Tourism satellite accounts

All the concepts regarding tourism are defined in the International recommendations for tourism statistics (UN and UNWTO, 2010) and the 2008 Tourism Satellite Accounts: Recommended Methodological Framework" (OECD, Eurostat, UNWTO and UN, 2008). Some of the key definitions are as follows:

Visitors are people travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment, for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business or other purposes. Overnight visitors are called tourists. Same-day visitors will usually be treated as short-time tourists. In relation to TSA, the term tourist is therefore used instead of the term visitor. Travellers other than tourists may be people travelling to or from work, to visit friends or relatives who live in the same area, to do shopping etc. Some categories of travellers like refugees, migrants and seasonal workers are excluded from the tourist concept.

Tourism consumption is defined as the total consumption expenditures made by a visitor, or on behalf of a visitor, before and during his/her trip and stay at a destination. Total tourism consumption in the Norwegian TSA includes all non-residents’ expenditures in Norway and residents’ expenditures on journeys in Norway. To some extent, residents travelling abroad may increase the tourism expenditures in Norway and therefore contribute to increased income for the Norwegian economy. This is the case when for instance residents on their way to a foreign country travel by air with an aircraft operated by a Norwegian company or buy a package tour to a foreign country through a resident tour operator.

Products that are typical or principal products of the activities defined as tourist-related are classified as products characteristic for tourism industries tourism products in short).

Characteristic tourism industries are identified on the basis of their dependence on and/or importance for tourism. The industries defined as tourism industries in the Norwegian tourism satellite account and their link to the Standard Industrial Classification (SN2007) is given below.

Industries classified as tourism industries in the TSA

Tourism products are defined as goods and services that are characteristic for the tourism industries and that are in particular relevant in a tourism context, like hotel services and passenger transport services. The list of characteristic tourism products in the Norwegian National Accounts follows below.

See Concepts and definitions for definitions and explanations of concepts and variables used in the national accounts.

The most important classifications regarding the TSA are pointed out in the TSA manual (OECD, Eurostat, UNWTO and UN, 2008). It also includes lists of characteristic tourism products and characteristic tourism industries.

The standards for the grouping of industries, products, consumption and gross fixed capital formation are the same as for the national accounts. See " About the statistics " for the annual national accounts.