to compile Table 4.3 on a
monthly or quarterly basis, instead it is recommended that, in contexts where water use
and availability are significant issues, focus should be placed on measuring only water use
by tourism industries on a monthly or quarterly basis. A table for recording these data is
shown below (Table 4.4).

4.44. The breakdown of economic activities identified in the tourism industries water flow account
highlights the tourism industries and the main industries associated with water supply and
use. In some contexts specific tourism activities may be of particular interest. For example,
for island nations whose water supply may be relatively constrained, cruise ships may be
a significant user of water that should be separately identified. Recognizing that in any
given industry not all water flows will be attributable to tourism, the distinction between
tourism and non-tourism flows to recognize the tourism share should be made following
the methodological advice discussed above.
4.45. Key indicators concerning water flows are average tourism water use per visitor and per
visitor overnight, tourism water use per unit of tourism value added and tourism
wastewater per visitor overnight.

Table 4.3: Tourism water flow account (cubic metres)
NB: The set of tourism industries has been condensed for presentational purposes.

Table 4.4: Monthly recording of water use and availability (cubic metres)
4.46. As highlighted above, in locations and countries where there are concerns about the
availability of water to support tourism activity, it will not be sufficient to record only the
levels of water use by tourism industries. In addition, it will be necessary to record
information on the stock of water and changes in this stock.
4.47. The appropriate account for this task is the water resources asset account – shown
below in Table 4.5. This account is an adaptation of SEEA Central Framework Table 5.25.
The account records the stock of water at the beginning and end of the accounting period
and the changes in the stock of water due to both human activities and natural phenomena
such as precipitation and evaporation. The information can provide a basis for the
assessment of the pressure being exerted on water resources through abstraction for
economic activity including for tourism. A potential indicator of the sustainable use of water
resources is annual tourism water use as a proportion of the net change in stock of
water resources. A stable proportion will indicate that tourism’s use of water is not placing
additional pressure on the availability of water within the catchment.
4.48. The water resources asset account provides a structure to record standard hydrological,
water balance data. The primary types of water resource of relevance to tourism will be
artificial reservoirs, lakes, rivers and streams and groundwater. Depending on the
catchment, one or more of these water resources will underpin the supply of water to
tourism and other economic units.
4.49. The entries in the account should relate to the entire catchment – i.e. there is no adjustment
to isolate the part of the water resources that pertain to tourism. Thus, additions to the stock
of water through precipitation, inflows from other water resources and returns (from
economic units) to the hydrological system should be recorded in aggregate. Equivalently,
reductions in the stock of water should be recorded in aggregate, in particular the total
abstraction of water. It is this aggregate information for the catchment that enables an
overall assessment to be made of the balance of water available for both tourism and non-
tourism purposes.
4.50. For assessing the sustainability of tourism, it is not required to develop water resources
asset accounts for all catchments within a country. Rather the focus should be on tourism
connected catchments as defined above.

Table 4.5: Water resources asset account: Tourism connected catchments (cubic meters)
4.51. In some situations, for example in island nations, it may be relevant to assess changes in
the quality of available water resources as increases in the salinity of groundwater are a
known concern and will limit the availability of water, and/or increase the costs of providing
water for tourism activity. It may also be relevant to assess the quality of water resources
in situations where there is concern about levels of pollution or other contamination that
would affect the capacity to use the water for tourism purposes.
4.52. Where storage capacity is limited, it may be highly relevant to monitor both water use and
changes in the stock of water on a monthly basis such that information for monitoring the
capacity to meet peak tourism demand is well established. This may be particularly
important as weather and climate patterns vary such that rainfall and peak visitor arrivals
do not align well. In addition, information on the maximum capacity for water storage will
be relevant information in assessing the future potential for tourism activity within a region.
Table 4.4 provides the structure to report the relevant data.
4.53. The compilation of data for these water resources accounts should follow the concepts and
guidance described in the SEEA Water (UN, 2010), the International Recommendations
for Water Statistics (UN, 2010) and in related implementation materials. Over 60 countries
have developed water accounts and hence there is a substantive body of measurement
expertise.
4.54. A recommended initial focus for compilers should be on engagement with the local water
utilities to understand the availability of data on water flows by type of business. However,
the level of industry detail may be limited. In these cases, additional data collection through
surveys of establishments in the tourism industries may be required to provide more
accurate data. Ideally, information would be available according to a common business
register and this would provide the strongest basis for aggregation and integration. As well,
all countries will have well established hydrological measurement, including the delineation
of catchments.

4.55. Special note should be taken of the coverage of water utilities with respect to tourism
establishments. It may commonly be the case that tourism establishments access water
via a distribution network however, there may be instances, for example in remote resorts,
where water is abstracted by the establishment directly either through the collection of
rainwater or from groundwater sources. The own-account production of desalinated sea-
water may also need to be taken into account.
4.2.5. Measuring energy use in tourism activity
4.56. The second significant environmental input into tourism activity is energy. Depending on
the tourism activity, this will primarily concern input of energy in the form of electricity or in
the form of fuels to power transport equipment. From an environmental sustainability
perspective, the focus is on the total energy used and also the source of that energy.
Generally speaking, energy from renewable sources (including hydro, solar and wind) are
considered more environmentally sustainable than energy from fossil fuels. In this context,
tourism industries can progress towards increased environmental sustainability by (a)
becoming more energy efficient, i.e. using less energy per unit of output (e.g. per visitor);
and (b) using a greater proportion of energy from renewable sources.
4.57. Following the SEEA, to record data on these two aspects of energy use the appropriate
account is a physical supply and use table for flows of energy. This table contains
information on the supply and use of energy by type of energy product including energy
from renewable and non-renewable sources. Table 4.6 presents physical supply and use
table for energy flows for tourism and is an adaptation of SEEA Central Framework Table
3.5. The table records data on:
• The source of energy from the environment and who is extracting/capturing that energy
either as natural resource inputs (e.g. fossil fuels), inputs from renewable sources (e.g.
solar, wind, hydro), or other natural inputs.
• Who is producing energy products and who are the end users of those products,
including natural gas, oil, biofuels and electricity
• The return flows of energy and other residual flows to the environment to ensure a
balance in the table.
4.58. For the purposes of describing the application to tourism, the full set of entries has been
reduced to provide a focus on those entries expected to be of most relevance to the
analysis of energy flows for tourism industries. Ideally, the accounting for these flows would
be undertaken as part of an economy wide accounting for energy and the structure
described supports this approach68.
4.59. In the supply table below, the inputs of energy from renewable sources are recorded in the
first section and, since the common use of this energy is the generation of electricity, the
use of this energy is recorded against the energy product electricity in the second section
of the use table.
68
Note that it may be necessary to take into consideration the treatment of fuels stored in bunkers when considering the use of
energy by transport operators. SEEA Central Framework paragraph 3.126 describes the appropriate approach.

4.60. Generally, the source of energy used by many tourism establishments, particularly in the
form of electricity, will not be within the control of the tourism establishments themselves
and rather will be related to economy wide policy and planning concerning energy supply.
At the same time, in some locations, it may be relevant to include estimates for the
generation of electricity on own-account, for example through the installation of solar
panels or the use of generators. Indeed, estimates of changes in the use of energy will be
understated if such own-account production is excluded. Since there is a clear potential for
energy from renewable sources to be captured at the site level (i.e. reflecting own account
energy generation), there may be a need to combine information from different data
sources to provide a comprehensive picture of the energy sources used by tourism
industries.
4.61. For passenger transport activities, there are significant inputs of fuels that are often from
non-renewable sources. For some transport activities, particularly rail transport,
electrification has been a long-standing energy source and for road transport, technology
is gradually being implemented to reduce direct dependence on non-renewable energy.
For air and water transport, the transition to renewable energy sources is starting to
commence either through electrification (batteries) or through the development of
alternative fuels (e.g. through the use of sustainable aviation fuels).
4.62. Given this discussion, a key aspect of Table 4.6 is therefore distinguishing between the
use of energy products between energy from renewable (e.g. solar energy) and non-
renewable sources. The distinction between these sources is defined in the International
Recommendations on Energy Statistics69.
4.63. It may be relevant to disaggregate energy use by type of visitor to support analysis of
varying rates of energy use. In this context, a specific area of interest may be visitors
staying with friends and relatives whose energy use while travelling would generally not be
captured through tourism industry data collections. For this purpose, data would need to
be collected from visitors in relation to their energy use (e.g. what activities they undertook
and where they had stayed) and then assumptions made about the likely levels of energy
used.
4.64. Since energy products (mainly electricity) used by the tourism industry will often be
generated at larger regional or national scales and then distributed, it may be of interest to
also understand the location of the source of supply, either from another region in the
country or to record cases where the tourism industry is dependent on energy supply from
other countries, i.e. energy imports. Depending on the countries circumstances, recording
the energy dependence of tourism activity may be an important aspect in assessing
sustainability. For this purpose, the supply columns in Table 4.6 may be extended to
recognize energy obtained from other countries but it is not likely to be possible to separate
out tourism specific flows.
4.65. The key indicator for energy flows is the total end-use of energy products by tourism
industries recorded in the bottom section of the supply and use table covers use for both
tourism and non-tourism purposes. To ensure an appropriate estimate of the contribution
of tourism to overall energy use, and following the methodological advice in Annex 4.1, the
69
United Nations, International Recommendations on Energy Statistics, available at
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/energystats/methodology/documents/IRES-web.pdf [12/01/2024].

total use for each industry should be multiplied by the tourism ratio to derive an estimate of
tourism energy use. Alternatively, if data are available, a more direct estimate of tourism
use of energy products might be estimated focused on, for example, using information on
fuel used in delivering specific transportation services (e.g. intercity bus travel) which can
be attributed appropriately to tourism.
4.66. The compilation of Table 4.6 should follow the concepts and guidance of the SEEA Energy
and the International Recommendations on Energy Statistics. There is substantial
compilation experience on energy accounting, including via materials used to support the
reporting of EU countries as part of legal reporting arrangements. Relevant other
institutions include the International Energy Agency. There are also likely to be close
connections between the measurement of some energy flows and the measurement of
GHG emissions as required under the UNFCCC. Tourism data compilers may take
advantage of the data sources used to underpin these two related areas.

Table 4.6: Tourism energy flow account (joules70)
70
According to the International Recommendations for Energy Statistics (IRES), energy statistics are to be compiled by converting physical measures of mass and volume such as tonnes, litres and
cubic metres into a common unit representing energy content in net calorific terms. Joule is the common unit generally used for expressing energy flows.

4.67. In terms of data sources, the existence of established energy data programs at the
international level71, generally means that basic data on energy supply and use is available
for most countries. Since these sources will likely cover the major energy flows (with
possible exception of within enterprise flows and goods for processing) these data in most
cases will be sufficient to form the basis for estimating an initial physical flow accounts for
energy. For example, if a country has already estimated energy balances, these estimates
will generally provide much of the data needed to estimate SEEA energy accounts. It is
noted that data from energy balances will require adjustments to conform to SEEA
accounting rules; the most important adjustments usually concern the residency principle
applied in the SEEA (and SNA), an adjustment that will likely be most significant in the case
of transportation. A description of the required adjustments is presented in SEEA-Energy
and supporting compilation tools have been developed by UNSD and Eurostat.
4.68. Special note should be taken of the coverage of electricity utilities with respect to tourism
establishments. It may commonly be the case that tourism establishments access
electricity via a distribution network however, there may be an increasing number of
instances, for example in remote resorts, where electricity is generated on own-account
through the use of solar panels or wind turbines. Information on these practices should be
gathered through direct contact with tourism establishments.
4.2.6. Other environmental flows
4.69. Beyond the accounts for GHG emissions, solid waste, water and energy described here,
there may be other environmental flows of interest in particular countries or locations. For
example, flows of pollutants to water and air might be of importance in some contexts.
Examples of pollutants include emissions of PM2.5 and PM10 (i.e. particulate matter of
size <2.5 and <10 microns respectively), sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, volatile organic
compounds (VOC), ammonia and heavy metals. The gases included in the Convention on
Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP), which aims to eliminate, mitigate and
reduce air pollution on a transboundary basis, may also be of interest in some analysis.
The general principles of accounting for these types of flows as described in the SEEA
Central Framework, in particular section 3.6.3 on accounting for air emissions, and as
applied here for SF-MST can be readily applied. To facilitate initial recording of these data,
table 4.7 shows a structure for recording various air pollutants generated by tourism
industries, by direct emissions of visitors (e.g. through driving cars) and by residents
households in relation to accommodating visitors.
Table 4.7: Generation of air pollutants
71
UNSD Annual Questionnaire on Energy Statistics, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Statistical Office of the
European Communities (Eurostat), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC), and the Organización Latinoamericana de Energía (OLADE).

4.70. In addition to recording flows of individual substances, it is also common to track flows of
materials in aggregate terms using economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA).
These accounts provide an aggregate overview, in tonnes, of the material inputs and
outputs of an economy. A short overview of EW-MFA is provided in the SEEA Central
Framework and more detailed guidance is available from the OECD and Eurostat. EW-
MFA provide a relatively coarse set of information given the aggregation of different
materials but such information, since it covers the entire economy, can provide useful
information on connections among activities to support, for example, studies of the circular
economy.
4.71. In the case of accounts for various pollutants it is likely to be of relevance to combine
measurement of these flows with measurement of the changing quality of associated
ecosystems. Thus, measures of emissions to air can be complemented with measures of
air quality for local airsheds and measures of emissions to water can be complemented
with measures of water quality in coastal and marine areas and local waterways. Generally,
these measures will be most relevant in a local context rather than at national scale.
4.72. From a statistical perspective, it will be relevant to record levels of and changes in
environmental quality using the structured approach of an ecosystem condition account as
described in section 4.3. This approach will support measurement at local scales in a
consistent manner across a country. A further extension may be considered in terms of
collating data on pollution and emissions by other industries that have a detrimental effect
on the quality of ecosystems on which tourism activity is dependent. Again, the ecosystem
accounting framework provides the means to consistently record the relevant information
on environmental quality.
4.73. Another flow of interest will be wastewater generated by tourism activity. These flows can
be recorded using the physical supply and use table for water described above with the
addition of information on the tourism share to identify the appropriate allocation to tourism
activity from industry totals. Flows of wastewater may be associated with emissions to
water if there is insufficient treatment of wastewater generated. In locations where this is
relevant the same considerations just noted about complementing measures of wastewater
generated with measures of ecosystem condition should be applied.
4.74. Overall, the combination of data on stocks (i.e. quality of ecosystem assets) and flows (i.e.
pollutants and emissions) is likely to provide a more complete information base for
assessment and monitoring of the policy responses. It is further noted that there is no
requirement that such measurement be undertaken across the whole country. Rather
measurement in different locations within a country where pollution issues are apparent
and potentially attributable to tourism is appropriate.
4.3. Measuring the connections between tourism and ecosystems
4.3.1. Introduction
4.75. In addition to the direct use of natural resources as inputs to tourism production processes,
the environment plays a fundamental role in providing the locations and associated
features to which visitors travel. As a small example, an attractive river setting may be a
key location for visitors for camping, kayaking and swimming and, in turn, may support local

businesses that cater to these activities and other businesses, such as camping stores,
that supply relevant goods to visitors before they travel. This “passive” role of the
environment can have a significant bearing on many aspects of visitor behaviour and the
associated supply of tourism goods and services.
4.76. Following the SEEA, measurement of the environment in these contexts involves
accounting for environmental assets. Environmental assets are the naturally occurring
living and non-living components of the Earth, together constituting the biophysical
environment, which may provide benefits to humanity. (SEEA Central Framework, 2.17).
4.77. The SEEA describes the measurement of environmental assets from two perspectives. In
the first perspective the focus is on individual components of the environment that provide
materials and space to all economic activities. These components include mineral and
energy resources, timber resources, water resources and land. In the second perspective
the focus is on ecosystems. Ecosystems are a dynamic complex of plant, animal and
microorganism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional
unit72. Examples of ecosystems include terrestrial ecosystems (e.g., forests, wetlands) and
marine ecosystems (e.g. coral reefs). These are complementary perspectives for
measurement of the same environmental assets within a given spatial area.
4.78. Collectively, ecosystems underpin the supply of a wide range of services and benefits that
are relevant to tourism. Thus, for the purposes of SF-MST, the focus in this section is on
organizing data about ecosystems:
• that directly underpin the provision of goods and services to visitors by being owned
and/or managed by tourism industries;
• that are locations/areas (e.g. national parks, protected areas, beaches, lakes, rivers,
mountain areas including ski resorts) with their associated features (including
significant species – gorillas, pandas, fish) where visitors undertake tourist activity;
• whose size or quality is impacted negatively (i.e. there is a decline in ecosystem extent
or condition) by tourist activity, for example through excess visitation or the release of
pollutants or wastewater; or where ecosystems and biodiversity are lost or affected as
a result of tourism development;
• whose size or quality is impacted positively (i.e. there is an increase in ecosystem
extent or condition) as a result of restoration or similar activity by tourism
establishments, for example through environmental protection expenditure (recording
data about such activity is discussed in Section 4.4)
4.79. In measuring environmental assets connected to tourism, there is no adjustment to isolate

the part of the assets that pertain to tourism, i.e. there is no tourism share of environmental
assets. Rather, environmental assets whether individual assets such as water resources
or ecosystems, should be managed as complete entities. It will be relevant in different
contexts to determine the contribution that tourism activity may make to changes in an
environmental asset but this should not be interpreted as a share of the asset itself.
4.80. The remaining parts of this section describe in turn the measurement of the three primary
components of ecosystems measured following the ecosystem accounting approaches
described in the SEEA EA, namely: ecosystem extent (size), ecosystem condition (quality
or health) and ecosystem services. Links to measures of land use are described in the
72
United Nations (2001) Treaty Series, vol. 1760, No. 30619, Convention on Biological Diversity article 2, Use of Terms.

context of accounting for ecosystem extent and the relevance of key species and
biodiversity is described in the context of accounting for ecosystem condition. Ecosystem
accounting is an emerging area of statistical measurement. A number of countries have
national programs of work and MST compilers are encouraged to work closely with those
programs to build robust and integrated measures related to ecosystems at both local and
national scales.
4.3.2. Accounting for ecosystem extent
4.81. Building on the definition of ecosystems shown above, the SEEA EA defines ecosystem
assets as contiguous spaces of a specific ecosystem type characterized by a distinct set
of biotic and abiotic components and their interaction. (SEEA Ecosystem Accounting, 2.11).
The starting point for measuring ecosystem assets is ecosystem extent which is the size
of an ecosystem asset in terms of spatial area. Accounting for ecosystem extent involves
identifying (delineating) separate spatial areas within a country each representing an
ecosystem asset. Each ecosystem asset is a statistical representation of an ecosystem as
understood by an ecologist.
4.82. Consistent with SEEA accounting principles, all ecosystem assets within a geographical
territory (referred to as an ecosystem accounting area, e.g. country, region, local tourism
destination) are classified to an ecosystem type in a non-overlapping manner. Ecosystem
types include, but are not limited to forests, wetlands, mangroves, coastal dunes and
beaches, grasslands and savannahs, marine ecosystems (e.g. coral reefs, seagrass),
rivers and lakes, urban areas (including the built environment), cropland and pasture, and
plantations73. One key role of ecosystem accounting is to record the changes in extent of
each ecosystem type, and to measure the composition of a territory in terms of its
ecosystem types at points in time.
4.83. It is recommended that ecosystem extent accounts are compiled to record the current
composition and changes in composition of each region within a country, including relevant
marine areas, according to different ecosystem types. For example, the changing
composition of ecosystems such as beaches, coastal zones and dunes, mangroves, rivers
and estuaries, forests, wetlands and urban areas should be tracked over time. Maps of
these changes may also be useful policy tools. The delineating and mapping of ecosystem
assets at regional level provides the underlying framing for applying ecosystem accounting
in the analysis of tourism’s impacts and dependencies. Initial focus may be placed on those
regions in which tourism activity is considered relatively more important.
4.84. Using the ecosystem extent data for each region compiled following the SEEA EA guidance
and classified consistently with the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology reference
classification, analysis should be undertaken to identify those ecosystems that are
connected to or impacted by tourism activity, i.e. tourism-related ecosystem assets.
Tourism-related ecosystem assets are a type of local tourism connected areas as defined
in section 2.6.2. This analysis can be undertaken as part of work to delineate local tourism
destinations and local tourism connected areas (see Chapter 2). As part of this analysis, it
is recommended to consider the spatial boundaries of any protected areas and related
73
The reference classification used for ecosystem types in the SEEA EA is the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology.

parks that are within the tourism region. The output from this analysis should be a tourism-
related ecosystem asset register that records the size (area) and type of all ecosystem
assets that are considered tourism-related within the tourism region.
4.85. Using data on the area of different ecosystem types across the region, a regional ecosystem
extent account (Table 4.8) can be compiled. This account should record the area of tourism-
related ecosystem assets by ecosystem type (derived from the register). The share of
tourism-related ecosystem assets to the total area of the region can then be derived as
an indicator for monitoring the degree of connection between tourism and ecosystems.
4.86. Table 4.8 uses a selection of biomes from the IUCN GET to demonstrate the structure of
the account. In practice, the best starting approach is the use of national ecosystem
classifications which will provide classes of most relevance to the context. Discussions with
local ecologists in establishing the appropriate approach to the classification and
delineation of ecosystem assets is highly recommended.
Table 4.8: Regional ecosystem extent account (‘000 hectares)
4.87. Where information are available, additional information pertaining to each ecosystem asset
on the register may be progressively incorporated, including for example information on
key or iconic species, ecosystem condition (as described in the following section),
protected status, visitor numbers, key features attracting visitors, accessibility and
presence of facilities for visitors, and the presence of cultural heritage. While not all of these
fields of information are directly relevant for the compilation of ecosystem accounts, the
asset register structure can provide a strong basis for the organisation of a range of
information relevant for tourism management and decision making, for example in the case
of nature-based tourism.
4.88. An indicator that can provide initial insights into the link between ecosystems and tourism
activity is the extent to which ecosystems within a region or country are protected. Thus,
the percentage of protected areas (marine and terrestrial) to total area can be derived

by using information on the protected area status of ecosystems in the ecosystem asset
register. In certain contexts, particularly where nature-based tourism is a significant
component of total tourism activity, a complementary thematic account for protected areas
may be compiled as introduced in the SEEA EA.
4.89. SF-MST does not recommend partitioning individual ecosystems assets or determining a
tourism share of ecosystems. Rather, it is recommended to assess the stocks and change
in stocks for the ecosystems as a physical whole and to separately record data on the
tourism and non-tourism uses. This also applies to the measurement of the degradation
and enhancement of ecosystems. This approach will provide a much clearer sense of the
changing capacity of the ecosystem to supply services and benefits into the future and
allow assessment of the relative importance of tourism uses to other uses of the same
ecosystem asset.
4.90. A focus on ecosystems as a whole also allows for recognition of the wider benefits to host
communities that arise from activities to restore and enhance ecosystems, and the loss of
benefits if the size or quality of ecosystems declines. For host communities, there may be
important effects on their health and well-being in cases where tourism activity releases
pollutants and wastewater into local ecosystems. The monitoring of environmental assets
described here provides an appropriate framework for recording changes in the quality of
ecosystems and hence providing a basis for connecting to relevant information on health
and well-being outcomes for host communities. These types of social outcomes are
discussed further in the following chapter on the measurement of the social dimension.
4.91. The use of land and marine areas for tourism activity and development that was previously
natural or semi-natural ecosystems or used for other purposes (e.g. agriculture) is often a
contentious aspect of ongoing tourism growth. The contention arises where there are
limitations in the availability of land to satisfy all potential users and hence choices must be
made in terms of how land is used and who is provided with the opportunity to secure the
associated benefits.
4.92. Where data is required for the analysis of land use change and associated issues, the
biome Intensive land use (T7) in Table 4.8 should be disaggregated to highlight the relative
area of land used by tourism industries such as hotels, restaurants, recreational facilities,
golf courses, transport hubs, etc. Recording this detailed data on land use, in combination
with data on other biomes presented within a region, will provide a comprehensive data set
for recording land use and land use change. When these data are presented in maps, it
highlights whether there are particular tourism clusters and how these might be changing
over time. The analysis of land use change due to tourism may also consider the indirect
effects of tourism activity, for example, increases in agricultural area due to increased
demand for food by visitors.
4.3.3. Accounting for ecosystem condition
4.93. In addition to measuring the extent of ecosystem assets, ecosystem accounting records
changes in the condition of each asset. This is done by considering, for each ecosystem
asset, a range of characteristics relevant to the assessment of the overall integrity and
functioning of the asset. Characteristics selected will vary by ecosystem type but should
cover the six classes of the SEEA EA ecosystem condition typology. Examples of

characteristics include water flow and quality, species abundance and diversity, vegetation
density and cover, soil fertility, etc. The choice of characteristics is ideally determined at
the local level by ecologists familiar with the various ecosystem types.
4.94. Building on the tourism-related ecosystem asset register described above, ecosystem
condition measures should be compiled for each tourism related ecosystem asset within a
region. This should include marine ecosystems as relevant. Regular recording of
ecosystem condition for these ecosystem assets will provide a strong basis for assessing
the impacts of tourism activity on local ecosystems in terms of both enhancement and
degradation. Note that only initial insights on condition are provided from this indicator since
the actual ecological condition is not determined solely by its status as a protected area.
4.95. As part of the measurement of ecosystem condition it is relevant to incorporate measures

of biodiversity. In general, higher levels of biodiversity will be associated with higher levels
of ecosystem condition. In measuring the diversity of species, recording the number of and
changes in the stock of key species over time will support an understanding of both the
ecosystems supporting tourism activities, as well as the effects of tourism activity. The flora
and fauna species that provide the focus for wildlife watching and related activities (non-
consumptive uses), and species that are a focus for recreational hunting and fishing
(consumptive uses) underpin an important share of tourism activity in many places.
4.96. Separately from the measurement of ecosystem condition, the measurement of the impacts
of tourism on species can be undertaken. For recording data about species, a standard
asset account structure (see Chapter 2) may be adapted or developed to compile a species
account for selected species of animals and plants (see SEEA EA Chapter 13). Species
accounts may also be considered for species that are considered emblematic to the
territory or otherwise considered a policy priority (e.g. threatened species). A standard
species account focuses on recording the numbers (abundance) of selected species
monitored at regular intervals and entered into an asset account format. This can be
extended to show additions (e.g. through natural births and releases from breeding
programs) and reductions (e.g. through natural losses, poaching), to provide more detail
concerning the nature of the changes over time. Such an account over multiple time periods
is shown in Table 4.9 for tourism-related mammals of southern Africa. Further extensions
to integrate information on the age and composition of the stock of animals, for example to
understand the number of breeding females, could also be made. The same approach can
be applied for all species that may support tourism activity (e.g. Californian redwoods,
penguins, wild boar, trout, etc.), noting that many possibilities may be considered.
4.97. Information of this type for key species may well be readily available and accessible to
managers of national parks and protected areas or from active research programs. The
relevance of this type of information in the context of tourism activity is highlighted in the
UNWTO briefing paper Towards Measuring the Economic Value of Wildlife Watching
Tourism in Africa (UNWTO, 2015). Species level biodiversity indicators can also be used
as part of assessing the impact of tourism activity. Examples include the IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species and the STAR metric which assesses the extinction risk status of
species within defined geographic areas74.
74
See https://www.iucnredlist.org;
https://www.iucnredlist.org/assessment/star#:~:text=The%20Species%20Threat%20Abatement%20Restoration,footprint%2C%
20or%20within%20a%20country

4.98. For wildlife, there will be a direct link between the stock and the condition (quality) of the
associated ecosystem, such as a forest, wetland or savanna. As well, it is common for the
assessment of the numbers of species to be determined on the basis of the extent of suitable
habitat. Consequently, for a more complete recording of information it will be appropriate to
compile both species accounts and ecosystem accounts for a given location or country.
Table 4.9: Species account for tourism-related mammals of southern Africa

(numbers of animals)
4.3.4. Accounting for ecosystem services
4.99. The third ecosystem account concerns ecosystem services. Following the framing of
ecosystem accounting, ecosystem assets supply ecosystem services, including for
example opportunities for recreation. Ecosystem services are the contributions of
ecosystems to the benefits that are used in economic and other human activity. The
measurement of ecosystem assets and ecosystem services requires a spatial blending of
ecological components, including species, to provide a systemic view of those components
within a spatial area.
4.100. Commonly, ecosystem services are grouped into three broad classes: provisioning
services, regulating services and cultural services. Of most immediate relevance for the
assessment of tourism are cultural services. Cultural services concern the opportunities
provided by ecosystems to enjoy and learn from nature. They include educational and
scientific connections and, most significantly for tourism, cultural and recreational
opportunities including wildlife watching, hiking, camping, visits to national parks, swimming
and other outdoor recreation. Recording changes in ecosystem condition and flows of
cultural services can highlight the connections about the dependency of tourism on nature.
4.101. In some cases, the services and benefits supplied by ecosystems will be received directly
by visitors, such as when visiting a game reserve or kayaking on a river. In other cases,
the services will be jointly used by visitors and non-visitors, for example all people near the
coast will benefit from coastal protection services provided by dunes and mangrove
ecosystems.

4.102. Of high relevance to tourism are recreation-related services. These are defined following
the SEEA EA as follows: recreation-related services are the ecosystem contributions, in
particular through the biophysical characteristics and qualities of ecosystems, that enable
people to use and enjoy the environment through direct, in-situ physical and experiential
interactions with the environment. This includes services to both locals and non-locals (.i.e.
visitors, including tourists (SEEA EA Table 6.3). Ideally, the flows of recreation-related
ecosystem services are measured in terms of the number of interactions that visitors have
with nature and the various features (e.g. waterfalls, rock formations, beaches, iconic
species) present within an ecosystem asset. The number of interactions with tourism-
related ecosystem assets within a tourism region can be recorded as an additional entry in
the tourism-related ecosystem asset register, alongside data on the extent and condition
of that ecosystem asset. Where the number of interactions is not available alternative
modelling approaches have been developed that may be considered for use. This includes
the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) method.
4.103. The measurement of total recreation-related services in a region can provide an

indicator of the dependence of tourism on ecosystems and also be compared to measures
of the carrying capacity of the ecosystems. Measurement of the carrying capacity should
consider both the number of visitors and the change in condition of the ecosystem.
4.104. Provisioning services relate to the extraction and harvest of materials from the environment
including timber, fish and water. These will largely be inputs to primary industries, e.g.
agriculture, forestry and fisheries, but there will be cases of relevance for tourism, for
example when a hotel or resort abstracts water from the environment.
4.105. Regulating services are generally the least recognized and the most taken for granted.
These services include the filtering and purification of water and air by ecosystems, the
regulation of soil and water flows to minimize the impacts of flooding and the sequestration
of carbon, to name just a few. Communities and tourism activities gain directly from these
services. Monitoring flows of regulating services for relevant ecosystem asset will support
assessment of the wider impacts of tourism on the benefits received from ecosystems
within a local area or region.
4.106. Understanding the flows of ecosystem services to different users, including visitors,
permanent residents of the area and others, can support a broader discussion on the trade-
offs that arise if the supply of non-tourism specific ecosystem services (such as coastal
protection services and water reglation services) changes as result of tourism activity
and/or development that impacts the extent and condition of ecosystems within a tourism
area. Equivalently, in cases where tourism activity or investment maintains or enhances
the condition of local ecosystems (for example, through designation of protected area
status or construction of boardwalks and paths that limit direct impact of visitors on
ecosystems), the ecosystem accounting approach provides a framework for recording the
likely positive impacts on flows of ecosystem services both to visitors and to the host
community75.
75
The compilation of tourism and biodiversity accounts in South Africa and Uganda provide examples that recognise the
relevance of the connection between tourism and ecosystems.

4.107. There may be interest in estimating the monetary values of ecosystem services and related
ecosystem assets. This can be done using various non-market valuation techniques as
described in SEEA EA Chapter 9. However, it must be recognized that there remain a
range of conceptual and practical issues in applying non-market valuation techniques in an
accounting context and hence the monetary valuation chapters of the SEEA EA (Chapters
9-11) have the status of international recommendations rather than reflecting statistical
standards. The fact that much information on tourism can be attributed to specific
destinations may provide data to support direct valuation of ecosystem services. This can
also help to connect and embed the monetary value of tourism in environmental
conservation efforts.
4.108. The spatial accounting for ecosystem assets envisaged in the SEEA EA, can also be
extended to consider a broader range of assets that are present in the landscape. For
example, to understand changes in particular destinations it may be relevant to consider
the influence and condition of infrastructure that supports tourism such as walkways,
viewing platforms and camping sites. Also, it would be appropriate to account spatially for
cultural assets that may be frequently visited. In short, the spatial accounting principles of
ecosystem accounting provide a basis for capturing many aspects of relevance to
assessing the sustainability of tourism at a destination level.
4.4. Measuring activities of tourism industries aimed at improving environmental

outcomes
4.4.1. Introduction
4.109. The final area of measurement concerning tourism’s link to the environment concerns the
activities and responses that tourism industries and visitors undertake to improve
environmental outcomes. The SEEA Central Framework outlines a range of concepts,
definitions and treatments related to identifying the relevant information within the scope of
standard national accounting system. There are two key aspects of relevance to measuring
the environmental sustainability of tourism activity.
4.110. The first aspect concerns recording environmental transactions which includes (i)
expenditures on environmental activities, i.e. those activities whose primary purpose is
environmental protection or resource management; (ii) environmental taxes; (iii)
environmental subsidies and similar transfers and (iv) payments for the use of natural
resources. In addition to the monetary data recorded in relation to these transactions for
the economy as a whole, it is also relevant to collect data concerning the activities and
behaviours of tourism industries concerning environmental responses.
4.111. The second aspect concerns employment in environmental activities which covers
measures of employment (e.g. jobs or full time equivalent) in tourism industries where
people are employed to undertake environmental protection or resource management
activity. The following sections discuss the measurement of these two aspects.

4.4.2. Environmental transactions related to tourism
4.112. In broad terms, the recording of environmental transactions and the identification of
environmental activities is designed to provide information that supports tracking the
response of business and government to environmental challenges. By developing these
data for tourism industries, indicators can be developed that show the response of tourism
industries to environmental challenges both in absolute terms and relative to other sectors.
Economy wide definitions for environment transactions are provided in the SEEA Central
Framework (Chapter 4).
4.113. Following the concepts, definitions and treatments of the SEEA Central Framework, SF-
MST records environmental transactions where they are undertaken by tourism industries.
Such information can support an improved understanding of responses to environmental
issues from a tourism perspective. This section provides an introduction to the relevant
considerations that are described in more detail in the SEEA Central Framework. Practical
application of the principles introduced here to the tourism context will be required to clarify
tourism specific measurement aspects.
4.114. Table 4.10 provides a basic structure for recording key information on environmental
transactions for two main areas. The first section of Table 4.10 concerns expenditure on
environmental protection. Environmental protection activities are those activities whose
primary purpose is the prevention, reduction and elimination of pollution and other forms of
degradation of the environment (SEEA Central Framework, 4.12). Environmental
protection activities may be undertaken by tourism establishments either by paying other
establishments to complete relevant works, or it may be undertaken by its own staff (own
account production), or a tourism establishment may finance environmental protection
efforts, for example, via an environmental NGO. In some cases, tourism establishments
may receive funding, e.g. from government, to undertake environmental protection work.
Each of these types of transaction can be recorded in this table.
4.115. Data on environmental protection expenditure should be classified following the

Classification of Environmental Purposes (forthcoming). There is a range of potential
classes of activity that are relevant to tourism industries within the four key high level
divisions of I: Air, climate and energy; II: Wastewater and water resources; III: Waste,
materials recovery and savings; and IV: Soil, surface and groundwater, biodiversity and
forest. Examples include production of energy from renewable sources (class 1.2.1);
energy efficient buildings (class 1.3.2); wastewater treatment (class 2.1.3); treatment and
disposal of non-hazardous waste (class 3.1.4) and prevention of pollutant infiltration (class
4.1.1).
4.116. The classes of most direct relevance to ecosystem restoration and maintenance activity
are Class 4.2.1: Protection and rehabilitation of species and habitats and Class 4.2.2:
Protection of natural and semi-natural landscapes. Ideally, the table would connect to data
on the changes in extent and condition of the ecosystems that are the focus of restoration
and maintenance efforts. Recording this outcome information is an important complement
to the expenditure information. However, collecting this information may be challenging if
the details on the location and type of ecosystems that are the subject of restoration and
maintenance activity are not known. While this table is limited to the expenditure of tourism
industries, it may be of interest to collate data on environmental protection expenditure on
tourism related ecosystems undertaken by governments and non-profit institutions serving

households (e.g. environmental NGOs), noting that this expenditure may not be undertaken
primarily for the purposes of tourism. Consistent recording of information on expenditure
on restoration activities combined with measurement of improvements in ecosystem
condition as described in the previous section will provide an information base that can be
used to estimate the costs of restoration and rehabilitation of local ecosystems.
4.117. There will be a connection between data on environmental protection expenditure

undertaken by tourism industries and the production of environmental goods and services
by the economy as a whole. In most cases, tourism industries will be the purchasers from
the environmental goods and services sector (EGSS). The EGSS encompasses the
production of specific services, sole-purpose products, adapted goods or technologies
which are produced, designed and manufactured for the purposes of, or are beneficial for,
both environmental protection and resource management. (SEEA Central Framework,
section 4.3.3). The total production will include both (i) amounts paid to other
establishments for the supply of environmental goods and services; and (ii) expenditure to
produce environmental goods and services within an establishment, i.e. own account
production. Generally, tourism industries will be purchasers of environmental goods and
services but can be considered part of the EGSS where own account production takes
place.
4.118. The second section of the table considers the range of environmental taxes that may be
paid by tourism industries. This is a different perspective from the discussion of taxes in
Chapter 3 which focuses on the collection of taxes from visitors and is not limited to
environmental taxes. Environmental taxes paid by tourism industries should be recorded
in the table following the definitions in the SEEA. The SEEA identifies four categories of
environmental taxes: energy taxes (including taxes on carbon), transport taxes, pollution
taxes and resources taxes. It is recommended that a tourism share of environmental taxes
be estimated. For non-transport industries the use of a tourism output ratio could be used.
For transport industries, the tourism share should take into account factors such as
passenger kilometres to the extent that the tax levied is related to distance travelled.
4.119. Compilation of estimates of environmental protection expenditure will require data about
tourism establishments. Where countries already collect such data through surveys as part
of implementation of the recommendations in the SEEA Central Framework, estimates for
tourism industries may be drawn from those surveys or additional sample may be included
to provide estimates of suitable quality. Data may also be available from administrative
sources or may require the use of modelling approaches. Eurostat has developed
considerable guidance on the compilation of statistics in these areas 76 . Data on
environmental taxes should be collated using government finance statistics.
76
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-manuals-and-guidelines/-/ks-ra-09-012

Table 4.10: Environmental transactions related to tourism industries
4.120. In addition to the monetary flows reported in Table 4.10, it may also be relevant, particularly
for local tourism destinations, to collect information on the number of establishments that
undertaking practices that are considered more environmentally sustainable or may be
linked to securing environmental outcomes. For example, installing water efficient
equipment, using renewable energy sources, composting food waste, eco-labelling,
sustainability certification and reporting. If such information is available or collecting the
data can be undertaken, then additional rows could be added to Table 3.3 to record
additional characteristics of tourism establishments. A distinction between the practices of
large and small and medium establishments might also be made. This information may be
available in cases where tourism establishments are seeking accreditation or certification
for sustainability through relevant schemes. A separate perspective on environmental
sustainability may be obtained through studies of visitor perceptions of both tourism
destinations and tourism establishments as discussed in Chapter 5 on measuring the social
dimension.
4.4.3. Employment in environmental activities
4.121. Building on the framing of employment in tourism provided in Chapter 3, the focus in this
section is on the description of approaches to the measurement of employment specifically
in environmental activities in tourism industries. The relevant underlying statistical guidance
is provided in the Guidelines concerning a statistical definition of employment in the
environmental sector and green jobs (ILO, 2013c) endorsed by the 19th International
Conference of Labour Statistician (ICLS) in 201377. These guidelines provide definitions of
the main concepts, measurement methods and potential data sources.
4.122. The guidelines define the environmental sector as comprising all economic units that carry
out environmental activities, where those activities are defined following the SEEA Central
Framework as economic activities whose primary purpose is to reduce or eliminate
77
https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---stat/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_817835.pdf

pressures on the environment (environmental protection-EP) or to make more efficient use

of natural resources (resource management-RM) (ILO, 2013c). Using this scoping,
employment in environmental activities comprises all persons who were employed in the
production of environmental goods and services, and workers whose duties involve making
their economic unit’s production processes more environmentally friendly or make more
efficient use of natural resources.
4.123. A distinction can thus be made between employment in the production of environmental
goods and services for consumption by other economic units, i.e. employment in production
of environmental outputs; and for own-consumption by the economic unit in which the
activity is performed, i.e. employment in environmental processes.
4.124. The concept of employment in environmental activities is closely associated with the
concept of green jobs. Following the ILO guidelines, and as depicted in Figure 4.1, the
identification of green jobs in tourism involves a number steps. The starting point is total
employment in tourism industries of which some will reflect employment in the
environmental sector. Of that environmental sector employment, some jobs will meet the
requirements of decent work (e.g. offer adequate wages, safe conditions, workers’ rights,
social dialogue and social protection) and it is these jobs that are defined as green jobs.
The measurement of decent work is discussed in Chapter 5 on the measurement of the
social dimension.
Figure 4.1: Employment data for assessing the three dimensions of sustainability of
tourism
Adapted from Stoevska, 2019
4.125. To record data on employment in environmental activities, it is recommended that

extensions be applied to TSA:RMF 2008 Table 7 to identify the total number of jobs in each
tourism industry that are considered to be primarily for the purpose of either environmental
protection or resource management. An adjustment may further be made to recognize a
tourism share of the employment level. To support measurement work, the ILO has
developed two modules and supporting material for collection information on employment
in the production of environment outputs and in environment processes, for the inclusion

in the ongoing Labour Force Survey and Establishment surveys (ILO, 2017). Analysis of
green jobs by the OECD within their program of work on Local Employment and Economic
Development (LEED) also provides insights on appropriate methods and data sources78.
4.126. Relevant indicators concerning employment in environmental activities for tourism are:
• Share of employment in the environmental sector of tourism.
• Percentage of jobs and FTE in tourism industries that are decent.
• Percentage of jobs and FTE in tourism industries that are green.
4.127. Note that these indicators, in conjunction with measures of employment and jobs in tourism
more generally, provide a coverage across each of the dimensions of sustainable tourism.
Indeed, a major advantage of counting 'green jobs' in tourism industries is that it focuses
on all three dimensions.
4.128. In practice, and based on experience in the measurement of economy-wide employment

in environmental activities, it is likely that the number of jobs of this type in tourism industries
is relatively small. A similar conclusion would apply to the measurement of green jobs.
Thus, notwithstanding the conceptual merit, compilers should carefully consider the
situation in their context before undertaking measurement activity.
4.129. Consequently, in understanding the response of tourism establishments to environmental

challenges, it may be of greater interest to collate data on expenditure made by tourism
industries on environmental goods and services as described in the previous section.
These expenditures will implicitly capture the employment associated with the supply of
environmental protection and resource management activities by other economic units who
are likely specialists in the supply of such services.
4.5. Measuring the environmental dimension at the sub-national level
4.130. As noted in the introduction to this chapter, the assessment of sustainability with respect
to the environmental dimension will commonly require consideration of data at sub-national
levels. It is at these finer levels that the connection between tourism activity and the
environment is most directly observed and given the significant variation in environmental
contexts across a country, taking these variations into consideration is both appropriate
and necessary.
4.131. The general advice in SF-MST with respect to sub-national environmental data is to seek
to record data at as finer spatial level as possible and to attribute that data to the structured
register of spatial areas described in Chapter 2. While it will not be necessary or relevant
to record data at fine spatial levels for every environmental themes or for all locations
across a country, keeping this general advice in mind is useful in establishing a framework
for the organization of data and building as much coherence as possible across the range
of data sets and data holders. As the ongoing improvement in the spatialization of data
continues, there becomes the opportunity to fill gaps progressively while still maintaining a
clear sense of the overall national picture.
78
https://www.oecd.org/employment/greeningjobsandskills.htm

4.132. There are two key scales for consideration measuring the environmental dimension at the
sub-national level. The first concerns the need to place tourism areas in a wider context.
For this purpose, statistics compiled for tourism regions and tourism connected catchments
are highly relevant. Specifically, data on water resources should be compiled for tourism
connected catchments and data for land accounts and ecosystem extent should be
compiled for tourism regions. These data will provide both local and national decision
makers a solid understanding of the potential scale of connection between tourism and
environment and serve as a starting point for prioritization of measurement activity at finer
scales.
4.133. The second key scale is at the level of individual locations, best represented in terms of
ecosystem assets. At this scale the pressures of tourism activity in terms of high visitor
activity, emissions to air and water, and potential restoration activity, become evident. In
turn, once the environmental outcomes from tourism activity are localised, attention can
turn to identifying and measuring pressures, for example, in terms of numbers of visitors,
flows of wastewater, the generation of solid waste and emissions to air and water by
tourism industries.
4.134. The measurement of these flows at a national level is useful context information but the
availability of these data at finer scales where a link may be analysed to environmental
outcomes is most useful for developing appropriate policy responses. One example of the
potential of these types of data to inform tourism decision making concerns land zoning
and planning for which data at a local scale is essential.
4.135. With these considerations in mind the following environmental themes are considered of
most relevance for the assessment of the sustainability of tourism at sub-national level:
• Water use and water resources.
• Generation of solid waste.
• Emissions to air and measures of air quality.
• Emissions to water, including wastewater flows, and measures of the condition of
freshwater and marine shelf ecosystems.
• Land accounts and ecosystem extent accounts allowing for landscape scale
assessment.
• Protected areas and their connection to local tourism destinations and other
sustainability-related tourism areas.
• Environmental protection activities and expenditures.
4.136. In each of these areas of measurement, the discussion in the earlier sections of this chapter
provides initial advice on measurement options.
4.6. Annex 4.1: General considerations in measuring the environmental

dimension of tourism
4.137. This annex discusses a number of general considerations in measuring the environmental
dimension of tourism. These concern the geographical scale and frequency of compilation
of data; the estimation of the tourism share of environmental flows; accounting for the
location of environmental flows, the distinction between the production and consumption
perspective; and estimating indirect environmental flows.

4.6.1. Geographical scale and frequency of compilation
4.138. The measurement described in this chapter is presented in terms of compilation for annual
frequencies and at national level. A focus on annual and national level measurement will
likely suit the needs for national and international policy and reporting (for example, for
annual reporting by government agencies or reporting on progress towards the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) indicators). A national level dataset will also provide a base
for the co-ordination of information at finer levels of detail and this will, in turn, support a
more integrated understanding of tourism activity. In this sense, SF-MST provides the basis
for the recording and comparison of information at different spatial levels and at different
frequencies, recognizing that not all possible combinations of spatial detail and frequency
will be needed or relevant for all data users.
4.139. It is recognized that for some purposes of sustainable tourism management and analysis,
this level of detail will usually not be sufficient. For example, at local tourism destination
scale some important ecosystems may be under pressure which could be intensified by
tourism, or indeed where visitors might provide finance resources that could fund
ecosystem remediation79. Ideally, all of these more specific local issues might be recorded
following the measurement approaches described in SF-MST but in other instances more
bespoke recording is likely to be warranted such that the information is most useful for
management. An introduction to relevant sub-national measurement considerations for the
environmental dimension is provided in section 4.5.
4.6.2. Estimating the tourism share of environmental physical flows
4.140. Environmental physical flows (environmental flows) are the flows of materials, water,
pollutants, waste and energy that move between the environment and the economy and
within the economy. They may be natural inputs to production and consumption activity,
product flows between economic units, or residual flows from production and consumption
activity to the environment (Adapted from SEEA Central Framework, para 2.14).
4.141. Measuring the connections between tourism activity and environmental flows (including
water, energy, waste, GHG emissions) requires consideration of a number of aspects of
measurement and analysis. There are three primary considerations: (i) the extent to which
observed environmental flows are directly related to tourism activity; (ii) the location where
the connection between tourism activity and environmental flow is observed and the
associated residence of the economic units involved; and (iii) the measurement question
and purpose of recording. Each of these aspects is considered in the following sections.
The discussion in these sections does not consider the measurement of the connection
between tourism activity and environmental assets or changes in environmental assets.
These issues are discussed in section 4.3.
4.142. To consider the extent of the direct connection between tourism activity and environmental
flows, the starting point for measurement is that environmental flows are generally recorded
in relation to the total flow for a given activity, for example total water use by restaurants,
irrespective of what share of that activity reflects tourism activity. However, since not all of
79
e.g. via Payments for Ecosystem Services; see https://www.oecd.org/stories/ocean/payments-for-ecosystem-services-
programmes-540de426 for example

the output of a given industry is purchased by visitors, not all of the environmental flows
should be attributed to tourism. Thus, for example, only a part of the water use by the
restaurant industry should be attributed to tourism - its tourism share.
4.143. Two direct measurement approaches may be applied in estimating the tourism share. In
the the first approach, data on environmental flows related to tourism activity are collected
directly from tourism and non-tourism establishments if they are capable of providing
information on the different environmental flows as they relate to visitors and non-visitors.
For example, it may be possible for a hotel to record the total water used by visitors.
However, while detailed information may be available in some cases (and should be used
when possible), data may not be available on a broad and regular basis to support
compilation of official statistics. As well, it would be necessary to ensure that this directly
sourced data is coherent with industry level data for the same environmental flow that
covered tourism and non-tourism activity.
4.144. The second approach applies where an environmental flow represents an important input
or residual flow for a particular activity (e.g. energy use in passenger transport). In these
cases, it is recommended to calculate estimates of the tourism share using relevant
factors concerning the potential size of the environmental flow in physical terms that would
be attributable to tourism activity. For example, measures of tourism energy use in
passenger transport may be estimated using data on passenger kilometres and volumes
of fuel. A tourism share can then be derived as the ratio between this estimate and the total
energy use for the industry. Since these calculations are undertaken using physical
measures the estimated attribution of the environmental flow to tourism will not be affected
by issues concerning changes in the prices of inputs and outputs80.
4.145. In the absence of directly collected data or modelled estimates, it is recommended to

calculate the total environmental flow at the industry level (e.g. restaurants) and then apply
the tourism output ratio for that industry to provide an estimate of the proportion of the
environmental flow attributable to tourism activity. This provides an estimate of the tourism
share of that environmental flow. The tourism output ratio is calculated by dividing an
industry’s output sold to visitors by its total output, generally using data that has been
integrated via a TSA following the TSA:RMF 2008 (Table 6). If a TSA has not been
compiled, the ratio may be derived using a combination of visitor expenditure data and
national accounts industry data81.
4.146. Where a country has compiled physical flow accounts following the SEEA, for example for
water, energy, GHG emissions or solid waste, the task of applying tourism ratios is made
significantly more straightforward. This is because the data on the environmental flows will
have already been classified following standard industry classifications aligned with those
used in classifying tourism industries within a TSA. The advantages of the consistent
application of industry classifications between SEEA and TSA also emerge when
considering measurement of a consumption perspective (see discussion below) since this
will require modelling using multi-regional input-output tables which themselves will be
structured using the same approach to industry classification.
80
An example of this approach was undertaken by Istat/Ispra where they estimated physical production of air pollutants
attributed to domestic tourism attributable to private road transport in tourism demand flows of trips (https://webunwto.s3.eu-
west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-01/MST_pilots_learning.pdf).
81
See World Tourism Organization (2022), Estimating Tourism Direct GDP with limited data, UNWTO, Madrid (online), available
at: https://webunwto.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2022-12/Measuring_TDGDP_2.pdf

4.147. The assumption in estimating tourism shares using a TSA approach is that the production
function (i.e. the mix of outputs and inputs) for an industry is the same for visitors and non-
visitors. For example, for the restaurant industry it would be assumed that the amount of
water used to make a restaurant meal is invariant between visitors and non-visitors. In
concept, this assumption is likely to be reasonable provided that information is available at
a relatively fine level of industry detail. However, in practice it may be difficult to source
suitably fine levels of industry detail in which case the appropriateness of the assumption
will depend on the extent of differences in the consumption patterns of visitors compared
to residents and the mix of products within the industry. This same challenge is equally
evident in the measurement of economic variables. Thus, for MST compilation purposes it
will be important for those involved in measuring economic and environmental domains to
work collaboratively.
4.148. The preceding discussion has the implicit scope wherein all environmental flows are
connected directly to tourism establishments and not to visitors. Thus, for example, water
use and GHG emissions are attributed to production activities. The vast majority of tourism
consumption activity does take occur through direct connections with tourism
establishments and hence, overall, a focus on establishments is appropriate. However,
there are some additional flows that should be included to provide a complete scope. These
are:
• Environmental flows related to visitor’s use of goods, including owned, leased and
rented goods (e.g. energy and GHG emissions associated with the use of cars or
recreation equipment)82.
• Environmental flows related to visitors staying with friends and relatives and using
holiday homes and rented/leased dwellings (e.g. water use and fuel for heating).
• Environmental flows of residuals (e.g. solid waste) related to visitors’ consumption of
goods or undertaking of activities. The residuals may be flows directly to the
environment or where the collection and/or treatment of the residual flow is not
undertaken by a business supplying goods or services directly to the visitor83.
4.149. The estimation of these additional flows related to visitors will require the collection of data
directly from visitors. The need to collect additional data should be considered in light of
analytical and policy requirements.
4.6.3. Accounting for the location of the environmental flows
4.150. In the previous section, the focus was on measuring the link between tourism activity and
environmental flows. In this section, the focus is placed on attributing environmental flows
to a location.
4.151. All environmental flows resulting from tourism activity take place in a specific location. For
many environmental flows determining this location is straightforward in concept. Thus, for
example, water and energy will be used in specific locations, waste will be generated and
collected in specific locations, pollution of air and water will occur in specific locations. Also,
in practice, for many activities the measurement of the flow will be able to be linked to those
82
Consistent with SEEA Central Framework 3.129.
83
Flows where the collection of the residual is part of a purchase by the visitor (e.g. waste collected by hotels) is included in the
estimates concerning tourism and non-tourism industries)

locations, e.g. the location of a hotel. When this connection can be made directly then the
development of statistics on the volume of environmental flows for a given spatial area,
such as a country, region, or local tourism destination, is straightforward. For different
environmental flows there may be more relevance in collecting and interpreting data at
different scales. For example, water use may be best analysed by catchment, air pollution
may be best analysed for local tourism destinations and energy use may be best analysed
at regional or national scale. But this scale of reporting and analysis does not affect the
current discussion.
4.152. In cases where a specific location can be determined for the activity and the environmental
flow, the data can be recorded on a territorial basis, i.e. the measurement concerns the
total flow within a given spatial area (e.g. country, region, local tourism destination). Using
a territorial basis means that no adjustment is made concerning the residence of the
economic units (tourism establishments or visitors) involved in the activity, in particular
whether the visitor has travelled from another country. All environmental flows that take
place within a territory are included.
4.153. The significant exception to this logic concerns transport activity. While there is a direct
connection between the activity and the flow itself, e.g. GHG emissions of air transport and
energy use of bus transport, there is no immediate choice for determining the location of
the activity and hence the attribution of the environmental flow to a location. In this situation,
SF-MST applies the residence principles of the SNA (and other standards such as
TSA:RMF 2008 and SEEA). Thus, the environmental flow is attributed to the country to
which the transport operator is considered resident. For example, the GHG emissions of
Qantas, wherever their flights occur around the world, are attributed to Australia. This
approach to spatial attribution is evident in work of the OECD on the allocation of GHG
emissions for marine and air transport and in the CORSIA framework for air transport.
4.6.4. Distinguishing the production and consumption perspective
4.154. The final aspect to consider is aligning the location of the environmental flow to the
residence of the economic units involved in tourism in relation to the reference country or
spatial area. There are a number of combinations to consider which concern whether the
tourism establishments are resident in the reference country and whether the visitors are
resident in the reference country. The question of which combination to apply will depend
on the question of analysis and data availability84.
4.155. The table below describes the combination of sources of environmental flows that are
relevant for each form of tourism – domestic, inbound and outbound. There are four primary
types of economic unit that are sources of environmental flows, namely tourism
establishments (excluding passenger transport); passenger transport operators; visitors;
and households. In each case the economic units involved can be split into resident and
non-resident units. As shown in the table, for each type of tourism a different combination
of sources will be relevant. A “Y” indicates that the environmental flow generated by the
economic unit is included for this type of trip. A “N” indicates that the environmental flow is
not relevant for the combination of type of trip and source of environmental flow.
84
Gossling et al 2023 provides a comprehensive discussion of options in relation to the allocation of GHG emissions.

Table 4.11: Sources of tourism environmental flows by type of trip
4.156. At a broad level, a distinction can be made between applying a production or a consumption
perspective. For a country, a production perspective provides a measure of the total
environmental flows generated by the resident units of that country who provide goods and
services to all visitors (i.e. irrespective of the country of residence of the visitor). The
generation of flows by resident units in a production perspective includes the direct
generation of flows by visitors who are resident of the country and the generation of flows
by resident households that are attributable to visitors (e.g. when visitors stay with friends
and relatives). This perspective can be derived by considering the “resident” columns in
Table 4.11.
4.157. On the other hand, a consumption perspective for a reference country provides a measure
of the total environmental flows for all visitors resident of a given country no matter where
they travel. This can be derived considering the rows for domestic trips and outbound trips
in Table 4.11. Note that if all tourism activity is domestic, and all producers are resident,
then the estimates of environmental flows representing the production and consumption
perspectives will be the same. The following discussion assumes complete movement of
visitors across national borders.
4.158. Assuming that environmental flows associated with transport activity are allocated to
countries on a residence basis, then a production perspective will be equal to the sum of
all environmental flows for all resident units, including resident visitors and households.
This will be a relevant aggregate to answer the question of what share of a country’s
environmental flows can be attributed to tourism activity. In addition to the environmental
flows arising from domestic tourism, this production perspective aggregate includes: (i)
environmental flows associated with inbound tourism (but excluding environmental flows
associated with pre- and post- trip expenditures of these visitors); and (ii) environmental
flows associated with pre- and post- trip expenditures of outbound visitors.
4.159. The estimation of a consumption perspective is used to answer the question of the total
environmental flows generated by visitors from a given country. This could be further
refined to also develop data to answer the question of what the total environmental flows
are generated by visitors to a specific location. For a given country, a consumption
perspective will include (i) environmental flows arising from domestic tourism; and (ii)
environmental flows associated with outbound tourism. It will exclude environmental flows
associated with inbound tourism. With respect to transport related environmental flows, a

consumption perspective requires that the flows for any given transport operator are
allocated to the country of residence of individual passengers and attributing the relevant
share to the reference country. For example, a consumption perspective for visitors
resident in the United States should include the share of emissions on Qantas (a resident
unit of Australia) flights on which US residents travel.
4.160. Consequently, complete measurement of a consumption perspective requires data on

environmental flows from both the reference country and all countries visited by its
residents. In addition, a particular challenge concerns third-party suppliers where the
producer of the service is not a resident of the country being visited. Thus, complete
measurement of a consumption perspective requires substantive modelling using multi-
regional input-output (MRIO) tables. While such measurement is conceptually and
technically feasible, it is only possible at present with considerable investment of time and
resources.
4.161. Consequently, it is recommended that countries organize the data that is relevant for the
production perspective combining territorially based data for non-transport activity and
residence-based data for transport activity. The total environmental flows for any given
substance will differ from entries in the standard SEEA based recording through the
addition of flows generated by inbound visitors directly in the reference country (e.g. GHG
emissions associated with driving a private car). Importantly, the data on environmental
flows from SEEA based accounts must be adjusted such that only the tourism share of the
environmental flow is included following the recommendations described above.
Organizing this data will provide important information concerning the share of a country’s
environmental flows that are attributable to tourism activity. It will also provide the core data
required to underpin MRIO measurement such that a full consumption perspective can be
estimated where resources and time permit.
4.162. Two alternative combinations and presentations of data on environmental flows may also
be considered. One is a variant on the consumption perspective where all environmental
flows for all visitors are linked to a final destination. The other, discussed further in the
following section, highlights that the discussion here has focused on the allocation of direct
environmental flows – i.e. where there is a direct link between tourism activity and the
environmental flow. In many instances, there is also interest in indirect flows that may be
attributable to tourism activity. For example water and energy used to produce food
consumed by visitors. These indirect or embodied environmental flows may be significant
and their measurement would support a richer analysis of the consumption and production
perspectives.
4.6.5. Estimating indirect environmental flows
4.163. The focus of measurement described in SF-MST is on the measurement of direct flows.
For the analysis of the economic dimension this involves a focus on the interaction between
visitors and tourism establishments. The same principle is applied in the recording of data
concerning environmental flows – i.e. the focus is on the direct link between the
environment and visitors or between the environment and tourism businesses. The focus
on direct flows helps to ensure that there is no double counting of data and to support
comparability across locations and countries.

4.164. However, beyond the measurement and attribution of direct environmental flows as
discussed so far, there may be strong analytical and policy interest in understanding the
environmental connection between visitor activity and the associated supply chains that
provide goods and services to visitors 85 . In principle, by using the information on the
relationships between inputs and outputs of goods and services reflected in standard
economic supply and use tables, it is possible to determine the links between the
environmental flows of specific production processes along the whole supply chain and the
outputs that are ultimately consumed by visitors. For example, it is possible to estimate the
quantity of water embodied in the growing of food that is ultimately consumed by visitors.
The same logic can be applied for other environmental flows such as energy and GHG
emissions. The resulting measures are often referred to as footprints.
4.165. The techniques of attributing environmental flows to categories of final demand are well
established and widely applied. The SEEA Applications and Extensions introduces the
relevant approaches and associated literature in Chapter III and, in Chapter IV, it provides
an example of applying this approach in relation to household consumption. It is possible
to use the principles outlined in SEEA Applications and Extensions to attribute
environmental flows to tourism characteristic products, potentially using information on
tourism expenditure to further differentiate by types of visitors86. However, the recording of
information about these indirect connections should be considered an analytical application
of SF-MST rather than a standard output of the statistical framework itself.
85
There is related interest in tourism supply chains from a purely economic perspective as well, for example the OECD work on
trade in value added for tourism. https://www.oecd.org/dac/aft/AidforTrade_SectorStudy_Tourism.pdf
86
Eurostat makes available footprint calculation tools (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/environment/methodology).

5. Measuring the social dimension
5.1. Introduction
5.1. Besides the economic and environmental dimensions, also the social dimension and its
effects are key to assessing the overall sustainability of tourism. At its core, tourism is a
social phenomenon because it is for social purposes (personal, and business and
professional) that visitors travel from one location to another. Through the interaction
between visitors and the host communities, tourism has an impact on the local population
at the places visited and on the visitors themselves. This reveals the potential for tourism
to drive intercultural exchange, peace building, inclusion and community empowerment,
but also highlights the need to safeguard communities’ cultural heritage and ensure
awareness of the potential negative effects of tourism on day-to-day life, for example
concerning living costs, safety and security. Links to social aspects are also evident in the
supply of tourism goods and services, which commonly requires direct participation of local
people in their roles as employed persons and business owners.
5.2. Tourism can therefore provide many opportunities and support livelihoods at the host
community level and throughout the value chain. Consequently, tourism value chain
analysis (introduced in Section 3.3.3) can be a highly useful tool. Finally, governance of
tourism at local, regional and national levels is an embodiment of social organization and
will be critical to the success of tourism and its sustainability. The social dimension of
tourism is not static, but dynamic. Besides social actors and social structures, social and
cultural change is one of its key elements.
5.3. In a society wide setting, measurement of different themes of the social dimension has long
been statistical practice, covering measures of, among many things, health, education,
income distribution and poverty, housing, crime and safety and overall well-being. Further,
this measurement is often undertaken for a range of population groups (including children,
older persons, women, indigenous peoples, ethnic and religious minorities and people with
disabilities). More directly, the social aspects of tourism have also been the focus of much
research covering topics such as visitor motivations and choices, customer journeys,
interactions between visitors and host communities, appreciation of and pressures on
locally unique cultural characteristics, the relevance of institutions and governance and
opportunities for tourism employment.
5.4. While measurement across many of these individual themes is well developed, both
generally and for tourism, the level of harmonization and co-ordination of data for many of
these social themes is lower compared to the economic and environmental dimensions.
Indeed, while there are different social theories that may be used, there is currently no
agreed overarching framework that places these social themes in a single context.
Consequently, consistently determining the relevant themes that should be within the
scope of an assessment of the social dimension has been a matter of expert judgement for
those involved in any given measurement project. This may be appropriate for each
assessment but, without an overarching framework, there is limited potential to compare
the state and trends in the social dimension between different assessments, or in different
destinations. Further, for an individual project, there is much less potential to understand
what should be incorporated and what might be missing.

SF-MST – Chapter 5. Measuring the social dimension
5.5. Thus, to provide a conceptual framing for the organization and presentation of data on the
social dimension, this chapter identifies four perspectives that are relevant to assessing
tourism’s social sustainability, namely visitors, host communities, tourism suppliers and
governance, and through these perspectives recommends relevant measurement themes
and indicators. The framing is not based on a strict application of a multiple-capitals
approach, but it does recognize that tourism activity (i) will be impacted by social aspects
and (ii) will have an impact on social aspects. This framing allows the interconnectedness
between the social dimension and other dimensions to be revealed and leaves in place the
systems description focus inherent in the measurement of the economic and environmental
dimensions.
5.6. After the introduction, the chapter is structured to describe, in Section 5.2, the framing that
has been developed to organize data and support the derivation of indicators concerning
the social dimension. The focus is on explanation of the four perspectives mentioned above
and the associated measurement areas and themes. Sections 5.3-5.6 then present in more
detail the relevant measurement issues concerning each perspective including relevant
indicators, data sources and measurement guidance, and distinctions in measurement at
national, regional and local levels.
5.2. Statistical framing for the measurement of the social dimension
5.2.1. Conceptual framing of the social dimension
5.7. In broad terms, the ‘social dimension’ concerns people living in society who have individual
and shared value systems or beliefs. A value system is a coherent set of values, norms,
expectations and goals shaped by the culturally shared notions and practices of the
community. Value systems manifest themselves in how people think, behave and express
themselves, including in tourism87.
5.8. The behaviors and expressions can be measured and reflected in both objective and
subjective indicators. Objective indicators include, for example, the number of visitors who
visit a specific destination and the actual outcomes at a destination including health,
education, crime, housing, living costs, changes in land use, and pressures on local
infrastructure. Subjective indicators concern how people think and see things: their
perceptions. For example, the way residents view the behavior of visitors, the perceptions
of the level of crime in a resident’s neighbourhood and the views of visitors on the tourism
experience in a destination. These subjective perceptions do not necessarily correspond
to the actual situation. However, it is upon these perceptions that people tend to act..
5.9. The core of the social dimension considers the social interactions with others, for example,
through the networks people have and the links to socio-cultural identities. These social
interactions can influence the value systems of people and vice versa. Shared or
institutionalized value systems or beliefs arise through social interactions. These shared
value systems or “stable way of doing things” are often referred to as the ‘cultural identity’
of a group, population or host community. For tourism, for example, this includes travel
87
The way the social dimension is described here is one of a number of possible perspectives that could be applied. Other
possible perspectives include a social systems approach or an approach where emphasis is placed on describing social
change. The perspective applied here is considered appropriate given the goal of developing a general framing that supports
the identification and selection of measurement themes and the interpretation of indicators.

trends or the way one should behave during one’s holiday. Since people belong to more
than one group, they also have more than one cultural identity. As the cultural identity
determines to a large extent individual value systems, it also determines indirectly how
people think and behave. The social interactions between people do not only involve the
networking in itself, but also other ways of indirect influence, for example through social
media and promotion. From a more economic perspective, the whole of individual and
shared value systems, reflected through formal and informal networks and relationships, is
often referred to as ‘social capital’88.
5.10. Besides individual and shared value systems (and their associated social interactions,
groups, roles, power, influence and communication) the social dimension also includes
consideration of institutions and governance. Institutions are formal or informal agreements
between people who jointly arrange how they work together. In tourism these concern, for
example, governments and destination management organizations (DMOs), but also
tourism-related businesses. Governance is, among others, about the management of
organizations and their policy, including the implementation, monitoring, evaluation and
enforcement of these policies.
5.11. In the context of tourism, individual and shared value systems determine the way visitors
travel and the specific choices that they make in relation to their trips. These value systems
can vary among people and cultures. In different host communities, the value systems and
cultural identities of local indigenous and first nations peoples may be an important
component in the travel choices and experiences of visitors. In turn, visitors can influence
destinations and host communities. This can, among other things, lead to social change in
host communities, perhaps negatively for some groups within those communities,
recognizing that in many instances there will be a number of value systems and beliefs
within a single host community. At the same time, the visitor is also influenced by the social
interaction with the host community. Subsequently, visitors take their travel experiences
home with them, which, together with the travel experiences of others, influences the
prevailing shared value systems and affects the way people plan and organize their next
trip. This rather complex and dynamic system of value systems and social interactions is
mainly determined by the perceptions of the visitor and the host communities.
5.12. This description of the social dimension leads to recognizing four key perspectives from
which to measure the social dimension of tourism. These perspectives reflect the main
actors participating in tourism: visitors, host communities, tourism suppliers (especially
employed persons) and institutions (e.g., governance) and provide the core entry point to
considering the social dimension of tourism in SF-MST.
5.13. The conceptual framing is completed by considering the extent to which measurement
should consider (a) the impact of tourism activity on society; and (b) society’s impact on (or
society’s contribution to) tourism activity. Both types of impact will be relevant. The social
impact of tourism includes, for example, the impact of tourism on host communities and
tourism employment. Society’s impact on tourism concerns, for example, the influence of
individual and social preferences on travel choices, the effects of local destination context
(e.g. safety and security) or the government’s tourism policy.
88
See for example the OECD: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/9789264307278-12-
en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/9789264307278-12-
en#:~:text=Introduction,social%20progress%20and%20well%2Dbeing.

5.14. Combining these perspectives and impacts leads to the identification of a number
measurement themes, summarized in Table 5.1. While these themes provide a
comprehensive coverage of measurement across the social dimension, in a number of
cases, a measurement theme identified for one perspective will be directly relevant in other
perspectives. The following paragraphs summarise the measurement themes in each of
the four perspectives.
• Visitor’s perspective. In this perspective, there are four measurement themes. In
relation to visitor’s perspectives of the places and host communities visited, it is
relevant to measure
o visitor flows, covering the volume and characterization of visitors to a destination
including their motivations, mode of transport and type of accommodation;
o visitor engagement with and appreciation of host communities, including
participation in events and cultural experiences;
o visitor satisfaction as a reflection on the tourism experience, the objective and
perceived interaction with host communities and positive and negative
experiences
o persons participation in tourism. In relation to the perspectives of persons within
their usual environment about travel before becoming visitors, the focus of
measurement concerns the drivers behind tourism demand (e.g., motivations,
possibilities, inclusiveness, choices made in the way people travel) and the way
that visitors share their experiences with others.
• Host community perspective. The measurement of this perspective considers the

perspective of residents within a host community, where the measurement question is
whether there is a significant number of visitors in the destination creating a pressure
on that community and the extent to which this is affecting residents’ social
environment (e.g., living environment, cultural identity and wellbeing). The impacts on
residents may be measured by considering both the perceptions of residents about the
impacts of tourism and through observation of the state of the host community, for
example in terms of incomes, health, noise, living costs, land use change, relocation
of residents, etc.
• Tourism supplier perspective. This perspective mainly concerns the socially orientated
elaboration of the employment and tourism establishment indicators included in the
economic dimension of SF-MST (Chapter 3). It thus covers the measurement themes
of characteristics of employed persons, entrepreneurship and decent work. The
attitude and responsibility of tourism establishments towards their direct
environmental, social and governance context also belongs to this theme.
• Governance perspective. This perspective mainly concerns the impact of governance

and institutional frameworks on tourism, including governments and DMOs. The
measurement focus is on indicators concerning the design and implementation of
tourism strategy, plans and regulations (including limiting access of visitors) of national
and local governments and DMO’s, as well as the civic engagement and participation
of local residents and the private sector in the decision-making process and the extent
of transparency through monitoring tourism strategies and impacts. This measurement
area includes destination stakeholders’ view on how the current governance is
preserving sustainability and recognizes the importance of the active involvement of
local communities in tourism planning and management.

Table 5.1: Measurement themes for the social dimension of tourism

Perspectives
Visitor Host communities Tourism suppliers Governance (Government
and DMO)
Measurement Visitor flows Pressures exerted Characteristics of Strategy/plans/regulations
themes Visitor by tourism and employed persons (including concerning
engagement with impacts of tourism Entrepreneurship sustainability, cultural assets,
and appreciation on the host Decent work accessibility, health, human
of community community rights)
Visitor satisfaction including in terms Extent of civic engagement
Persons of perceptions of and stakeholder participation
participation in tourism impacts on
tourism host community
5.2.2. General considerations in measuring the social dimension
5.15. The social impacts linked to a specific tourism activity can be positive and negative.
Importantly, it depends on the perspective taken as to how these impacts can be measured
and interpreted. For example, more visitors may be good for tourism establishments, but
can lead to experiences of overcrowding for local residents and visitors. Or, visitors may
come to communities to experience their traditional heritage, but the host communities are
also changing, adapting, and following new social developments. Understanding the range
social impacts on host communities is essential for the ability to manage tourism in a
sustainable way.
5.16. In the measurement of the social dimension, there will commonly be a close link to the
economic dimension through data about tourism establishments and the environmental
dimension through data about local areas. Clear connections can be seen in some of the
themes shown in Table 5.1 including measures of visitor flows and employment
characteristics. From an environmental perspective, measures of changes in the state of
the environment (e.g. with respect to pollution, water availability and quality, ecosystem
condition, etc.) will be linked to both visitor and host community perceptions of the impacts
of tourism.
5.17. While these connections exist, there are distinct differences in the focus of measurement
with the aim to consider economic and environmental topics using the four perspectives
that provide the entry points to the social dimension. The use of these four perspectives
thus provides the opportunity to reinterpret economic and environmental data and follow
different measurement pathways notwithstanding the commonality in the measurement
theme.
5.18. An important distinction in measurement that arises in the visitor and host community
perspectives concerns measures based on the perception and measures based on actual
changes. For example, a difference may be present between host community’s perception
of crime in a destination and actual rates of crime as measured through police records in
the same destination (e.g. compared with other tourism and non-tourism regions). Both
types of measurement are relevant in the assessment of the social dimension recognizing
that both visitors and host communities will act on their perception of the situation.

5.19. One measurement challenge is that it may not be possible to attribute changes in social
context in a given destination directly or completely to tourism activity. Thus, building on
the example above, there may be many reasons for changes in rates of crime other than
tourism (e.g. due to higher penalties). Furthermore, social reality and value systems are
continuously changing. For these reasons, and recognizing that it is perceptions that very
commonly drive tourism choices and behaviours, there is a strong focus in the
measurement recommendations on the collection of data on the perceptions of visitors and
host communities.
5.20. While there is commonly a focus on negative impacts, positive social impacts should also
be recognized. An example may be where the income from tourism allows for maintenance
of the cultural variety of local heritage, events and intangible knowledge thus contributing
to the socio-cultural wellbeing of host communities. The increased demand from visitors
may also spur increased cultural, entertainment and leisure options that benefit the local
population.
5.21. Another general challenge in the application of these concepts is to interpret the changes
in social impacts. The assessment of whether one social situation is better than another
will vary from place to place and will require references to existing social choices. These
may include, for example, legislation, charters of human rights and customary laws. The
measurement framing described above provides a starting point for the selection of
relevant themes and indicators but it is fundamental that the measurement scope reflects
the social perspectives and values of the place being assessed.
5.22. The conceptual framing described in here is not considered to reflect a general conceptual
framework for describing the social dimension of sustainability in all contexts. Rather, it is
a practical synthesis of current measurement knowledge designed to promote increased
harmonization and comparability in the measurement and discussion of the sustainability
of tourism. At the same time, it is expected that the relevance of an integrated conceptual
framework to support measurement across social, economic and environmental
dimensions will continue to grow through the ongoing development of indicators for the
measurement of progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and
Beyond GDP 89 which build on work on sustainability measurement through the United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) 90 and the OECD Better Life
initiative91, among other national and international programs of work.
5.3. Measuring the visitor’s perspective
5.23. The visitor perspective covers the whole of the intention to travel (e.g. purpose), the choices
of how to travel, the journey itself, the reflection on the journey and finally sharing the
experiences gained with others. A useful separation can be made between (i) the
perspectives of people before the trip (within their usual environment) (ii) the visitor’s
perspectives of the place(s) and host communities visited during the trip; and (iii) the
reflection after the trip.
89
https://unsceb.org/topics/beyond-gdp
90
UNECE (2015) Conference of European Statisticians: Recommendations on measuring sustainable development
https://www.unece.org/publications/ces_sust_development.html
91
https://www.oecd.org/wise/better-life-initiative.htm

5.24. Key features of the perspectives of people before the trip concern the different purposes
for travel, the extent to which people have the capability to travel (inclusiveness) and the
way people make choices about the way they travel. There will be considerations and
choices of where and how to travel to a destination, including type of transportation, type
of accommodation, individual or group travelling, prices paid and the booking method.
These considerations and choices will provide information on economic, environmental and
social dimensions, based on the information collected, current trends, marketing and
previous travel experiences.
5.25. Key features of the visitor’s perspective of the places and host communities visited concern
the actual experiences and perceptions of visitors, including the travel to and from the
places visited and interaction with host communities, and the extent to which visitors are
ready to adjust their behaviour to respect the continued wellbeing of local residents.
5.26. Key features of the phase after the trip are the reflection and sharing of experiences with
others. However, after the emergence of the internet, sharing of experiences can take place
in all phases.
5.27. In this three phase system, connecting the desire to travel, choices made, tourism activities,
gaining experiences, interacting with and influencing host communities and vice versa,
perceptions and social change are at the core of the social dimension of tourism. Further,
the nature of the social impact will be affected by the awareness, motivation and capacity
of the visitor to consider the place to be visited as a place where other people live, rather
than as a place solely providing a service to visitors.
5.28. Much can be measured in the social dimension of tourism from a visitor’s perspective. This
must involve both objective and subjective indicators. Many of these indicators are already
measured through existing visitor surveys and demand side statistics. Four main
measurement themes are recommended: visitor flows, visitor engagement with
community, visitor satisfaction and persons’s participation in tourism. The first three themes
concern the visitor while travelling and their reflections on that experience. The fourth
theme concerns people within their usual environment before becoming visitors.
5.29. When looking at the trip itself as the actual manifestation of the need to travel, it mainly
concerns indicators on visitor flows and associated characteristics, including main
purposes for travel, way of travelling (transport and accommodation choices) and activities
undertaken. The measurement of visitor flows with respect to the social dimension builds
directly on the data organized following the discussion in Chapter 3. Table 3.1 provides a
structure for recording data on the number of tourism trips undertaken by visitors according
to different forms of tourism (inbound, domestic) and different characteristics of visitors
(tourists, same-day visitors) such as sex, age, education, main purpose, mode of transport,
country of residence and annual household income.
5.30. To build a richer data set to consider the social dimension, it is recommended to introduce
an extension to Table 3.1 to include data on the length of stay (e.g. number of nights).
Further, in addition to recording data at a national level, it is recommended to collect data
at a regional and local tourism destination level to support understanding the different
effects from different locations. Finally, where resources permit, it is recommended to

compile data on a monthly basis to assess the seasonality of visitor flows for the country
and for those regions and local tourism destinations where there are relatively high visitor
numbers.
5.31. Using these data, indicators may be derived including the average length of stay, the
number of same-day trips compared to overnight trips, tourism seasonality ratios
and visitor dependency rates derived as the number of tourism trips from the top three
regions or countries of residence divided by the total number of tourism trips. Table 5.2
proposes an organization of data to support derivation of these indicators for multiple local
tourism destinations.
Table 5.2: Visitor flow and engagement data by local tourism destination
5.32. Visitor engagement with the community provides another measurement area for
assessing the connection between visitors and the social dimension of tourism. At a
regional and local level, visitor surveys may be used to collect data on topics such as
participation in cultural events, visitation to museums and participation and
attendance in cultural performances.
5.33. In understanding the activities of visitors, it may be relevant to consider the collection of
time-use survey data following the recommendations of the International Classification of
Activities for Time-Use Statistics (ICATUS) 2016 (UN, 2021). ICATUS recognizes different
groups and activities that are relevant for tourism, in particular activities associated with
ICATUS Major division 8: Culture, leisure, mass media and sports practices. However,
further work to support consistent identification of tourism related activities will be required
since ICATUS does not differentiate the location at which activities are undertaken (i.e.
within the usual environment or outside) and consideration will be needed of how to best
record the time of people travelling for work or other non-leisure purposes. It is also noted

that since the collection of time-use data focuses on the activities of residents, it is likely
most suitable for collecting data concerning domestic and outbound tourism.
Notwithstanding these questions of measurement scope, the classes described in ICATUS
could be considered for use in visitor surveys and hence support consistent description of
people’s activities.
5.34. Measurement of visitor satisfaction is an area of work with well-established methods.

Historically, the collection of these data would be undertaken largely through surveys (face
to face interviews or electronic questionnaires for example) and may be a component of
international and domestic visitor surveys. Also, in recent years, various internet sites and
social media platforms have provided a rich body of big data to support measurement and
analysis for this theme. At present however, further harmonization of data collection is
required to support comparability and further investigation is recommended as part of the
MST research agenda.
5.35. It is recommended to collect one main indicator of visitor satisfaction reflecting visitors’
overall satisfaction with a destination. In addition, the collection of data on the following
core topics concerning visitor’s satisfaction is recommended:
• Satisfaction with transport to and from the destination.
• Satisfaction with accommodation.
• Satisfaction with food and beverage services.
• Satisfaction with public services (e.g. infrastructure, information services).
• Satisfaction with and perception of destination’s accessibility for people with a disability
and ease of mobility (e.g. local public transport).
• Satisfaction with and perception of tourism attractions and offers (e.g. bad weather
programs/options, value for money, walking/hiking trails, opportunities for
families/children and for disabled/elder persons).
• Perception of destination’s cleanliness, noise, waste management, pollution etc.
• Perception of destination's safety and security and the effectiveness of emergency
response.
• Perceptions of destination’s cultural authenticity.
5.36. The collection of data on these topics will generally require a focus on specific local tourism
destinations or other sub-national areas. In those cases, national level data would therefore
be derived through presenting data that summarizes the findings from these finer levels,
for example presenting data on the share of local tourism destinations that have a high
satisfaction rating. Care should be taken in averaging the results across a number of
destinations since this is likely to hide important detail in interpreting and responding to
trends in visitor satisfaction. Ideally, data would be collected to support analysis of
seasonality in visitor satisfaction (for example, measured satisfaction may be lower at peak
seasons) and also to accommodate assessment of the effects of major and special events.
5.37. Data on levels of visitors’ satisfaction and perception should be complemented with data
on the social and environmental context as measured through indicators concerning
employment, health, income, prices, education, crime, pollution and waste. Such
information, particularly at a regional and local tourism destination level can support
informed interpretation of data on satisfaction. Visitor satisfaction may also be measured
by collecting data on the number of repeat visitors and the extent to which visitors
would recommend a destination.

5.38. Data on levels of visitors’ satisfaction and perception may also be complemented using
data on their expectations and motivations ahead of the trip. Analysis of the degree of
alignment between these “before” and “after” perspectives of a trip may provide useful
insights for a destination.
5.39. The fourth theme of the visitor perspective concerns the desire or need to travel outside
the usual environment which is driven by the individual and shared value systems (among
other motivations) and conditioned by the possibilities to travel, such as (free) time, income,
prices, stage of life and lifestyle. These can be seen as the drivers behind tourism demand.
Information about these drivers and other factors for selecting a destination is also
important for making forecasts about the numbers of tourism trips and their characteristics
that come to a destination. In turn, these forecasts are crucial input for managing a
destination in a sustainable way.
5.40. As a specific measurement focus, participation in tourism concerns data on the extent to
which people in a country or region participate in tourism, and what challenges and reasons
may exist to limit participation in tourism. This measurement concepts may also be referred
to as residents’ tourism demand or travel propensity. Measurement of this theme requires
consideration of visitor flows by country or region of residence and comparison to
population numbers in those places. Then, for the reference country or region,
assessments can be made concerning, for example, levels of income and employment,
distribution of income, availability of transport, visa and documentation requirements, and
other factors that may support, or hinder, access to and participation in tourism 92 .
Generally, measurement involves conducting household surveys to measure the number
of persons participating in tourism and reasons for not travelling.
5.4. Measuring the host community perspective
5.41. The host community perspective has a high-profile in discussions of sustainable tourism.
The central area of interest is whether and how heavily a host community is impacted by
tourism, recognizing also that host communities can be an important part of the tourism
attraction and motivation to travel.
5.42. In SF-MST, a host community is defined as a group of people and businesses that are
involved in and/or affected by the travel activities of visitors outside their usual environment.
It is envisaged that this definition would generally be applied at the local tourism destination
or municipal scale as defined in Chapter 2. National level data would then be obtained
through the collection of data for multiple host communities.
5.43. The host community perspective is measured considering both the pressure exerted by
tourism and the impact on host communities. The pressure exerted by tourism is measured
using similar data to those used to measure visitor flows as described above, especially in
terms of the number of visitors (tourists and same-day visitors), or tourists only if data on
same-day visitors is not available or not warranted. More specifically, the pressure on host
92
See for example the analysis for Argentina based on their Tourism Household Survey https://webunwto.s3-eu-west-
1.amazonaws.com/imported_images/50458/wge_mst_2nd_item_2.4.1.pdf

communities is measured by two indicators: the number of visitors compared to the

number of residents (visitor to local resident ratio), and the number of visitors
compared to the spatial area (visitor to area ratio).
5.44. In addition to data on visitor numbers, derivation of these indicators will require data on
resident population and spatial area 93 for the relevant municipality or local tourism
destination. If data on number of visitors is not available at the local level, an alternative
could be to use, for example, financial transaction data or mobile phone data to
approximate the number of visitors.
5.45. The pressure on host communities of tourism can also be measured using indicators of the
supply of tourism services, for example in terms of number of establishments in the tourism
industries by type, size, capacity, occupancy and spatial area used. It is noted that the
impacts arising from tourism do not only concern the total number of visitors, but also, for
example, the type of visitor (e.g., their behaviour and length of stay) and their purpose of
travel.
5.46. Measures of tourism's impact on host communities focus on how much tourism activity in
the host community is affecting residents' social context, that is, their cultural identity, living
environment and wellbeing. This may include, for example, impacts on the quality of life,
employment and income, cultural heritage, prevailing beliefs, and the access to services
such as health care, education, transport and infrastructure, and housing.
5.47. These impacts may be measured by considering both the perceptions of residents about
the impacts of tourism on their social context and through observation of the actual state
of the host community, for example in terms of incomes, employment, health, noise, prices,
crime, etc. This analysis would also be supported by a comparison across tourism and non-
tourism locations.
5.48. It should be clear that it will not always be easy to distinguish the impacts of the presence
of visitors from the impacts of non-tourism influences on the social context of host
communities. Also, some of these impacts will only become visible in the longer term, i.e.
they will not be related to visitation at a particular point in time. Further, at the scale of host
communities it may be difficult to separate the social and environmental contexts since the
host community is living within and connected to its local ecosystems and resources. Thus,
changes in, for example, water availability and quality, air quality and the condition of
ecosystems and their services, whose measurement in discussed in Chapter 4, will often
directly impact on resident’s perspectives on tourism.
5.49. Measures of tourism’s impacts will primarily be of relevance at local tourism destination
levels. It is at this scale that the perceptions of residents towards tourism and visitors are
most clearly identified and measured in a way that is useful for decision making. It is further
noted that even in cases where a national program of collecting perceptions of residents in
host communities is undertaken, it will be inappropriate to derive national averages.
Alternative aggregate presentations of data are recommended, such as the percentage of
host communities with scores within a particular range.
93
Spatial area can be recorded in units such as km2 or hectares. Marine areas should be excluded, and, where relevant, the
area of large waterbodies (e.g. lakes, estuaries) should also be excluded.

5.50. In measuring tourism impacts on host communities, a wide range of topics may be
considered to cover the various positive and negative impacts of tourism activity on host
communities. These topics include, among others:
• Overall perception of host communities of the behavior of visitors.
• Perception of effects on cost of living, including housing affordability, due to tourism.
• Perceptions of effects of tourism on the local environment including concerning
cleanliness, land use (soil sealing), waste management and pollution.
• Perceptions of effects of tourism on local social context including crime, safety, and
noise.
• Perceptions of effects of tourism on local levels of congestion, noise, crowdedness and
access to community facilities.
• Perceptions on effects of tourism on the prevailing culture identity.
• Perceptions of effects of tourism on access to and quality of public services.
• Perceptions on effects of tourism on job creation and employment (including seasonal
employment).
• Perceptions on tourism’s collaboration with wider local business and community
organizations.
• Perceptions on the negative and positive contribution of tourism to overall wellbeing.
5.51. The collection of data on the perceptions and acceptance of host communities would
generally be undertaken using surveys of residents. A range of methods and tools have
been developed for this purpose although, at present, there is limited harmonization of
methods to support comparability and further research is required. Current examples of
good practice include work in the Pacific94 and a methodology developed by the German
Institute for Tourism Research called the Tourism Acceptance Score95. Because it often
involves expensive surveys, it may be necessary to initially limit data collection to selected
destinations where tourism plays a major role. However, it will be important to ensure
overall representativeness in data collection over the longer term. Further, it is important
that there is an understanding of the nature of the connection to tourism of the respondent
(e.g. an employee of a tourism establishment has no direct connection) since this will likely
affect their perception of tourism.
5.52. As for the measurement of visitor satisfaction, the measurement of the subjective host
communities’ perceptions of tourism should be complemented with data on the economic,
environmental and social context as measured through objective indicators concerning
employment and unemployment, health (e.g. life expectancy), average earnings, prices
(e.g. consumer prices, house prices), education (e.g. school attendance rates), personal
safety/crime (e.g. crime rates), pollution (e.g. air quality) and waste (e.g. tonnes of solid
waste). Such information, particularly at a regional and local level can support informed
interpretation of data on perceptions. As noted above however, it may not be possible to
directly connect or attribute changes in social context to tourism activity and so care in
94
Simon Milne, Auckland University, Cook Islands Community Attitudes Towards Tourism, & Niue Community Attitudes
Towards Tourism, 2020
95
The tourism acceptance score (TAS) is based on a measurement scale that was developed to assess the tourism acceptance
among the resident population within a specific destination. In this regard, tourism acceptance is understood as the degree to
which the resident population perceives tourism in the respective place of residence as positive or negative. Central to the
research instrument is the question how people perceive and evaluate the impacts of tourism in their place of residence. Thus,
the instrument does not necessarily measure the actual impacts but the perceived impacts which can be compared to the
perceived temperature.
See https://www.ditf-fhw.de/fileadmin/content/downloads/aktuelle_projekte/DITF_TAS_Study_overview_ppt_Enlish.pdf and
https://www.nit-kiel.de/en/

using these data is required. It is also noted that establishing appropriate comparisons
across countries for some variables may be difficult given the range of different social
contexts.
5.53. Some of these data, like indicators on wellbeing and the living environment, may be
available via national statistical surveys and census where sub-national level data are
generated, and such sources should be used to support greater comparability across
locations. An example of the types of data that will be relevant is the EU Statistics on
Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC)96. Other data are likely to require collection at
local and regional levels. Often it will be appropriate to consider data on each of these
topics separately since there is no natural aggregation across them. At the same time, if
an aggregate measure is of interest, it is possible to derive composite indexes by weighting
together selected variables. The Social Progress Index developed in Costa Rica is an
example of such an index.97 If a composite index is derived, it is important to ensure that
the underlying input measures and the weights are separately available to support
interpretation of movements in the composite index.
5.54. Another complement to the measurement of host communities’ perceptions of tourism are
measures of the (subjective) wellbeing of host communities. Frameworks for the
measurement of (subjective) wellbeing are well established with leading work being
undertaken by the OECD and published in their Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-
being (OECD, 201398). These guidelines propose a short core question module to provide
a basis for a common international set of reference questions on subjective wellbeing.99. It
may not be possible to directly connect or attribute changes in wellbeing to tourism activity
and so care in using these data is required.
5.55. As part of considering the connection of tourism to host communities it will also be relevant
to consider the effects of tourism activity on cultural authenticity, vibrancy and heritage.
Relevant indicators will include the number of cultural points of interest, the number of
cultural events in a month or year, and the presence of internationally recognized cultural
heritage items including UNESCO World Heritage Sites and intangible cultural heritage
objects. These data might be collected via data from tourism administrations, cultural
statistics, and surveys of residents. The UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics
(UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2009) and the complementary Cultural Satellite
Account100 provides a comprehensive approach to the organization of cultural statistics
with tourism recognized as a distinct related domain (Figure 2, p24).
5.56. Finally, in relation to the management of tourism’s sustainability and its social impacts, the
concept of ‘tourism carrying capacity’ is relevant. This concept is defined by UNWTO as:
'the maximum number of people that may visit a tourist destination at the same time, without
causing destruction of the physical, economic, socio-cultural environment and an
unacceptable decrease in the quality of visitors' satisfaction’ (UNWTO, 2004)101. Tourism
carrying capacity thus aims to determine the limits to the growth of tourism taking into
consideration the potential negative impact of tourism on its environmental and social
96
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=EU_statistics_on_income_and_living_conditions_(EU-
SILC)_methodology
97
https://www.socialprogress.org/2024-social-progress-index/
98
https://www.oecd.org/wise/oecd-guidelines-on-measuring-subjective-well-being-9789264191655-en.htm
99
https://www.ourheritageourhappiness.org
100
https://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/culture-satellite-account
101
UNWTO (2004) Tourism Congestion Management at Natural and Cultural Sites

context. The social carrying capacity within this concept refers to the threshold (e.g.,
number of visitors) where the negative social impacts outweigh the positive social impacts
of tourism, leading to negative feelings of host communities towards tourism. However,
there is no unambiguous scientific elaboration of this concept and no simple measure that
can be evenly applied to all destinations.
5.57. A useful approach to measuring tourism carrying capacity is to first determine which key
indicators should be measured and then define what level of change in these key indicators
is acceptable (commonly involving a social/political decision). This kind of implementation
is used by derived methods, such as the Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) method102
and Visitor Impact Management (VIM) method103, where stakeholders agree on the key
indicators to be measured and the thresholds beyond which change in these indicators
would be unacceptable. In terms of the scope of indicators, relevant concerns include the
capacity of the infrastructure, accessibility, accommodation capacity, wellbeing, type of
visitors, congestion and crowdedness, activities, local heritage, cost and benefits.104.
5.5. Measuring the tourism suppliers perspective
5.58. The tourism suppliers perspective is relevant to understanding the context in which the
production of tourism goods and services takes place. In particular, it focuses on the
experience of and support for employed persons in supplying tourism characteristic goods
and services. Thus, the tourism supplier perspective encompasses employment-related
questions such as why people look for a job in the tourism sector, their experiences when
working in the tourism sector, including levels of decent work, the extent to which tourism
is considered an attractive sector for employment, the quality of the education and training
available for those working in the tourism sector and how employees spread positive and
negative work-experiences are spread to others (e.g. changing value systems and the
creation of a certain image). Measures of tourism businesses' attitudes or responsibility
towards their environmental, social and governance (ESG) context are also relevant.
5.59. From a socio-economic perspective, the development of employment is important for, for
example, income stability, access to social benefits, personal development and self-esteem
of residents of host communities. It can also contribute to the development of regions, for
example in terms of poverty reduction, social inclusion and overall wellbeing, especially if
there are few or no other alternative employment opportunities. Tourism is a labor-intensive
sector and different industries of the sector offer a varied range of high and low-skilled jobs.
For tourism establishments, it is important that the quality and quantity of the (potential)
workforce matches their needs for labour. On the other hand, tourism establishments also
bear responsibility for their employees (e.g., decent work) and the economic, environmental
and social context in which they operate.
5.60. Employment is also clearly linked to the economic performance of tourism establishments,
which in turn is indicative of their potential sustainability. From a social perspective this is
relevant in the sense of demonstrating the ongoing potential of tourism to secure local
102
https://responsibletourismpartnership.org/limits-of-acceptable-
change/#:~:text=The%20Limits%20of%20Acceptable%20Change,constrained%20with%20in%20the%20LAC.
103
http://www.tba.co.nz/kete/PDF_files/ITP107_visitor_impact_management.pdf
104
An example of the use of the concept of carrying capacity can be found in the city of Amsterdam - see
https://onderzoek.amsterdam.nl/publicatie/amsterdam-tourism-carrying-capacity-in-2021

employment, local businesses and related links in the supply chain and in host
communities. Of course, the potential for ongoing strong economic performance will
depend on a range of factors including, from a tourism supply perspective, the economic
structure, the capacity for entrepreneurship and the availability of suitably skilled and
trained employees.
5.61. With a focus on employed persons, three measurement themes are most relevant in the
social dimension; the characteristics of employed persons in tourism industries,
entrepreneurship and decent work. Many characteristics of employed persons will be
relevant in measuring the social dimension, including data (per tourism industry) on gender,
age, education level, hours of work, time in job and nationality. In addition, to understand
more fully the characteristics of employed persons, data should be collected on whether
the employment is formal or informal, the average amount of compensation (e.g., earnings)
and percentage of permanent and temporary workers.
5.62. All these variables can be used to describe a social phenomenon, whether it concerns
equal pay, the security of having a permanent job, sufficient income and the position of
foreign staff. In that respect, these indicators will also be relevant in the context of
measuring decent work as discussed below. Overall, the assessment of sustainability will
require consideration of whether there is excessive dependence on any single type of
employment, e.g. temporary workers, or a type of employed persons, i.e. a group having a
particular characteristic or set of characteristics.
5.63. Building directly on the discussion of employment in tourism in Chapter 3, Table 5.3
presents a structure for recording these additional variables for measurement of the social
dimension. The measurement scope should refer to employed persons in establishments
in tourism industries irrespective of the tourism share of output. Chapter 3, notably in Figure
3.1, provides additional detail on the relevant measurement concepts including the
distinctions between employed persons, employees, jobs and full-time equivalents (FTE).
5.64. The collection of data on these characteristics is recommended following the guidance in
Chapter 3 building on measurement recommendations in the IRTS 2008 and TSA:RMF
2008 concerning employment. The degree of detail that can be presented will depend partly
on the availability of data but consideration of statistical confidentiality is also required.
Thus, where only a few companies dominate an industry, for example, passenger
transportation by air, the dissemination of detailed statistics may not be possible. The
collection of data on informal employment may also be difficult as the people engaged
informally are less likely to be readily identifiable through standard industry statistics.
Ideally, data concerning the characteristics of independent workers would be collected for
example of age, sex, level of education, informal/formal employment and time employed in
the tourism industry However, household surveys may provide useful insights. Further
guidance on the measurement of informal employment and the informal economy is
provided in relevant ILO documents105.
5.65. Employed persons can be divided into independent workers (with and without employees)
and dependent workers (including employees, dependent contractors and contributing
family workers). Hence, data differentiated between independent and dependent workers
can be used to derive the same indicators as for employed persons. Data on the
105
Guidelines concerning a statistical definition of informal employment, adopted by the 21st ICLS (2023)
https://ilostat.ilo.org/new-standards-increased-visibility-improving-measurement-of-the-informal-economy/

characteristics of independent workers, for example by size of establishment, will provide

insight into to the concept of entrepreneurship. In theory, the data about independent
workers should be available via Labour Force Surveys (LFS) and similar surveys. However,
since independent workers are a much smaller percentage of the labour force as a whole,
the accurate identification of these people may be challenging. Ideally, data concerning the
characteristics of independent workers would be collected for example on age, sex, level
of education, and time employed in the tourism industry. From a sustainability perspective,
high levels of entrepreneurship are likely to help establish an environment with more
dynamic and outward facing tourism supply.
Table 5.3: Employed persons in tourism industries by key characteristics for the social
dimension
Tourism industries
Travel
Food & agencies &
Accommoda beverage Railway Road Water Air Transport reservation Sports and Total
tion for serving passenger passenger passenger passenger equipment services Cultural recreational Other tourism
visitors industry transport transport transport transport rental industry industry industry industries industries
Number of employed persons
TOTAL
Sex Female
Male
Age (years)
15-19
20-29
30-39
40-59
>60
Education level (ISCED-2011 classes)
Less than basic (ISCED lvl X & 0)
Basic (ISCED lvl 1 & 2)
Intermediate (ISCED lvl 3 & 4)
Advanced (ISCED lvl 5-8)
Level not stated (ISCED lvl 9)
Hours of work (per week)
less than 15
15-40
40-48
48-60
more than 60
Managerial positions
Female
Male
Time in job
<3 months
3-12 months
1 yr - 5 yr
5 yr - 10 yr
+ 10 yr
Nationality
National
Non-national
Work formality
Formal
Permanent
Temporary
Informal
Earnings (average hourly earnings)
Pension scheme coverage
Number of people covered
5.66. There are a range of issues concerning employment which are collectively placed under
the heading of decent work. The ILO Decent Work Measurement Framework106 covers ten
substantive elements corresponding to the four strategic pillars of the Decent Work Agenda
(full and productive employment, rights at work, social protection and the promotion of
106
The ILO Decent Work Measurement Framework was initiated by the International Labour Office based on worldwide
consultations with technical experts. A Tripartite Meeting of Experts (TME) was conducted in 2008 to discuss the framework,
and later the same year the TME’s recommendations were reported to the ILO Governing Body and presented to the
International Conference of Labour Statisticians.

social dialogue): employment opportunities; adequate earnings and productive work;

decent working time; combining work, family and personal life; work that should be
abolished; stability and security of work; equal opportunity and treatment in employment;
safe work environment; social security; and, social dialogue, employers’ and workers’
representation.
5.67. The DWMF was developed with the objective of assisting ILO constituents (including
employers’ organizations, workers’ organizations and governments) to assess progress
towards decent work and to offer comparable information for analysis and policy
development in support of decent work. The DWMF107 covers ten substantive elements.
Together these elements cover the four strategic objectives of the Decent Work Agenda
and represent the structural dimensions of the framework under which the decent work
indicators are organized. There is an additional substantive element on the economic and
social context for decent work.
5.68. Decent work measurement covers persons who during the reference period performed
some work for wage or salary, in cash or in kind (for paid employment), or persons who
during the reference period performed some work for profit. The reference population
comprises usual residents living in the country during the reference period, regardless of
legal residency status or citizenship and therefore covers migrant and non-migrant workers,
and workers of all ethnic origins.
5.69. The DWMF statistical indicators can be adapted and applied at national level to support
measurement and monitoring of decent work in tourism. The recommended indicators
concern employment opportunities, adequate earnings, decent working time and social
security. They are:
• Employed persons in tourism industries as a percentage of working-age population.
• Percentage of employed persons in tourism industries that work part-time (threshold
should be determined).
• Average hourly earnings of employed persons in tourism industries relative to average
earnings of employed persons economy wide and for the services sector.
• Proportion of women in managerial position in tourism industries.
• Proportion of informal employment in total employment in tourism industries.
• Percentage of employed persons in tourism industries who are covered by a pension
scheme.
5.70. All of these indicators can be derived from the data compiled following Table 5.3. Other
measures that may be considered for inclusion concern topics such as child labour, labour
rights, working conditions, occupational safety, social dialogue and social protection. The
DWMF provides a discussion on appropriate measurement approaches for all of these
topics.
5.71. It is reinforced that all of these indicators should be compiled by sex. According to the
Global Report on Women in Tourism – Second Edition (UNWTO, 2019)108 there is an
urgent need for regular collection and reporting on employment data disaggregated by sex
in tourism, also including formal and informal tourism employment, pay gaps,
107
For more information about the Decent work measurement framework, see the ILO Manual, Decent work indicators:
Guidelines for Producers and Users of Statistical and Legal Framework indicators.
108
Global Report on Women in Tourism – Second Edition (UNWTO, 2019)

entrepreneurship, education and training, leadership and decision-making, time use and
work-life balance. A representative data collection should encompass both the public
entities and private businesses operating in tourism.
5.72. These variables may be further extended to measuring for example, (a) the percentage of
women who faced gender discrimination in career prospects or who faced sexual
harassment, (b) the percentage of tourism operators with formal commitments to gender
equality, (c) tourism businesses providing day-care for employees’ children and (d) median
and mean monthly remuneration of employees disaggregated by gender. A more complete
list of these types of indicators is available in the UNWTO Indicators of Sustainable
Development for Destinations which provide a further breakdown of gender-related
concepts.
5.73. A range of data sources may support the collection and organization of data for these
decent work indicators. Data from labour force surveys are likely the most comprehensive
source but compilers should also consider data from other sources including other
household surveys, from business surveys (e.g. for estimates of average earnings) and
administrative data (e.g. for estimates of pension scheme coverage).
5.74. To support the analysis of data on these measurement themes, it will be relevant to have
general contextual data about the economic structure and characteristics of tourism
establishments. Relevant indicators of economic structure of tourism industries have been
described in Chapter 3. Table 3.3 presents data on the main characteristics of tourism
establishments and this provides a suitable basis for assessing the social context. Key
factors will concern the number and size of tourism establishments and their ownership
status (resident / non-resident).
5.75. Separately, it is noted that the economic performance of tourism establishments clearly
signals their potential sustainability. From a social perspective, this is relevant in
demonstrating the ongoing potential of tourism to secure local employment, local
businesses and related links in the supply chain and host communities. Of course, the
potential for ongoing strong economic performance will depend on a range of factors
including, from a tourism supply perspective, the economic structure, the capacity for
entrepreneurship and availability of a qualified and skilful workforce.
5.76. It should be noted that it will be relevant to focus on the total economic activity of tourism
establishments and not only on the share attributable tourism. That is, the longer term
viability of an establishment will be a function of both tourism and non-tourism activity.
Significant (temporary) declines in the share of tourism activity may be of concern but, to
the extent that the relevant establishments are able to continue operating, the wider social
implications will be mitigated.
5.77. Beyond these main measurement themes of the tourism suppliers perspective, there are
some other topics which are also of relevance in measuring the tourism supply perspective.
First, it is noted that good coordination of supply and demand of tourism-related
employment in a region is a relevant consideration. In this context, monitoring the number
of people who come from tourism-related education to work in tourism industries, and their
associated skills, will be relevant. More generally, assessment of the drivers behind tourism
supply will be supported by information on where people who work and want to work in the
tourism sector come from, whether as employees or employers, and on their motivations

for working in the sector. Other questions of relevance include why people stop working in
tourism industries and to what extent perceptions of working in the tourism industry play a
role. Measures of job satisfaction, retention and staff turnover will be relevant in considering
these issues.
5.78. As part of this discussion and to support the development of the labour force available for
tourism, information may be collected on tourism related education. Relevant data may
include the number of dedicated tourism education facilities (e.g. hospitality schools), the
number of student places at such facilities, the number of graduates employed in tourism
after 1 year of graduating, and the levels of expenditure on training and skills development
for those employed in tourism establishments.
5.79. Second, it is relevant to consider the attitudes and responses of tourism establishments to
their impacts on the environment and social context. Here, the question is how responsible
entrepreneurs feel for their economic, environmental and social impacts and which
obstacles arise in this regard. This can be measured, for example, by their actions,
certification and the presence of a corporate sustainable responsibility vision or ESG
report109.
5.80. Third, in many contexts, it will be of high importance to recognize that tourism can fluctuate
strongly on a seasonal basis. For example, employment in tourism industries is known for
the fact that it often consists of a small core of permanent staff complemented with staff
with a temporary contract and on-call workers. Hence, many, if not all, of the measures of
tourism supply should be developed at sub-annual, ideally monthly, frequencies.
5.81. Fourth, there will often be a general interest in the productivity of people employed in
tourism. While this may commonly be regarded as an economic question, from a social
perspective there may be a number of connections particularly concerning the potential
effects of investments in information technology, digitalization, and the emerging role of
Artificial Intelligence. Such developments may affect the number of jobs in tourism, the
nature of those jobs and skill requirements.
5.82. Finally, in many locations the presence of tourism will encourage tourism establishments
to open for extended hours, supply a wider variety of goods and services and employ more
young people from the local area in which case tourism can serve to improve the quality of
life for local residents.
5.6. Measuring the governance perspective
5.83. The governance perspective is relevant in understanding the role of tourism policy and
decision-makers, including destination management organizations (DMOs), at local,
regional and national scale in setting the enabling context for the sustainability of tourism.
Specific themes that emerge in this perspective concern, among others: formulating and
implementing a sustainable vision for the development of tourism for a country, including
monitoring and evaluation of that vision; the management of infrastructure and related
areas (e.g., transport, health care, security and accessibility); the setting of regulations and
limits concerning visitor numbers and movements and tourism business operation; and the
109
See also the Green Deal in Europe.

role of public-private-community partnerships in destination management 110 . Another

theme under the governance perspective concerns the extent to which the members of
host communities, including both residents and private businesses, participate in tourism
decision making.
5.84. The role of governance in supporting sustainable tourism, particularly at local tourism
destination level, has been well recognized for many years. In general, the measurement
of the relevant themes listed above is input rather than outcome focused. That is, the
measurement focuses on whether there is relevant legislation (e.g. government subsidies
linked to sustainability measures), strategy, guidelines, etc., in place and whether there is
evidence of effective participation and process. Certainly, these factors are of high
relevance, but they do not guarantee that the goals they target (e.g. environmental quality,
human rights) will be achieved. Consequently, it is appropriate for a more complete
understanding of governance to consider the outcomes of governance activity in terms of
changes in economic, social and environmental context using the range of other indicators
described in SF-MST. This assessment may also be complemented with data on visitor
and host community (including residents and private businesses) perceptions on the quality
and effectiveness of governance for a country or destination.
5.85. A key theme of governance concerns strategy and structure in relation to sustainable
tourism. For this theme relevant indicators concern the existence of policies, strategies and
plans on the development of tourism in a sustainable way, the existence of a DMO or similar
entity responsible for implementation of such strategies and the use of standard monitoring
tools for assessing the environmental, economic and social dimensions of tourism. Strategy
and policy concerning sustainable tourism can focus on many different aspects of
sustainability. One policy focus that has been highlighted concerns sustainable
consumption and production and the UNWTO baseline report on this issue (UNWTO,
2019)111 provides a thorough assessment and framework for assessing progress in this
area of policy including the links to progress under SDG 12.b concerning the development
and implementation of tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable
tourism. It is further noted that the key indicator for SDG target 12.b concerns
implementation of standard accounting tools to monitor the economic and
environmental aspects of tourism sustainability, including the TSA and the SEEA.
5.86. A particular area of focus in gathering information should be the evaluation of policy
effectiveness and any subsequent adjustments to the policies. This would involve
assessment against observed changes in tourism activity, and social, economic or
environmental context that is the intended focus of the policy or strategy. Relevant
information to support such assessments may include visitor numbers, tourism
employment and water quality, alongside other MST measures.
5.87. In addition to strategy and structure, the existence of appropriate regulations and their
enforcement is a relevant governance theme. A key focus at the local tourism destination
level will include official measures which limit the number and flow of visitors or create
110
See relevant UNWTO criteria for Destination Management Organizations https://www.e-
unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284420841 and for more detail see the criteria of UNWTO QUEST
https://www.unwto.org/UNWTO-quest
111
https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/epdf/10.18111/9789284420605

incentives for spreading flows over time and space Such measures many include
permissions for short-term rental accommodation, access limitations to cultural assets, and
traffic congestion controls.
5.88. Governance measures will not only include policies focused on tourism directly, but also in
other tourism-related domains, such as safety, crowd management, waste management,
health and accessibility (to and from) and to society more generally, for example regulations
concerning decent work and human rights.
5.89. Beyond governance within the tourism sector, it is increasingly recognized that co-
ordination across government ministries is required for effective implementation of tourism
policies. This will include, among others, co-ordination with departments of transport,
environment, health, border services and immigration, labour and regional development.
No specific indicators are proposed in relation to this area of tourism governance but
analysis may be made of the extent to which there is appropriately broad representation of
different departments on relevant tourism committees and the extent to which tourism is
effectively represented in the governance processes of other departments.
5.90. The second key theme concerns civic engagement and stakeholder participation which will
be important in understanding the likely effectiveness of governance. This can be
measured using indicators of the number of responses to planning processes, the extent
to which the development of strategy and regulations is advertised and communicated
among affected communities. These indicators should also be supported with information
on the resources available, including finance and training, to support effective participation
and engagement. Ultimately, the objective is to secure engagement and participation that
(i) is inclusive and representative of the host community and (ii) is undertaken with high
levels of communication and transparency.
5.91. Data to support monitoring engagement and participation may be available in

documentation supporting the development of strategies and regulations. Measures of
perceptions of host communities via surveys of residents and tourism establishments could
also be used to identify the share of the population who believe decision making concerning
tourism is inclusive and responsive. Also relevant will be information on the governance
structures and processes that are in place to support the engagement and participation of
people in decision making processes, including whether a local or regional tourism strategy
releases indicators related to sustainable tourism for the location. In collecting relevant
data, it is important that the range of value systems and beliefs with host communities are
respected and active engagement with local groups and indigenous peoples in data
collection and analysis is encouraged.
5.92. Support for the social dimension of tourism is also encouraged through active support by
government for cultural assets with relevant indicators concerning evidence of active
management to conserve and restore cultural assets. This evidence will include the
existence of policies, the levels of government expenditure targeted at implementing the
policies and the number of employees involved in supporting relevant activities. Measures
of tourism collective consumption (see Section 3.6) will be relevant here as well as
measures of the state and changing condition of cultural assets and heritage assets (see
5.55).

5.93. Support for ensuring the accessibility of tourism is also a fundamental part of governance.
One aspect of accessibility concerns the general potential of visitors to access and
participate in tourism at destinations. This may be supported by ensuring the distribution of
high quality information and other practices. Evidence to support this aspect of governance
may include the levels of expenditure targeted at communication, the number of employees
involved in relevant supporting activities and visitor perceptions of accessibility as
measured under the visitor’s perspective described above (section 5.3).
5.94. Another key aspect of accessibility concerns people with disabilities. While the benefits of
engaging in tourism should be available to all, people with disabilities are sometimes unable
to enjoy the full tourism experiences as all other citizens. The definition of accessible
tourism has developed progressively over recent years. Significantly, it should be seen as
going well beyond the physical accessibility of tourism destinations and related
infrastructure and services, and should also encompass the accessibility in cognitive,
sensorial and intellectual aspects. According to UNWTO, accessible tourism “ is a form of
tourism that involves a collaborative process among stakeholders that enables people with
access requirements, including mobility, vision, hearing and cognitive dimensions of
access, to function independently and with equity and dignity through the delivery of
universally designed tourism products, services and environments”112.
5.95. Indicators of accessibility can cover a range of themes and variables, as proposed below,
across the different elements of the accessible tourism value chain. A common focus is
measuring the extent to which people with disabilities are able to access information, both
on site and via on-line material, to support their own travel and tourism choices. However,
the indicators proposed below apply for many groups of people including for example
families and older people.
1. Planning: 113
• Number of official tourist information websites featuring destination’s accessibility.
• Number of websites meeting the W3C114 requirements within the country.
• Existence/Number of websites with accessible booking engines.
2. Transport:
• Existence/type of platforms providing passengers information in accessible formats.
• Existence/type of signs providing passengers information about accessible options.
3. Accommodation:
• Implementation of minimum accessibility requirements (e.g. access ramps) for the
accommodation sector.
• Existence/No of employees trained on service provision to customers with
disabilities.
4. Food and beverage services:
• Number of establishments providing information on allergens.
• Number of establishments providing information to clients to support their access
to the venue.
• Number of establishments providing menus in Braille.
112
UNWTO Recommendations on Accessible Tourism for All https://webunwto.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/2019-
08/recommendationsaccesstourismforallenok.pdf
113
UNWTO Recommendations on Accessible Information in Tourism https://webunwto.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/2019-
114
For more information please visit World Wide Web Consortium, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines,
https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/

5. Tourism resources:
• Existence of information on alternative transportation options to support access to
cultural and natural heritage areas.
6. Public tourism administrations and DMOs:

• Existence of a designated official or department covering accessibility in tourism.
• Existence of allocated budget for accessibility improvements within the destination
• Number of official complaints to public tourism administrations on destinations’
accessibility.
5.96. Requirements for accessibility for visitors are likely to overlap considerably with the needs
of the host community. There may therefore be a strong potential to join forces on data
collection to understand the accessibility needs of both visitors and residents. Data
collection approaches and sources are likely to be different in each case. A mix of
qualitative and quantitative data is inevitable in case of accessible tourism measurement 115.
5.97. A general indicator covering many of the governance aspects described above is the level
of government expenditure on supporting tourism activity. In this context, measures of
tourism collective consumption and related measures of government finance concerning
taxes and subsidies will be relevant. These measures are described in Chapter 3.
5.98. As part of tourism governance at the host community level, the private sector contribution
is also very relevant. To assess the extent to which local tourism establishments are
contributing well to tourism governance, measures of ethical business conduct may be
collected covering issues such as responsible governance, accountability and
transparency. The increasing profile of environmental, social and governance (ESG)
indicators and reporting mechanisms could be used.
5.99. Many of the indicators proposed in the measurement of the governance perspective are
not traditionally within the scope of statistical frameworks. These have tended to focus on
the collection of data on observed economic, social and environmental outcomes.
Nonetheless, in light of the high relevance of understanding responses from government
to various policy challenges, particularly with regards to countries’ commitments to the
Sustainable Development Goals, the UN Statistical Commission established the Praia City
Group to investigate and develop guidance in the area of governance statistics.
5.100. The work of the Praia City Group has been brought together in the Praia Handbook on
Governance Statistics116. The purpose of the Handbook is to provide a foundation for the
development of international statistical guidance and standards in all areas of governance
statistics. The Handbook conceptualizes eight dimensions of governance (listed below),
describes currently available data and best practice in measurement using administrative
data, surveys and expert assessments, and proposes key indicators in each dimension of
governance statistics.
115
Indicators based on Tourism and related services — Accessible tourism for all — Requirements and recommendations at
https://www.iso.org/standard/72126.html and UNWTO’s technical manuals available at https://www.unwto.org/es/accessibility.
ISO standards on accessible tourism will be published once the ISO 21902 has been adopted (expected in 2020).
116
https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/tools-and-resources/praia-handbook-governance-statistics

5.101. The eight dimensions of governance statistics are:

• Non-discrimination and equality,
• Participation,
• Openness,
• Access to and quality of justice,
• Responsiveness,
• Absence of corruption,
• Trust,
• Safety and security.
5.102. Although the Handbook is not specifically targeted at the measurement of governance in
tourism, there are a range of statistical approaches, including household surveys and the
use of administrative data, that it describes which will be of high relevance to tourism
statisticians in appropriately framing the collection and interpretation of data on governance
in tourism.

6. Implementation and application of SF-MST
6.1. Introduction
6.1. SF-MST provides a comprehensive description of measurement across the economic,

environment and social dimensions of tourism. The descriptions of concepts, definitions,
classifications and measurement boundaries is a starting point but does not, of itself,
generate a data base of information that can be used to support improved decision making.
Implementation of SF-MST must therefore be considered and planned. This chapter
provides a broad understanding of the relevant aspects of implementation summarized
under the heading of “complementary topics”. A more comprehensive compilation guide
will be prepared to support compilers implement the recommendations across the range of
SF-MST themes.
6.2. Four topics are discussed in the chapter, institutional arrangements for implementation
(section 6.2), management considerations in implementation (section 6.3), expectations
concerning the quality of data (section 6.4) and potential applications and extensions
(section 6.5). More detailed guidance and discussion of each of these topics will be
required, and this chapter is intended to provide only an overview of the relevant issues.
6.2. Institutional arrangements for implementation
6.3. It has long been recognized, including for example in the implementation of the IRTS 2008,
that successful collection, compilation, dissemination and use of tourism statistics requires
the active involvement of many agencies. In the context of supporting the implementation
of SF-MST the relevant agencies will include, but is not limited to, National Statistical
Offices (NSOs), National Tourism Authorities (NTAs), Central Banks, environmental
agencies and departments of economy, labour, immigration, social affairs and regional
development. This section summarizes the key roles of some of these agencies in the
context of the wider message of the need for inter-institutional co-ordination.
6.4. NSOs have traditionally focused on producing official statistics independently, often in
relative isolation from other data producers. Over the past several years, the role of NSOs
has begun to evolve as new technologies have allowed for unparalleled levels of data
collection from a variety of new sources by a variety of entities, and as a consequence,
official statistics have become one source of information among many. Increasingly, this
has prompted NSOs to undertake the role of data stewards. As data stewards, NSOs have
shifted from being solely producers of statistics, to also becoming service providers,
whereby NSOs facilitate a collaborative approach to data and statistics across different
data and statistics communities and provide oversight and governance.
6.5. Arguably, no other domain epitomizes the potential role of NSOs as data stewards more
than tourism statistics especially when considering the intent of SF-MST to encompass
economic, environmental and social dimensions. Indeed, there is a long tradition of cross-
agency cooperation in the compilation of tourism statistics involving national tourism
authorities, NSOs, Central Banks, Immigration departments, and other agencies all
contributing to the work. As well, there is commonly engagement with private sector tourism
operators and academia thus highlighting the range of relevant stakeholders to be

SF-MST – Chapter 6. Implementation and application of SF-MST
considered in developing and maintaining tourism statistics. Each country will have
somewhat different arrangements for co-ordinating across these different agencies which
are necessarily tailored to country circumstances.
6.6. Thus, while the implementation of SF-MST may be led by the official statistics community
and NSOs, the highly cross-cutting and spatial nature of measuring the key sustainability
aspects of tourism necessitates a highly collaborative approach. Implementation will
require the active participation of representatives of different agencies and disciplines. It
will also include, in many countries, the need to co-ordinate with agencies and experts at
sub-national administrative levels. A key objective is to work towards the appropriate
institutionalization of the processes (including data sharing), roles and responsibilities for
the compilation and organization of data.
6.7. NTAs will also play a central role in implementation through leading and guiding the co-
ordination of institutions and ensuring that the data sets developed through SF-MST
implementation are tested and applied in policy and analysis. Together with networks of
scientists and researchers, NTAs and associated Destination Management Organizations
(DMOs) will often play a critical role in collecting and validating local tourism data and
knowledge. Since NSOs traditionally have less experience with these types of data,
collaboration with these agencies in the development of these statistics should be
encouraged and expected.
6.8. NSOs, in collaboration with relevant agencies, should provide oversight and better
governance of the generation of statistical outputs by providing an independent and expert
opinion on data to ensure trust and quality. Given the wide interest from multiple
stakeholder groups (e.g., academia, government, private sector, etc.), the role of NSOs in
promoting high-quality and credible data is especially important. Moreover, the voice of
NSOs can be an authoritative one by virtue of their independence and particularly unique
role within government.
6.9. Institutional arrangements are generally understood as a set of agreements on the division
of the respective responsibilities of agencies involved in the collection, compilation and
dissemination of data pertaining to a given statistical domain. Such arrangements ensure
that official statistics meet the needs of users, follow quality standards and are compiled
and disseminated in the most efficient way. The scope of institutional agreements can
range from determining the complete process of statistical production and dissemination to
regulating certain parts of that process. In some cases, implementation can be supported
through the establishment of a legal basis or requirement for the reporting and collection
of specific data and the dissemination of statistical outputs.
6.10. It is recommended that relevant agencies establish and maintain the necessary formal and
informal institutional arrangements with each other to ensure the highest possible quality
of tourism statistics, as well as the continuity of improvements in their national systems of
tourism statistics. These arrangements should be established according to the methods
usually used in a given country to ensure collaboration between entities. Such
arrangements should be documented and should specify for what kind of tourism statistics
(data series) each agency is responsible for and the methods used for the exchange of
information and for the preservation of confidentiality, particularly when the private sector
or the tax administration is involved.

6.11. Further, given the wider coverage required for measuring the sustainability of tourism, it
is recommended that existing inter-institutional platforms and governance arrangements
for tourism statistics (traditionally composed of mainly NSO, Ministry in charge of tourism
and Central bank) are enlarged to include other line Ministries (environment, social affairs,
labour, planning, transport, regional development etc.) and other relevant institutions and
agencies. This may include academic and private sector partners.
6.12. The implementation of SF-MST should also be expected to serve as a catalyst for improved
collection of basic tourism statistics (for example concerning visitor flows and expenditure).
In part, the demand for improved data might arise from non-tourism agencies interested in
better understanding the connection between their policy area and tourism activity. For
example, environmental agencies who are concerned about the impacts of tourism on
natural ecosystems may provide support for the improved collection of data on visitor flows
at a local scale.
6.13. Given the potential for overlap and connection between different policy agencies, it is
recommended that joint or coordinated data collection programs be promoted. Such joint
collections will lead to increased efficiency of data compilers and reduced reporting burden.
Inter-agency cooperation may help to identify new ways to use the data that are already
collected by reorganizing in it new ways to suit the needs of other areas of statistics. It can
also help to make the most of existing operations by ensuring relevant disaggregations are
in place to provide the level of detail necessary, for example in identifying tourism
industries.
6.3. Approaches and considerations in implementing SF-MST
6.3.1. Introduction
6.14. The longer term aim of implementation of SF-MST is to develop a nation-wide co-ordinated
program of work on measuring the sustainability of tourism. Given the wide variety of
situations and starting points, and taking into account the national policy priorities and
institutional arrangements no single implementation approach can be described. At the
same time, there are some general messages that should be considered by all countries
based on experience in the implementation of statistical frameworks around the world.
6.15. The nine key messages are:

i. Implementation should be advanced following the completion of a general awareness
and advocacy campaign concerning the potential of statistics on the sustainability of
tourism to inform policy development, monitoring and evaluation.
ii. Implementation should aim to establish a coordinated, long-term, national programme
of work involving a range of users of information and a number of different source data
agencies.
iii. An essential part of developing a long-term implementation is the development of
supporting data collections and the underpinning national statistical system.
iv. Long-term implementation will also require investments in resources and associated
allocation of funding to support the collection and processing of data, the integration
and editing of data within using SF-MST’s framework, the management and
disseminiation of a range of granular data, and the ongoing development of capability
and skills.

v. SF-MST can be implemented as a series of modules on different aspects of the

sustainability of tourism covering economic, environmental and social dimensions, and
depending on the country policy priorities and data availability. All of the modules are
connected through common classifications and measurement boundaries but can be
compiled separately and progressively improved.
vi. Many of the analytical benefits of SF-MST come from its connection to accounting
approaches described in SNA, SEEA and TSA:RMF 2008; as well as its use of other
statistical frameworks concerning, for example, employment, decent work, and
government finance and its inclusion of data in both monetary and physical terms.
vii. Implementation of SF-MST requires strategic planning and the establishment of
appropriate institutional mechanisms and arrangements for the ongoing compilation of
statistics and the supporting data collections. In this, the national statistical office and
the national tourism authorities have important roles to play.
viii. Implementation of SF-MST can be linked to many different international initiatives, both
statistical and policy related. Implementation strategies should seek synergies
between these initiatives and any relevant national initiatives.
ix. Successful implementation will require step-wise development, and improvements will
be generated through ongoing dissemination of statistics (possibly in preliminary or
experimental form) and ongoing discussion with users and source data providers.
6.16. The overall message is that through setting appropriate expectations at the start of an
implementation program it will be possible to progressively build a rich and coherent set of
data. In setting expectations, it will be important to use a flexible and modular approach
focusing first on the most relevant themes for analysis and undertaking compilation using
available data, including global data sets. Through the process of regularly compiling and
disseminating data, the data gaps and methodological requirements can be progressively
identified and form the basis for securing ongoing investments in data and technology.
Finally, recalling that the essence of SF-MST is the connection across three dimensions of
the sustainability of tourism, it is important to keep a clear eye on the connections among
the different measurement themes and to steadily build an overall narrative.
6.3.2. Specific considerations in implementation
6.17. SF-MST has a wide coverage of themes and implementation may be challenging. Indeed,
those familiar with the implementation of TSA:RMF 2008 are aware of the challenges of
introducing new statistical frameworks that look to integrate and extend the current base of
measurement.
6.18. To commence a discussion on implementation the following key points are noted:
• First, the current range of data demands concerning tourism’s sustainability is broad
and hence it is appropriate that SF-MST also has a broad coverage. This broad
coverage aims to ensure that the set of tourism statistics that a country develops
covers the relevant information requirements and to reduce the challenges that arise
from ad hoc data collection and organization.
• Second, while the development of tourism statistics for some of these topics is less
developed, for many of the topics there are existing statistical standards and methods
that are in place and which indicate that implementation of SF-MST is not starting from
a zero base. Tourism statisticians are very much encouraged to start with the data that
they currently have and to build from there. Further, technical support and expertise

for compilation can be found in many different organizations, including for data at sub-
national and destination level and for topics not commonly measured by statisticians.
SF-MST should be considered in this respect to provide a common point for the
exchange of data, knowledge and experience.
• Third, there is no expectation that all SF-MST tables and indicators should be compiled
immediately or that the benefits of SF-MST can only be obtained if all accounts and
tables are compiled. Like many other statistical standards, including the TSA: RMF,
implementation should be undertaken in a modular, flexible and demand-driven way.
That is, tourism statisticians should look to identify those SF-MST accounts and tables
that are most relevant in their context and focus on their implementation in the first
instance and, over time, look at the extension of the initial set.
• Fourth, a sensible approach in some locations will be to start implementation at sub-
national scales recognizing that the measurement principles described in SF-MST are
applicable at all scales. The development of nation-wide data sets may thus be
advanced steadily through ongoing expansion of the coverage of sub-national areas.
At the same time, not all data will be relevant at all scales and planning for the
implementation of SF-MST should ensure an appropriate prioritization of
implementation that considers requirements at different scales.
• Fifth, substantial progress on the implementation of SF-MST can occur in advance of
a country compiling a tourism satellite account following TSA:RMF 2008 or various
environmental-economic accounts following SEEA. While SF-MST has a design that
is strongly linked to these accounting frameworks, there are a range of intermediate
entry points for compilers that should be pursued following the principle of flexible and
modular implementation. For example, measures of water and energy use by tourism
industries can be compiled directly to support an understanding of the use of these
resources without compiling a complete supply and use table.
• Sixth, in a similar vein, it should be recognized that for each of SF-MST measurement
themes across the three dimensions, there will be a variety of potential measurement
methods and associated data sources. Some methods will be more rigorous and data
intensive than others. An appropriate approach is to commence implementation using
basic data and methods and progressively improve measurement approaches over
time. By way of example, initial measurement of GHG emissions might be based on
the use of global or industry wide average rates of emissions and, over time, direct
collection of GHG emissions from individual establishments can be envisaged. The
pace and range of improvements should be linked directly to policy and analytical
relevance. Again, a staged implementation approach is recommended.
• Seventh, while it will be possible to commence measurement using basic data and
methods, potentially taking advantage of regional and global data sets, it is always
preferable to build towards the collection of basic data from establishments and visitors
or in relation to local ecosystems or host communities. The use of directly collected,
granular data is important to ensure the relevance of the statistics and to recognize the
differences between locations that should be taken into account in decision making.
As well, the use of directly collected basic data is fundamental in supporting
benchmarking and the operation of models that are commonly used in decision
making. At the same time, directly collected data do not need to be collected for every
time period and some interpolation and extrapolation can be used to fill in data gaps.
In this regard, it is noted that ad hoc data collections can be effective in filling some
data gap for policymakers. SF-MST can thus play a foundational role in supporting the
integration, co-ordination and comparability of such ad-hoc data collections and filling
data gaps using other related and complementary data.

• Eighth, wherever possible, the data should be geo-referenced to facilitate meaningful

connections across datasets and increased applicability to local decision making. The
potential for compiling geo-refenced data is increasing steadily, including for visitor
surveys. A range of digital survey tools may be applied that output data in geo-
referenced form.
6.19. In adopting a flexible and modular approach—depending on context, circumstances and

priorities—it is envisaged that the tourism statistics community will work towards the
compilation of a core set of data for assessing the sustainability of tourism that can be used
for international comparison. While such an approach means that not all countries will
implement all possible parts of SF-MST at the same time or in the same order, for the data
that is produced, countries and destinations will be able to effectively compare, exchange
experiences and understand common challenges through the application of the same
concepts, definitions and data organizations structures.
6.20. While measurement undertaken by national statistical systems may be more limited at the
municipal and local tourism destination scales, this should not be interpreted as meaning
that there is little measurement activity since many local tourism destinations will collect
and utilize information specific to their area. Indeed, the allocation of resources to this task
is likely to be significant and gains may be observed by supporting a coordinated approach
to compiling statistics across multiple local tourism destinations within a country. Public
administration at different levels, national and regional statistical institutes, universities and
other stakeholders may also be involved. By way of example, in such an approach, national
statistical institutes may provide methodological guidance while agencies in local tourism
destinations collect and compile data.
6.21. On the basis of the concepts and definitions described in SF-MST, it is envisaged that a
range of materials to support implementation will be developed progressively, including the
development of compilation guidance and the design of capacity development programs.
These could include more detailed methodological guidance on the derivation of indicators
or more detailed descriptions of data collection techniques, such as the use of big data.
Such materials would supplement the wide range of information that is currently available
to support implementation of statistics across the economic, environmental and social
dimensions. Although much of this material may not be specifically targeted at tourism, SF-
MST should provide appropriate initial guidance on how measurement may be tailored to
a tourism context.
6.22. As part of the ongoing process of implementation, there will likely be a high focus on the
potential to use new and emerging data sources, such as mobile phone data and remote
sensing and satellite data, in the compilation of estimates. The investigation of the potential
of these data sources and their integration with existing data will be an important part of an
implementation program. To support the use of these data, consideration should be given to
data governance and interoperability, for example through the use of standard classifications.
6.4. Expectations concerning data quality
6.23. Tourism statistics are the end product of a complex process comprising many stages, from
the collection and processing of raw data to dissemination of data in a standardized format.
To ensure that the published data are considered credible and hence used widely as the

appropriate reflection of the economic, environmental and social dimensions of tourism, it

is important to focus on assessing data quality and implementing relevant assurance
processes. There are several supporting references and materials concerning statistical
quality that are available, including through the UN Statistical Division 117 . This section
provides an overview of relevant considerations.
6.24. Data quality was technically understood as referring to the accuracy of data, i.e. the degree
to which the data correctly estimate or describe the quantities or characteristics they are
designed to measure. However, while accuracy is important there are in fact many factors
to be considered in assessing the quality of data and putting in place systems and
structures that support the compilation and dissemination of high-quality data. In short,
quality is a multi-dimensional phenomenon.
6.25. For SF-MST, as for all statistical frameworks, it is intended that the statistics that are
derived from its use are compiled and released in a manner that is consistent with the UN
Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics 118 . These principles adopted in 1994 and
reaffirmed in 2013 require the compilation of statistics: (i) to be relevant, impartial and
equally accessible; (ii) to apply professional standards, scientific principles and
professional ethics; (iii) to demonstrate accountability and transparency; (iv) to prevent the
misuse of statistics; (v) to involve data from many sources considering quality, timeliness,
costs and respondent burden; (vi) to maintain confidentiality of individual data; (vii) to
operate under publicly available legislation; (viii) to co-ordinate across agencies as part of
a statistical system; (ix) to apply international standards; and (x) to support international
cooperation.
6.26. To support the implementation of these principles, the UN has also established a National
Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF) adopted in 2012 and supported by the release of a
manual and associated recommendations in 2019 119 . The framework identifies 19
principles under four levels of management: managing the statistical system; managing the
institutional environment; managing statistical processes; and managing statistical outputs.
For compilers of statistics, all these aspects are relevant. For users of statistics, the most
common focus is placed on the six principles concerning statistical outputs, namely:
relevance; accuracy and reliability; timeliness and punctuality; accessibility of data and
clarity; coherence and comparability; and metadata. All these principles should be
considered and applied in the implementation of SF-MST120.
6.27. Figure 6.1 below provides a general overview of the relevant factors. At a first level, a
distinction should be made between the institutional setting in which statistics are compiled,
the processes by which statistics are generated and the outputs that emerge from a
statistical process. Then for each of these high-level factors, there are a number of sub-
117
See United Nations National Quality Assurance Frameworks Manual for Official Statistics (UN NQAF Manual)
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/dataquality/un-nqaf-manual/ and
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/dataquality/meetings/Workshop-on-the-implementation-of-NQAF-and-GSBPM
118
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/dnss/hb/E-fundamental%20principles_A4-WEB.pdf
119
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/dataquality/
120
The European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP) is the cornerstone of the quality framework and sets the standards for
developing, producing and disseminating European statistics. It comprises 16 principles concerning the institutional
environment, statistical processes and statistical outputs (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/4031688/8971242/KS-02-18-
142-EN-N.pdf/e7f85f07-91db-4312-8118-f729c75878c7?t=1528447068000).

factors. It is not the role of this overview to provide an in-depth description of the factors
and sub-factors and compilers are encouraged to read the relevant materials available on
the UN Statistics Division website.
Figure 6.1: Key factors in determining statistical quality
Adapted from UNSD
6.28. As a general commentary, it should be readily seen that each of these factors are important.
For example, accurate data are excellent but if they concern topics that are not relevant to
decision making, they are released a long time after decisions are taken and they cannot
be readily accessed by different stakeholders then, just from an output perspective, the
quality of the data for decision making may be considered poor even if they are accurate.
6.29. The wider message in this description is that quality must be assessed in relation to a
particular decision making context – i.e. the data and statistics should be fit for purpose. By
way of example, it might be appropriate for decisions on the size of investment in airports
to consider monthly, weekly, and even daily patterns of total visitor flows. However, for
decisions on the type of accommodation and facilities that should be supplied, additional
detail would be relevant on those visitors' characteristics, for example, their age, purpose
of travel and income levels.
6.30. In terms of institutional quality, the underlying driver for establishing levels of quality
concerns the credibility and authority of the statistics that are disseminated. To the extent
that users are concerned that the data may be adjusted or affected by political concerns,
then there is less likelihood that the data will be considered useful for decision making. In
this sense, the factors of independence, impartiality, transparency, confidentiality and
commitment to quality of the institutions that are compiling and releasing statistics are
critical. The UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics have been developed with this
aspect of quality in mind.

6.31. The dimensions of quality that are listed above are overlapping and interrelated. Any action
taken to address or modify one aspect of quality will tend to affect other elements of quality.
Further, it is recognized that direct quality measures are difficult to develop. For example,
in the case of accuracy, it is almost impossible to measure non-response bias as the
characteristics of non-respondents can be difficult and costly to ascertain. In this case, the
response rate is often used as a proxy quality indicator which measures the possible extent
of non-response bias. Thus, when determining the quality indicators for tourism statistics it
is recommended that the following criteria be satisfied: (a) indicators cover part or all the
dimensions of quality as defined previously; (b) the methodology for their compilation is
well established and transparent; and (c) the indicators are easy to interpret.
6.32. Because deriving a single quantitative measure of quality for tourism statistics is not
possible, countries are encouraged to develop a tourism statistics quality framework based
on their existing statistical quality assessment frameworks and on the above mentioned
dimensions and to regularly issue quality reports as part of their metadata. Such reports
should contain a system of quality indicators appropriate to country circumstances and will
allow users to judge for themselves whether any given data set meets their particular quality
requirements. It is recommended that a quality review of tourism statistics be undertaken
every four to five years or more frequently if significant methodological changes or changes
in the data sources occur.
6.5. Potential applications and extensions of SF-MST
6.5.1. Introduction
6.33. This section introduces a range of applications and extensions that may be undertaken
using data compiled following SF-MST. Consistent with the advice that SF-MST should be
implemented in a flexible and modular way in line with available resources and national
information demands, it is not expected that countries seek to undertake all the possible
applications and extensions of SF-MST.
6.34. Further, a number of the applications and extensions will involve the use of assumptions
about relationships between and thresholds concerning economic, environmental and
social variables, require the design of scenarios and projections, or apply modelling of
various types. SF-MST does not prescribe any assumptions, modelling approaches or the
collection of information required for analysis and intends only to indicate the common
requirements and considerations.
6.35. An initial focus in applying SF-MST may be on describing measurement and analysis at a
national level on specific policy areas such as resources used in tourism (e.g. water and
energy), tourism intensity and carrying capacity, tourism employment, tourism related
infrastructure, etc. There is also potential for analysis and extension at sub-national scales.
In this context there are strong areas of synergy with the developments in geo-spatial
information systems (GIS) and related datasets.
6.36. Analysis in these specific areas can also feed into discussion of broader, cross cutting
policy areas such as tourism’s contribution to sustainable development, mitigation of and
adaptation to the effects of climate change, circular economy and sustainable production
and consumption, and land management and planning. In all these cross-cutting areas,

connections are required between economic, environmental and social dimensions and
SF-MST is well suited to placing the relevant data in context. Further, SF-MST data may
be relevant at different stages of the policy cycle including the development and design of
policy solutions, the articulation of policy targets, and the monitoring and evaluation of
policies, in particular assessment of the effectiveness of specific policy instruments.
6.37. For the analysts of tourism’s sustainability, the application of SF-MST can provide
benefits—mainly in the form of comparability and harmonization—that come from utilizing
a common, integrated framework, reflected in the compilation of accounts, for the
organization of environmental, social and economic data.
6.5.2. Measurement of indirect and induced environmental flows
6.38. The focus of measurement described in SF-MST is on the measurement of direct flows.
For the analysis of the economic dimension, this involves a focus on the interaction
between visitors and tourism establishments. The same principle is applied in the recording
of data concerning environmental flows – i.e. the focus is on the direct link between the
environment and visitors or between the environment and tourism businesses. The focus
on direct flows ensures that there is no double counting of data and comparability across
locations and countries. Through the systematic organization of data on direct flows
between the environment and tourism establishments, SF-MST establishes a coherent
database for further analysis and modelling.
6.39. In particular, there is commonly strong analytical and policy interest in understanding the
environmental connection between visitor activity and the associated supply chains that
provide goods and services to visitors121. The measurement of these indirect effects can
be directly supported through SF-MST, which provides also coherent database of direct
flows on which to apply different models. This also supports analysis of induced effects that
arise, for example, when employees of tourism industries spend their income and drive
further economic and environmental effects.
6.40. More generally, one of the distinct advantages of organizing and integrating data using SF-
MST is its connections to accounting frameworks, such as the SNA. This supports the
connection of tourism data to economic models that use input-output tables which
summarize the structure and inter-linkages of the economy. Input-output tables are based
on the SNA and making the connection to tourism is possible by using consistent
definitions of income and production and common industry and product classifications.
6.41. A common application of data about these linkages is the measurement of direct, indirect
and induced effects of tourism activity. The standard SF-MST data can be used to measure
direct effects reflecting the economic, environmental and social effects that arise when
industries directly serve visitors. Most obviously, the direct effects are seen as the entries
for tourism industries in the various SF-MST tables and accounts. Indirect effects arise
because each tourism industry will have connection to other industries in supplying goods
and services to visitors – i.e. a supply chain. For example restaurants serving visitors will
have a supply chain involving food manufacturers, bakers and farmers (among many
121
There is related interest in tourism supply chains from a purely economic perspective as well, for example the OECD work on
trade in value added for tourism. https://www.oecd.org/dac/aft/AidforTrade_SectorStudy_Tourism.pdf

others). These indirect effects are not recorded in SF-MST but since the entries in SF-MST
are organized to connect to entries for these other industries, the indirect effects can be
estimated, often using input-output modelling techniques.
6.42. Finally, there are induced effects of tourism which arise as a result of both the direct and
indirect connections to visitors. In an input-output approach, induced effects aim to
measure subsequent economic and environmental effects and are sometime referred to as
“second-round” effects. For example, employment in tourism industries is a direct effect of
visitor activity and an associated induced effect is that these employed persons earn wages
which they then spend and hence increase demand and supply of other goods and
services. Figure 6.2 below presents a simple set of links between the three types of effects.
The precise scope of indirect and induced effects can vary depending on the type of
analysis being undertaken and hence is not standardized in statistical terms.
Figure 6.2: Direct, indirect and induced effects of tourism
6.43. In principle, by using the information on the relationships between inputs and outputs of
goods and services reflected in standard economic supply and use tables, it is possible to
determine the links between the environmental flows of specific production processes
along the whole supply chain and the outputs that are ultimately consumed by visitors. For
example, it is possible to estimate the quantity of water embodied in the growing of food
that is ultimately consumed by visitors. The same logic can be applied to other
environmental flows such as energy and GHG emissions. The resulting measures are often
referred to as footprints.
6.44. The techniques of attributing environmental flows to categories of final demand are well
established and widely applied. The SEEA Applications and Extensions introduces the
relevant approaches and associated literature in Chapter III and, in Chapter IV, it provides
an example of applying this approach in relation to household consumption. It is possible
to use the principles outlined in SEEA Applications and Extensions to attribute
environmental flows to tourism characteristic products, potentially using information on
tourism expenditure to further differentiate by types of visitors122. However, the recording
of information about these indirect connections should be considered an analytical
application of SF-MST rather than a standard output of the statistical framework itself.
122
Eurostat makes available footprint calculation tools (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/environment/methodology).

6.45. It is further noted that given the range of assumptions about pathways and connections
that are required to estimate indirect and induced effects, and the fact that these effects
will operate across national boundaries, it is not possible to obtain international
comparability for indirect and induced effects. That is, the indirect and induced effects
measured in relation to one country will overlap with the estimates for another country. This
overlap or double-counting problem can be overcome in the measurement of direct effects
through careful application of statistical concepts and measurement boundaries as
described in SF-MST and hence international comparability of direct effects is possible.
6.46. There are many examples of the use of environmental flow information in connection with
standard input-output tables. An introduction to the principles and summary of the relevant
literature is provided in SEEA Applications and Extensions as already noted. Advancing
the measurement of integrated TSA and SEEA accounts will further support these efforts
in understanding the broader connections between tourism activity and the environment
and ensuring that environmental data can be considered in the economic modeling of
tourism. 123
6.5.3. Other areas of application and extension
6.47. There are other applications and extensions in which data compiled following SF-MST can
be used. These are briefly summarized here, recognizing that those mentioned are only
indicative. It is also noted that given the potential for SF-MST to be used at local, regional
and national scales, there may be particular applications that are specific to those scales.
The focus here is largely on national level applications but finer level uses should not be
forgotten.
6.48. A direct application of the data from SF-MST is in support of reporting on international
agreements such as the SDGs and the Convention on Biological Diversity. While it will be
the case that most of the indicators are not defined solely with respect to tourism, the data
from SF-MST can be used to demonstrate the links between tourism and progress towards
the SDGs and identify areas where investments in tourism may be an important component
of the policy response in different locations. The spatial component of SF-MST will also
support the general measurement ambition of reporting on the SDGs to provide
disaggregation of the national level indicators.
6.49. A particular requirement as part of tourism policy development is projecting future patterns
of tourism supply and demand. Such projections require assumptions about future states
which are not within the scope of statistical measurement. However, data from SF-MST
can provide robust baseline and past trend information that is used to underpin such
projections. Further, the connections described in SF-MST across economic,
environmental and social dimensions can be used to consider the wider effects of changes
in tourism supply and demand, for example on local environments and host communities.
Across these dimensions, SF-MST also provides a common baseline for all stakeholders
to participate in discussions about potential implications of tourism activity.
123
Examples already exist in the field of tourism, such as the work for Wales on the connections of tourism and GHG emissions
(see Calvin Jones (2023) The carbon footprint of regional tourism trips: insights from environmentally extended regional input
output analysis, Journal of Sustainable Tourism (in press)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09669582.2023.2254949)

6.50. In making projections, it will be relevant to consider economic, environmental and social
thresholds that may limit the potential for tourism activity to increase. These thresholds may
relate to limits including water consumption, land for development and the supply of labour.
Under the general concept of tourism carrying capacity, all of these types of issues may be
analyzed with the support of an SF-MST data set. SF-MST does not inherently establish
relevant thresholds since these will vary by location and over time. However, the concepts
and definitions of SF-MST can be used to describe the thresholds and to monitor whether
they are being approached or passed.
6.51. More broadly, the framing of thresholds can be considered from a perspective of risk, i.e.
the likelihood and the expected effect of going beyond certain thresholds. Again, SF-MST
does not supply the full range of assumptions required for risk analysis, but SF-MST based
data provides a robust and common baseline of information and can support coherent
assessment of risks across different locations and different scales.
6.52. The final area discussed here is the potential for SF-MST data and the general framework
itself to support the measurement of sustainability at the corporate level, for example in the
area of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) measurement and reporting. Aside
from providing a clear and internationally agreed framing for the measurement of these
aspects of sustainability, SF-MST can also support corporate measurement and reporting
by providing data on areas outside the direct management and control of individual
establishments. For example, information on sea water, beach quality and water resources
in tourism-connected catchments can inform the environmental reporting of local
establishments. Building connections between SF-MST and corporate level measurement
can also support more coordinated planning and investments at local scales towards
sustainability objectives.

Annex 1: SF-MST Research agenda
1. SF-MST provides a framework for measuring the economic, environmental and social
dimensions of tourism. Data compiled following SF-MST are invaluable inputs for the
evaluation of policy and analysis of many tourism issues. Nonetheless, as environmental,
social and economic circumstances change, as understandings of the links between the
environment, society and the economy develop, and as policy and analytical requirements
evolve, SF-MST must be reviewed to assure its ongoing relevance.
2. In addition, as implementation of SF-MST occurs increasingly across the world, the range
of experience gained will offer new insights that should be considered in the
conceptualization of the measurement of the sustainability of tourism.
3. As SF-MST is founded on a number of existing statistical frameworks, the development

and refinement of SF-MST will, itself, need to be aware of ongoing developments in each
of those frameworks.
4. The process for reviewing and updating SF-MST will follow standard processes that have
developed for the review of international statistical frameworks. Thus, there will be
consideration within the United Nations statistical system of (a) the relative importance of
updating the framework to ensure its ongoing relevance; (b) the consequences of making
any changes and the potential impact on implementation; and (c) the extent to which
research into a proposed area of change has been completed. The process for selecting
topics for investigation and determining the appropriate changes to SF-MST will involve
widespread consultation and involvement of compilers and users.
5. It is noted that, because SF-MST is an integrated measurement system with links between
different themes, changing individual areas in response to specific concerns is likely to
have broader ramifications. Hence, updating the framework must be completed in a
coordinated and integrated fashion.
6. Listed below are the major topics identified during the preparation of SF-MST as being
those that would benefit from further consideration within the international statistical
community. They were identified through ongoing discussions within the MST Expert
Group, SF-MST Editorial Board and via the global consultation processes. Some of these
topics are more conceptual in nature while others concern establishing clear statistical
guidance to support implementation. It is expected that this list will evolve over time with
different priorities to be determined by the relevant statistical governance process:
i. Employment and tourism occupations. Given the importance of tourism
employment as a general topic of measurement, the drafting of SF-MST identified that
several measurement issues, notably tourism occupations.. However, at this stage an
agreed statistical definition of tourism occupations has not been determined. An interim
measurement approach has been presented in Chapter 3 but, in collaboration with
ILO, the development of a targeted statistical solution can be envisaged, linking to the
wider updating of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO). As
part of this research, consideration can be given to the impact of changing patterns of
tourism supply and demand, for example through the platform economy, and the effect
that these changes may have on occupations and employment more generally.

SF-MST – Annex 1: SF-MST Research agenda
ii. Tourism-related produced assets. Tourism investment in fixed capital is considered

an important policy metric. Building on an initial discussion in the TSA:RMF 2008, SF-
MST describes a range of measures concerning tourism investment focusing on
tourism gross fixed capital formation and non-monetary indicators of the tourism capital
stock. Nonetheless, in the drafting process it was identified that further investigation
was required to establish improved specifications of tourism related produced assets,
to clarify the measurement boundary as it pertains to tourism since a range of assets
related to tourism can be used for non-tourism purposes, and to provide compilation
advice. Other relevant topics for consideration include clarifying the recording of
investments in short-term accommodation and associated rentals; and identifying
levels of foreign direct investment.
iii. Ecosystem accounting. SF-MST provides an introduction to the ways in which
ecosystem accounting, as described in the SEEA Ecosystem Accounting, may be
linked to the measurement of tourism. There are a number of connections including
measurement of the area of ecosystem assets, the condition of these assets and flows
of ecosystem services. However, as this is a new area of statistical measurement,
methods and data sources for ecosystem accounting continue to be developed and
further development of the links to tourism can be investigated. This should include
examining the potential to link spatial areas defined in relation to tourism to the location
and extent of ecosystems.
iv. Recording and attribution of environmental flows. SF-MST Annex 4.1 provides an
explanation of the way in which environmental flows, including GHG emissions, solid
waste, water and energy, can be attributed to tourism activity including recording using
consumption and production perspectives. Further investigation is warranted to fully
articulate the range of potential aggregations and perspectives in this area of
measurement including for example, developing agreed approaches to the
measurement of indirect and induced effects with respect to environmental flows and
considering appropriate presentations for international passenger transport where
multiple countries are involved.
v. Development of metrics in the social dimension. SF-MST provides a
comprehensive framing for considering the social dimension of tourism and brings
together a range of statistical concepts and other measurement advice. At the same
time, it is acknowledged that statistical standards in some of the measurement themes
could be further developed in the context of tourism measurement. These themes
include visitor satisfaction surveys, host community perception surveys, the collection
of time use data about visitors, statistics on tourism governance, measures of the
degree of participation in tourism by residents and the links to cultural satellite
accounts. Of particular relevance is recognising the perspectives of indigenous and
other local groups and ensuring all value systems and beliefs are within scope of
measurement. More broadly, the development of comparable indicators across the
social dimension is an important target for research.
vi. Connections to international statistical standards. SF-MST is a framework that
demonstrates the connections between many statistical standards. Consequently,
while the inherent logic of the connections between these standards within SF-MST
will remain robust, some details of the descriptions and associated classifications may
change when the underpinning standards undergo their regular updating processes.
At the time of release of SF-MST there are updating process underway concerning the
System of National Accounts, ISIC, CPC, Balance of Payments Manual and various
ILO standards. As these processes are finalised the implications for SF-MST will need
to be addressed.

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Glossary
Note to readers: This Glossary has been prepared to complement the final draft of the Statistical
Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) submitted to the UNSC for
consideration in its 55th session. The Glossary will be finalised taking into account the official
editing process and also consistency checks to ensure alignment with definitions in related
statistical standards.
Abstraction is the amount of water that is removed from any source, either permanently or
temporarily, in a given period of time. (SEEA-CF, para. 3.195).
Accessible tourism is a form of tourism that involves a collaborative process among stakeholders
that enables people with access requirements, including mobility, vision, hearing and cognitive
dimensions of access, to function independently and with equity and dignity through the delivery of
universally designed tourism products, services and environments”124.
Accumulation is the acquisition of fixed assets, stocks of non-durable goods, land, mineral
deposits and other non-reproducible tangible assets, financial assets, patents, copyrights and other
tangible assets during a period of account less the incurrence of liabilities. This is gross
accumulation. Net accumulation is gross accumulation during a period reduced by the consumption
of fixed capital. (OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms).
Air emissions are gaseous and particulate substances released to the atmosphere by
establishments and households as a result of production, consumption and accumulation
processes. (SEEA-CF, para. 3.91).
Asset refers to a store of value representing a benefit or series of benefits accruing to the economic
owner by holding or using the entity over a period of time. It is a means of carrying forward value
from one accounting period to another. (SNA, para. 3.30).
Biodiversity means the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia,
terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are
part: this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems. (Convention on
Biological Diversity, article 2. Use of Terms).
Changes in inventories are measured by the value of the entries into inventories less the value
of withdrawals and less the value of any recurrent losses of goods held in inventories during the
accounting period. (SNA, para. 10.118).
124
UNWTO Recommendations on Accessible Tourism for All https://webunwto.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/2019-

Glossary
Consumption refers to the consumption of goods and services, which is the act of completely
using up the goods and services in a process of production or for the direct satisfaction of human
needs or wants. (SNA, para. 9.39).
Consumption goods and services are defined as goods or services that are used (without further
transformation in production as defined in the SNA) by households, NPISHs or government units
for the direct satisfaction of individual needs (or wants) or for the collective needs of members of
the community. (SNA, para. 9.2).
Country-specific tourism characteristic products are those products that each country
identifies by applying in its own context the two criteria mentioned under the item Tourism
characteristic products (IRTS 2008, para. 5.16).
Country-specific tourism characteristic activities are the activities that produce country-specific
tourism characteristic products. (IRTS 2008, para. 5.16).
Corporations are institutional units, mainly consisting of independent legally constituted

corporations and also cooperatives, limited liability partnerships, notional resident units and quasi-
corporations, whose principal activities are to produce goods or services for the market. (Glossary
of terms and definitions in macro-economic statistics, Draft January 2024).
Cultural assets, also referred to as cultural heritage, are artefacts, monuments, a group of
buildings and sites that have a diversity of values including symbolic, historic, artistic, aesthetic,
ethnological or anthropological, scientific and social significance (UNESCO UIS Glossary).
Cultural services are the characteristic products provided by cultural activities, which is one of the
tourism characteristic activities (IRTS 2008, Figure 5.1 and Annex 3).
Cultural ecosystem services (also referred to as cultural services) are the experiential and
intangible services related to the perceived or actual qualities of ecosystems whose existence and
functionning contributes to a range of cultural benefits. (SEEA EA, para. 6.51).
Decent work is productive work in which rights are protected, which generates an adequate
income, with adequate social protection. Also means sufficient work, in the sense that all should
have full access to income-earning opportunities. (ILO Thesaurus).
Degradation considers changes in the capacity of environmental assets to deliver a broad range
of contributions known as ecosystem services (e.g., air filtration services from forests) and the
extent to which this capacity may be reduced through the action of economic units, including
households. (SEEA-CF, para. 5.90).
Depletion, in physical terms, is the decrease in the quantity of the stock of a natural resource over
an accounting period that is due to the extraction of the natural resource by economic units
occurring at a level greater than that of regeneration. (SEEA-CF, para. 5.76). Depletion is distinct
from ecosystem degradation inasmuch as it refers to the decrease in a specific individual
environmental asset rather than to the decline in the functioning of an ecosystem asset as a whole.
Nonetheless, close connections are likely to exist between depletion and ecosystem degradation
in specific spatial areas. (EEA, Definitions and descriptions).

Glossary
Disability is an umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. It
refers to the negative aspects of the interaction between individuals with a health condition (such
as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, depression) and personal and environmental factors (such as
negative attitudes, inaccessible transportation and public buildings, and limited social supports).
(World Health Organization and The World Bank, World Report on Disability, 2011; World Health
Organization, How to use the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health,
2013, Box 2: Definitions).
Domestic tourism comprises the activities of a resident visitor within the country of reference,
either as part of a domestic tourism trip or part of an outbound tourism trip (IRTS 2008, Glossary).
Domestic tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a resident visitor within the economy
of reference (IRTS 2008, para. 4.15 (a)); it includes not only the expenditure of visitors on domestic
trips, but also the expenditure within the economy of reference of visitors that undertake outbound
trips. (TSA:RMF, para. 4.39).
Domestic tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a resident visitor within the
economy of reference. (TSA: RMF 2008, Figure 2.1).
Domestic visitor is defined as a visitor travels within his/her country of residence, he/she is a
domestic visitor and his/her activities are part of domestic tourism (IRTS 2008 Glossary).
Economic activity is understood as including production, consumption and accumulation

activities.
Economic benefits reflect gains or positive utility arising from an action within the three economic
activities recognized in the SNA, production, consumption and accumulation. Their assessment
implies a comparison between two states. (SNA, para. 4.39).
Economic territory is a geographical reference and most commonly refers to the area under the
effective economic control of a single government; it points to the country for which the
measurement is done (country of reference) (IRTS 2008, para. 2.15). The economic territory
includes the land area, airspace, territorial waters, including jurisdiction over fishing rights and rights
to fuels or minerals. In a maritime territory, the economic territory includes islands that belong to
the territory. The economic territory also includes territorial enclaves in the rest of the world. It is
noted also that the economic territory may be larger or smaller than the area under the effective
economic control of a single government, as in a currency or economic union or a part of a country
or the world. (SNA, paras. 4.10, 4.11).
Economic units (see Institutional units).
Ecosystems are a dynamic complex of plant, animal and microorganism communities and their
non-living environment interacting as a functional unit. Examples are terrestrial ecosystems (e.g.,
forests and wetlands) and marine ecosystems. Often, there are interactions between different
ecosystems at local and global levels. (SEEA-CF, para. 2.21).

Glossary
Ecosystem assets are spatial areas comprising a combination of biotic and abiotic components
and other elements which function together. Ecosystem assets should be distinguished from the
various individual components (e.g., plants, animals, soil, water bodies) that are contained within a
spatial area (SEEA EA, para. 2.11).
Ecosystem condition is the quality of an ecosystem measured in terms of its abiotic and biotic
characteristics (SEEA EA, 2.13).
Ecosystem extent is the size of an ecosystem asset in terms of spatial area. (SEEA EA, 2.13).
Ecosystem services are the contributions of ecosystems to benefits used in economic and other
human activity; they represent the benefits supplied by the functions of ecosystems and received
by humanity. Ecosystem services, which are supplied in many ways and vary from ecosystem to
ecosystem, may be divided into three groups: (a) provisioning services (such as the provision of
timber from forests); (b) regulating services (provided, for example, by forests when they act as a
sink for carbon); and (c) cultural services (such as the enjoyment provided to visitors to a national
park). (SEEA EA, para. 2.14).
Emissions are substances released to the environment by establishments and households as a

result of production, consumption and accumulation processes. Generally, emissions are analysed
by type of receiving environment (i.e., air, water bodies, soil) and by type of substance. (SEEA-CF,
para. 3.88).
Emissions to water are substances released to water resources by establishments and

households as a result of production, consumption and accumulation processes. (SEEA-CF, para.
3.92).
Employee are workers employed for pay, on a formal or informal basis, who do not hold controlling
ownership of the economic unit in which they are employed. They are remunerated in cash or in
kind in return for time worked or, in some cases, for each task or piece of work done or for services
provided including sales (by the piece or commission) (ILO ICLS/20/2018/Resolution I).
Employment is defined as all those of working age who, during a short reference period, were
engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit. They comprise
employed persons “at work”, i.e., who worked in a job for at least one hour and employed persons
“not at work” due to temporary absence from a job or because of working-time arrangements (such
as shift work, flexitime, and compensatory leave for overtime) (ILO, ICLS/21/2023/RES. II).

Glossary
Energy products are products that are used (or might be used) as a source of energy. They
comprise (a) fuels that are produced/generated by an economic unit (including households) and
are used (or might be used) as sources of energy; (b) electrictiy that is generated by an economic
unit (including households); and (c) heat that is generated and sold to third parties by an economic
unit. Some energy products may be used for non-energy purposes. (SEEA-CF, para. 3.146).
Enterprise may refer to a corporation, a quasi-corporation, a non-profit institution or an

incorporated enterprise. An enterprise is the view of an institutional unit as a producer of goods and
services. (SNA, para. 5.1).
Environmental assets are the naturally occurring living and non-living components of the Earth,
together constituting the biophysical environment, which may provide benefits to humanity.
Although they are naturally occurring, it is recognized that many environmental assets are
transformed to varying degrees by economic activities. Environmental assets are considered from
two perspectives. The first perspective encompasses individual components of the environment
that provide materials and space to all economic activities; examples include mineral and energy
resources, timber resources, water resources and land. (SEEA-CF, para. 2.17). The second
perspective on environmental assets encompasses ecosystems. However, the scope of
environmental assets is not the same as that of ecosystem assets, since the former includes
mineral and energy resources which are excluded from the scope of the latter. (EEA, Definitions
and descriptions).
Environmental goods and services are all products that are produced, designed and
manufactured for purposes of environmental protection and resource management. (SEEA-CF,
para. 4.95).
Enivoronmental physical flows (environmental flows) are the flows of materials, water,
pollutants, waste and energy that move between the environment and the economy and within the
economy(SEEA CF, 2.14).
Environmental protection refers to economic activities whose primary purpose is the prevention,
reduction and elimination of pollution and other forms of degradation of the environment. These
activities include, but are not limited to, the prevention, reduction or treatment of waste and
wastewater; the prevention, reduction or elimination of air emissions; the treatment and disposal of
contaminated soil and groundwater; the prevention or reduction of noise and vibration levels; the
protection of biodiversity and landscapes, including of their ecological functions; monitoring of the
quality of the natural environment (air, water, soil and groundwater); research and development on
environmental protection; and the general administration, training and teaching activities (SEEA
CF, para 4.12).
Environmental subsidies, or similar transfers, are transfers intended to support activities that
protect the environment or reduce the use and extraction of natural resources. (SEEA-CF, para.
4.138).
Environmental taxes are taxes whose tax base is a physical unit (or a proxy of it) of something
that has a proven, specific negative impact on the environment. (SEEA-CF, para. 4.150).
Environmental transactions are transactions in monetary terms between economic units that
may be considered environmental. Generally, these transactions concern activity undertaken to
preserve and protect the environment. Further, there are a range of transactions, such as taxes

Glossary
and subsidies, that reflect efforts by governments, on behalf of society, to influence the behaviour
of producers and consumers with respect to the environment. Most of these environmental
transactions are recorded within the core national accounts framework but many cannot be
immediately identified owing to the structure of the accounts or the types of classifications that are
used therein. (SEEA-CF, paras. 4.1-4.2).
Establishment refers to an enterprise, or part of an enterprise, that is situated in a single location

and in which only a single productive activity is carried out or in which the principal productive
activity accounts for most of the value added. (SNA, paras. 5.2, 5.14).
Excursionist (or same-day visitor) (see Visitor).
Final consumption consists of goods and services used by individual households or the
community to satisfy their individual or collective needs or wants. (SNA, para.1.52).
Fixed assets are produced assets (such as machinery, equipment, buildings or other structures)
that are used repeatedly or continuously in production over several accounting periods (more than
one year) (SNA, para.10.11).
Fixed capital formation (see Gross fixed capital formation).
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a category of cross-border investment in which an investor

resident in one economy establishes a lasting interest in and a significant degree of influence over
an enterprise resident in another economy. (OECD, tbc)
GDP (see Gross Domestic Product).
General Government (Government) refers to egal entities established by political processes that
have legislative, judicial or executive authority over other institutional units within a given area,
principally engaged in non-market production intended for individual and collective consumption
and in the redistribution of income and wealth by transfers, which is financed mainly by compulsory
payments made by units belonging to other sectors. The general government sector consists of
such institutional units at central, state and local level together with social security funds and non-
market producers controlled by them. (Glossary of terms and definitions in macro-economic
statistics, Draft January 2024).
GHG emissions are the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). These are atmospheric gases
responsible for causing global warming and climate change. The major GHGs are carbon dioxide
(CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N20). Less prevalent - but very powerful - greenhouse
gases are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
(United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – UNFCC; Glossary of climate change
acronyms and terms).
Global refers to the spatial area encompassing both all countries and all marine areas (SF-MST,
2.66).

Glossary
Goods are physical, produced objects for which a demand exists, over which ownership rights can
be established and whose ownership can be transferred from one institutional unit to another by
engaging in transactions on markets. (SNA, para. 6.15).
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the most frequently quoted indicator of economic performance.
The System of National Accounts (SNA) provides the internationally agreed standard for measuring
GDP. Basically, GDP derives from the concept of value added, which is the difference between
output and intermediate consumption. According to the SNA accounting rules, the value of GDP is
given by the sum of value added for all resident units when the value of taxes on products (less
subsidies on products) is added. The underlying rationale behind the concept of gross domestic
product (GDP) for the economy as a whole is that it should measure the total gross value added
from all institutional units resident in the economy. However, while the concept of GDP is based on
this principle, GDP as defined in the SNA is such that an identity exists between a measure built
on value added, a measure built on income and one based on final expenditures. (SNA, paras. 1.1,
2.138, 6.70, 6.82).
Gross fixed capital formation is measured by the total value of a producer’s acquisitions, less
disposals, of fixed assets during the accounting period plus certain specified expenditure on
services that adds to the value of non-produced assets. (SNA, para. 10.32).
Groundwater is water that collects in porous layers of underground formations known as aquifers.
(SEEA-CF, para. 5.479).
Host community is defined as a group of people and businesses that are involved in and/or
affected by the travel activities of visitors outside their usual environment. (SF-MST 5.42).
Household refers to the first type of institutional unit (the second type includes legal or social
entities). A household is a group of persons who share the same living accommodation, who pool
some, or all, of their income and wealth and who consume certain types of goods and services
collectively, mainly housing and food. (SNA, paras. 4.3, 4.4).
Human capital is an intangible asset, related to any stock of knowledge or characteristics the
worker has (either innate or acquired) that contributes to his or her productivity. Thus, human capital
is the stock of competencies, knowledge, social and personality attributes, including creativity,
embodied in the ability to produce economic value. This required by innate ability, schooling,
(continious) training and influence from his or her environment, like family and friends.(ILO, OECD).
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity,
language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom
from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and
many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination. (United Nations, Global
issues).
Inbound tourism comprises the activities of a non-resident visitor within the country of reference
on an inbound tourism trip (IRTS 2008 Glossary).

Glossary
Inbound tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a non-resident visitor within the
economy of reference. (TSA: RMF 2008 Glossary).
Inbound tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a non-resident visitor within the
economy of reference (IRTS 2008, para. 4.15 (b)).
Inbound visitor refers to a non-resident traveller on a tourism trip to the country of reference (IRTS
2008, paras. 2.5, 2.6, 2.10).
Industry refers to a group of establishments engaged in the same, or similar, kinds of activity.
(SNA, para. 5.46).
Institutional units are economic entities that are capable, in their own right, of owning assets,
incurring liabilities and engaging in economic activities and in transactions with other entities. There
are two main types of institutional units, namely persons or groups of persons in the form of
households and legal or social entities (SNA, paras. 4.2, 4.3).
Intermediate consumption consists of the value of the goods and services consumed as inputs
by a process of production, excluding fixed assets whose consumption is recorded as consumption
of fixed capital. (SNA, para. 6.213).
Internal tourism comprises domestic tourism and inbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of
resident and non-resident visitors within the country of reference as part of domestic or international
tourism trips (IRTS 2008, para. 2.40(a)).
Internal tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of both resident and non-resident
visitors within the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism consumption and inbound
tourism consumption. (TSA: RMF 2008 Glossary).
International tourism is the sum of inbound and outbound tourism. (IRTS 2008, 2.30).
Inventories are produced assets that consist of goods and services, which came into existence in
the current period or in an earlier period, and that are held for sale, use in production or other use
at a later date. (SNA, para. 10.12).
Job refers to a work position defined by the agreement between an employee and the employer;
each self-employed person has a job. There is a distinction between a job and an employee, one
employee being capable of holding several jobs. (SNA, paras. 19.30, 25.57).
L
Land consists of the ground, including the soil covering and any associated surface waters, over
which ownership rights are enforced and from which economic benefits can be derived by their
owners by holding or using them. (SNA, para. 10.175). From an environmental-economic point of
view, land is a unique environmental asset that delineates the space in which economic activities
and environmental processes take place and within which environmental assets and economic
assets are located. (SEEA-CF, para. 5.239).

Glossary
Land cover is the observed physical and biological cover of the Earth’s surface (SEEA-CF, para.
5.257). For the purposes of land cover statistics, land cover includes natural vegetation, abiotic
(non-living) surfaces and inland water bodies, such as rivers, lakes and reservoirs (EEA, Definitions
and descriptions).
Land use reflects both (a) the activities undertaken and (b) the institutional arrangements put in
place for a given area for the purposes of economic production, or the maintenance and restoration
of environmental functions. (SEEA-CF, para. 5.246).
Legal or social entity refers to the second type of institutional unit such as a corporation, non-
profit institution or government unit (the first type includes households). A legal or social entity is
one whose existence is recognized by law or society independently of the persons, or other entities,
that may own or control it. (SNA, paras. 4.3, 4.6).
Liability refers to an obligation of one unit (the debtor), under specific circumstances, to provide a
payment or series of payments to another unit (the creditor). (SNA, para. 3.33).
Local tourism connected areas are areas that have connections to tourism and are relevant for
the measurement of the sustainability of tourism but which do not have high concentrations of
tourism activity (SF-MST, 2.70).
Local tourism destinations are those spatial areas satisfying the following demand or supply
criteria:
• Demand criteria: areas where a significant share of consumers are visitors and which
attract a significant share of visitors to the wider region or country;
• Supply criteria: areas where the tourism industries represents a significant share of the
economy of that spatial area and which have a significant share of the tourism industries of
the wider region or country. (SF-MST, 2.69)
Municipal refers to the spatial area encompassed by the level of administrative units corresponding
to local populations (SF-MST, 2.66)
National tourism comprises domestic tourism and outbound tourism, that is to say, the activities
of resident visitors within and outside the country of reference, either as part of domestic or
outbound tourism trips (IRTS 2008, para. 2.40(b)).
Natural capital refers to all types of environmental assets (EEA, Definitions and descriptions).
Natural inputs are all physical inputs that are moved from their location in the environment as a
part of economic production processes or are directly used in production. (SEEA-CF, para. 3.45).
Natural resources are a subset of environmental assets. Natural resources include all natural
biological resources (including timber and aquatic resources), mineral and energy resources, soil
resources and water resources. All cultivated biological resources and land are excluded from
scope. (SEEA-CF, para. 5.18).

Glossary
NPISHs (non-profit institutions serving households) are non-profit institutions that produce goods
and services but do not sell them at economically significant prices and are not controlled by
government. They are non-governmental social institutions. (SNA, para. 4.22).
Outbound tourism comprises the activities of a resident visitor outside the country of reference,
either as part of an outbound tourism trip or as part of a domestic tourism trip (IRTS 2008 para.
2.39(c)).
Outbound tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a resident visitor outside the
economy of reference (IRTS 2008, para. 4.15 (c)).
Outbound visitor refers to a resident traveller on a tourism trip outside the country of reference
(IRTS 2008, paras. 2.5, 2.6, 2.10).
Output is defined as the goods and services produced by an establishment, excluding the value of
any goods and services used in an activity for which the establishment does not assume the risk
of using the products in production, and excluding the value of goods and services consumed by
the same establishment except for goods and services used for capital formation (fixed capital or
changes in inventories) or own final consumption. (SNA, para. 6.89).
Population (as a national accounting concept) refers to all those persons who are usually resident
in a country. Persons are resident in the country where they have the strongest links thereby
establishing a centre of predominant economic interest. (SNA, para. 19.10).
Population (as a statistical concept) is the total membership or population or "universe" of a

defined class of people, objects or events. (CODED - Eurostat’s concepts and definitions
database).
Produced assets include fixed assets, inventories and valuables. Both fixed assets and
inventories are assets that are held only by producers for purposes of production. Valuables may
be held by any institutional unit and are primarily held as stores of value. (SNA, para. 10.10).
Production is an activity, carried out under the responsibility, control and management of an
institutional unit, that uses inputs of labour, capital, and goods and services to produce outputs of
goods and services. (SNA, para. 6.2).
Products are goods and services (including knowledge-capturing products) that result from a
process of production. (SNA, para. 6.14).
Protected areas are a clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed,
through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long term conservation of nature with
associated ecosystem services and cultural values. (IUCN, tbc).
Provisioning services are those ecosystem services representing the contributions to benefits
that are extracted or harvested from ecosystems. (SEEA EA, 6.51).

Glossary
Recreation-related services are the ecosystem contributions, in particular through the biophysical
characteristics and qualities of ecosystems, that enable people to use and enjoy the environment
through direct, in-situ physical and experiential interactions with the environment. This includes
services to both locals and non-locals (.i.e. visitors, including tourists) (SEEA EA, Table 6.3).
Regional refers to the spatial area encompassed by any level of administrative unit between the
national and the municipal level. Countries may use terms such as state, region, province, county,
etc to refer to these spatial areas. The term regional does not refer to aggregations of countries.
(SF-MST, 2.66).
Regulating services result from the capacity of ecosystems to regulate climate, hydrologic and
biochemical cycles, Earth surface processes and a variety of biological processes. These services
often have an important spatial aspect. For instance, the flood control service of an upper
watershed forest is relevant only in the flood zone downstream of the forest. (EEA, 3.4(b)).
Residence of each institutional unit is the economic territory with which it has the strongest
connection, in other words, its centre of predominant economic interest. (SNA, para. 4.10). That is,
the economic territory in which the institutional unit engages, or intends to engage, in economic
activities or transactions on a significant scale either indefinitely or over a long period of time,
usually interpreted as one year. (SNA, para. 1.48).
Residents of a country are individuals whose centre of predominant economic interest is located
in its economic territory. For a country, the non-residents are individuals whose centre of
predominant economic interest is located outside its economic territory. (IRTS 2008, Glossary of
terms).
Residuals are flows of solid, liquid and gaseous materials, and energy, that are discarded,
discharged or emitted by establishments and households through processes of production,
consumption or accumulation. (SEEA-CF, para. 3.73).
Resource management refers to economic activities whose primary purpose is preserving and
maintaining the stock of natural resources and hence safeguarding against depletion. These
activities include, but are not limited to, reducing the withdrawals of natural resources (including
through the recovery, reuse, recycling and substitution of natural resources); restoring natural
resource stocks (increases or recharges of natural resource stocks); the general management of
natural resources (including monitoring, control, surveillance and data collection); and the
production of goods and services used to manage or conserve natural resources. (SEEA-CF, para.
4.13).
Resource rents refer to the measurement of economic returns on environmental assets. The
surplus value accruing to the extractor or user of an environmental asset, calculated after all costs
and normal returns have been taken into account, is referred to as resource rent and can be taken
to be the return attributable to the asset itself. (SEEA-CF, paras 5.113-5.114).
Same-day visitors (see Visitor).

Glossary
Services are the result of a production activity that changes the conditions of the consuming units,
or facilitates the exchange of products or financial assets. (SNA, para. 6.17).
Social capital is a multi-domensional concept. It refers to networks together with shared norms,
values and understandings that facilitate cooperation within or among groups (OECD, 2001: “The
Well-Being of Nations: The Role of Human and Social Capital”). The relationships on which the
concept is centred can be seen as a resource in which a country invests to provide a stream of
benefits to society. There is no international standard on the measurement of social capital.
Solid waste covers discarded materials that are no longer required by the owner or user. Solid
waste includes materials that are in a solid or liquid state but excludes wastewater and small
particulate matter released into the atmosphere. (SEEA-CF, para. 3.84).
Stocks are a position in, or holdings of, assets and liabilities at a point in time. (SNA, para. 3.4).
Subsidies are current unrequited payments that government units, including non-resident
government units, make to enterprises on the basis of the levels of their production activities or the
quantities or values of the goods or services that they produce, sell or import. (SNA, para. 7.98).
Supply table refers to a rectangular matrix with the rows corresponding to the same groups of
products as the matching use table, valued at purchasers’ prices, and with columns corresponding
to the supply from domestic production plus columns for imports and the valuation adjustments
necessary to have total supply of each [group of] product[s] valued at purchasers’ prices. (SNA,
para. 14.13).
Supra-national refers to the spatial area encompassed by groupings of countries, usually in

contiguous areas, including for example, Africa, the Middle East, the South Pacific. (SF-MST, 2.66).
Surface water comprises all water that flows over or is stored on the ground surface regardless of
its salinity levels. Surface water includes water in artificial reservoirs, lakes, rivers and streams,
snow and ice and glaciers. (SEEA-CF, para. 5.477).
Sustainable tourism is tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social
and environmental impacts whilst addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment
and host communities (UNWTO)
Taxes are compulsory, unrequited payments, in cash or in kind, made by institutional units to
government units. (SNA, para. 8.52).
Timber resources are defined, within the relevant areas, by the volume of trees, living or dead,
and include all trees regardless of diameter, tops of stems, large branches and dead trees lying on
the ground that can still be used for timber or fuel. (SEEA-CF, para. 5.350).
Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon related to the movement of people
(TSA:RMF 2008, para 1.2) to places outside their usual environment for not more than a year, for
a main purpose (personal, business and professional), other than to be employed by a resident
entity in the place they visit (TSA:RMF 2008, para 2.2). Tourism refers to the activity of visitors
(IRTS 2008 para. 2.9), who may be either tourists or excursionists (same-day visitors).

Glossary
Tourism activity is an umbrella term which in the first instance refers to the activity of visitors.
(IRTS 2008, para. 2.9). More precisely, it refers to the actions and behaviours of visitors in
preparation for and during a trip in their capacity as consumers. (IRTS 2008, para. 1.2). However,
the same term may be used also to include consideration of that part of productive activity which is
in response to visitors' demand by serving them directly.
Tourism areas encompass (i) tourism destinations defined by administrative boundaries; (ii) local
tourism destinations including spatial areas within municipalities and combinations of spatial areas
across municipalities; and (iii) local tourism connected areas. (SF-MST, 2.71).
Tourism carrying capacity the maximum number of people that may visit a tourist destination at
the same time, without causing destruction of the physical, economic, socio-cultural environment
and an unacceptable decrease in the quality of visitors' satisfaction. (UNWTO, 2004).
Tourism characteristic activity refers to a productive activity that provides goods and services
identified as tourism characteristic products as their typical output. A list of tourism characteristic
activities, grouped according to the main categories and products concerned, is provided in IRTS
2008, Annex 3 and Figure 5.1. (IRTS 2008, para. 5.11; IRTS 2008 Compilation Guide, para. 5.21).
Tourism characteristic products are those goods and services that satisfy one or both of the
following criteria:
(a) Tourism expenditure on the product should represent a significant share of total tourism
expenditure (share-of-expenditure/demand condition);
(b) Tourism expenditure on the product should represent a significant share of the supply of
the product in the economy (share-of-supply condition). This criterion implies that the
supply of a tourism characteristic product would cease to exist in meaningful quantity in
the absence of visitors (IRTS 2008, para. 5.10).
Tourism collective consumption refers to the total value of the consumption of tourism related
collective non-market services (TSA:RMF 2.64).
Tourism connected catchments are those where the catchment is a part of, or overlaps with, a
subnational tourism destination (regions, municipalities, local tourism destinations or local tourism
connected areas) (SF-MST, 4.38).
Tourism consumption is a concept used in the Tourism Satellite Account framework which goes
beyond that of tourism expenditure. Besides tourism expenditure, it also includes social transfers
in kind that benefit visitors, the imputation of accommodation services provided by vacation homes
to their owners, and other imputed consumption. (IRTS 2008, para. 4.3; TSA:RMF, para. 2.25).
Tourism destination can refer to any administratively defined spatial areas i.e. to a supra-national
area (e.g. the Pacific), a country, a region or a municipality. In addition, a tourism destination may
refer to a more specific local area (e.g. an area within a city) or to a combination of different spatial
areas (i.e. combinations of local areas, municipalities or regions) (SF-MST, 2.67).
Tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP) represents the part of GDP attributable directly
to internal tourism consumption. Said part is measured in tourism satellite accounts and is
calculated starting from the Tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) aggregate. TDGDP derives
from internal tourism consumption in the same way as TDGVA does. (TSA:RMF, para. 4.96).

Glossary
Tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) represents the part of gross value added generated
by tourism industries and other industries of the economy that directly serve visitors in response to
internal tourism consumption. This aggregate is part of tourism satellite accounts. The use of the
term direct refers to the fact that only that part is measured (of value added by tourism industries
and other industries) that is due to the consumption of visitors, without taking into account indirect
and induced effects that such a consumption might generate. (TSA: RMF 2008, para. 4.88).
Tourism employment refers to the number of jobs directly attributable to tourism demand in both
tourism and non-tourism industries (IRTS, para. 7.4 and IRTS Compilation Guide para. 7.23).
Tourism establishment is an establishment whose main activity is a tourism characteristic activity.

(SF-MST, 2.32).
Tourism expenditure is the amount paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and services,
as well as valuables, for own use or to give away, for and during tourism trips. It includes
expenditures by visitors themselves, as well as expenses that are paid for or reimbursed by others
(IRTS 2008, para. 4.2).
Tourism greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (internal) refer to the total GHG emissions
associated with domestic and inbound trips that are (i) generated by resident tourism and non-
tourism establishments (adjusted for their tourism ratio); (ii) generated by visitors directly through
their tourism activity; and (iii) the visitors’ share of emissions generated by resident households
when visitors stay with them. (SF-MST, 4.17).
Tourism gross fixed capital formation refers to expenditure on tourism specific fixed assets by
tourism and non-tourism industries (TSA:RMF 2.44).
Tourism industries are groupings of establishments (also referred to as tourism characteristic

activities) each with the same main activity which serves visitors directly and is one of the tourism
characteristic activities. The output of tourism industries might not consist exclusively of tourism
characteristic products (IRTS 2008 paras. 6.15, 6,20 and figure 5.1).
Tourism satellite account is the set of economic accounts and tables developed according to
TSA:RMF 2008.
Tourism share Tourism share is the share of the corresponding fraction of internal tourism
consumption in each component of supply (TSA:RMF 2008 para. 4.51). For each industry, the
tourism share of output (in value), is the sum of the tourism share corresponding to each product
component of its output (TSA:RMF 2008 para. 4.55).
Tourism solid waste refers to solid waste generated as a result of tourism activity. (SF-MST 4.28-
30).
Tourism ratio is the ratio between the total value of tourism share and total value of the
corresponding variable in the Tourism Satellite Account expressed in percentage form (TSA:RMF
2008, 4.56).
Tourism related ecosystem assets are those ecosystem assets that are connected to or
impacted by tourism activity (SF-MST, 4.84).

Glossary
Tourism related government final consumption is the sum of government final consumption
expenditure in COFOG classes 04.5, 04.7.2, 04.7.3 and 08.2 (SF-MST, 3.90).
Tourism related infrastructure is infrastructure that is put in place principally by public authorities
to facilitate tourism (TSA:RMF 2008, 2.45 and 2.50).
Tourism specific fixed assets are fixed assets that are used exclusively or almost exclusively in
the prodiuction of tourism characteristic products (TSA:RMF 2008, 2.47).
Tourism supply is the direct provision to visitors of the goods and services that make up tourism
expenditure (IRTS 2008, 6.2).
Tourism trips are trips taken by visitors (IRTS 2008, para. 2.29).
Tourism visit refers to a stay in a place visited during a tourism trip. The stay does not need to be
overnight to qualify as a tourism visit. Nevertheless, the notion of stay supposes that there is a stop.
(IRTS 2008, para. 2.33).
Tourism water use refers to water used as an input to tourism activity. (SF-MST 4.41-42).
Tourist (see Visitor).
Transaction refers to an economic flow that is an interaction between institutional units by mutual
agreement or an action within an institutional unit that it is analytically useful to treat like a
transaction, often because the unit is operating in two different capacities. (SNA, para. 3.51).
Trip refers to the travel by a person from the time of departure from his or her usual residence until
he/she returns: it thus refers to a round trip. A trip is made up of visits to different places. (IRTS
2008, para. 2.7).
Use table refers to a set of product balances covering all products available in an economy, valued
at purchasers’ prices, arranged in the form of a rectangular matrix with the products appearing in
the rows and with the columns indicating the disposition of the products to various types of uses.
(SNA, para. 14.13).
Usual environment is the geographical area (though not necessarily a contiguous one) within
which an individual conducts his/her regular life routines (IRTS 2008, para. 2.21).
Valuables are produced goods of considerable value that are not used primarily for purposes of
production or consumption but are held as stores of value over time. They consist of precious
metals and stones, jewellery, works of art, etc. (SNA, para. 10.13).
Value added (gross) is the value of output less the value of intermediate consumption. Net value
added is the value of output less the values of both intermediate consumption and consumption of
fixed capital. (SNA, para. 6.8).

Glossary
Visitor refers to a traveller taking a trip to a main destination outside his/her usual environment, for
less than a year, for any main purpose (business, leisure or other personal purpose) other than to
be employed by a resident entity in the country or place visited (IRTS 2008 Glossary). These trips
taken by visitors qualify as tourism trips. Tourism refers to the activity of visitors. (IRTS 2008, para.
2.9). A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his
or her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise (IRTS
2008, para. 2.13).
Visitor satisfaction refers to visitors’ reflections on the tourism experience, the objective and
perceived interaction with host communities and positive and negative experiences, (SF-MST,
5.14).
Wastewater is discarded water that is no longer required by the owner or user. Water discharged
into drains or sewers, water received by water treatment plants and water discharged directly to
the environment are all considered wastewater. Wastewater includes return flows of water which
are flows of water direct to the environment, with or without treatment. All water is included
regardless of the quality of the water, including returns from hydroelectric power generators.
(SEEA-CF, para. 3.86).
Water resources consist of fresh and brackish water in inland water bodies, including groundwater
and soil water. (SEEA-CF, para. 5.474).

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Statistical Commission Background document

Fifty-fifth session Available in English only

Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST):

Prepared by the World Tourism Organization

Draft prepared for UN Statistical Commission

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS

List of abbreviations and acronyms....................................................................................................i

BPM Balance of Payments Manual

1.1. What is the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of

Figure 1.1: Using statistical frameworks to link data and policy

World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) 1

Figure 1.2: The coverage and role of SF-MST

2 World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

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1.2. What are the benefits of using SF-MST?

1.16. Beyond support for comparison, the benefits of SF-MST include:

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benefitting from other statistical developments in the measurement of sustainability, SF-

1.3. Defining sustainable tourism

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1.4. Measuring the sustainability of tourism

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Box 1.1. Selected sustainable tourism indicator initiatives

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1.43. As reflected in the extensive discussion on the measurement of sustainability from a

1.5. Building SF-MST using existing statistical frameworks

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1.51. Second, the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) Central Framework

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1.6. Structure of SF-MST document

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2.1. Conceptual focus of SF-MST

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2.6. The assessment of sustainability is one of many different types of system-related

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• Organizing data on the economic dependence of countries and locations on tourism

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2.2. Measuring sustainability in SF-MST

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2.3. Measurement coverage of SF-MST

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2.4. Core statistical concepts and treatments

2.4.1. Concepts and definitions concerning visitors

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2.4.2. Concepts and definitions concerning the economic contribution of

2.32. Key definitions used in the TSA:RMF 2008 are:

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• Tourism consumption expands the measurement boundary of tourism expenditure

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aspects of SF-MST in a comprehensive fashion across all measurement themes, and

2.4.3. Relevant recording treatments

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2.4.4. Cross-cutting measurement issues

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