The tourist statistics are basically concerned with the estimates of arrivals and departures, more particularly, the former. In addition to statistics of arrivals and departures, the statistic of tourism spending during their stay at a destination has important implication for the country’s economy and on its balance of payments accounts.
Yet another type of tourist statistics is concerned with the information on the tourist himself. This information is very crucial as it deals with various aspects of tourist behaviour and his characteristics. This information is necessary for the purposes of tourism marketing and development. The main categories of the tourist statistics therefore, are
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(a) Volume
(b) Expenditure
(c) Characteristic
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Tourist Statistics are used for
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1. Visitors who spend at least one night in the country visited.
2. Foreign air or ship Crews docked or in lay over and who use the accommodation establishments of the country.
3. Visitors who do not spend at least one night in the country visited although, they may visit the country during one day more and return to their ship or train to sleep.
4. Normally included in excursionists. Separate classification of these visitors is nevertheless recommended.
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5. Visitors who come and leave the same day.
6. Crews who are not residents of the country visited and who stay in the country for the day.
7. When they travel from their country of origin to the duty station and vice-versa (including household servants and dependants accompanying or joining them).
8. Who do not leave the transit area of the airport or the port. In certain countries, transit may involve a stay of one day or more. In this, they should be included in the visitors statistics.
9. Main purpose of visit as defined by the Rome Conference (1963).
Volume Statistics:
The basic Volume Statistic consists of the number of tourists to a particular destination over a given period of time. The unit of period could be a month, six months or a year. Most of the countries, however, consider a year as the unit of period. While counting, it is normally the number of arrivals or visits and not the number of tourist.
This is because; it is impracticable to allow for those who visit the same destination more than once in the same period. It is the events rather than individuals with which the basic statistics of volume are concerned.
A half a dozen visits by the same person are counted therefore, as separate six events or six tourist arrivals. Thus, 700 million tourist arrivals in the world in the year 2000 denote 700 million visits made by a somewhat smaller number of individual visitors.
‘Length of stay’ is another main volume statistics. Length of stay is measured in terms of days or nights spent by a tourist at the destination and are normally expressed as the average length of stay.
Statistics of numbers provide a general indication of the vo.ame of tourist traffic to a particular destination. The statistics of length of stay on the other hand provide a general indication of the nature of the traffic, in particular of the extent of transit and terminal visitors and of their demand for overnight accommodation.
Expenditure Statistics:
Expenditure statistics on the other hand are concerned with measurements of spending by the tourists at the destination and also on the journey. These statistics arc very important as these measure the value of tourism to a particular economy.
Expenditure statistics makes it possible to determine the monetary value of tourist movement. Tourist spending at a destination determines how much of the total volume of foreign exchange enters a particular country.
Tourists spending for international tourism commonly cover all tourist expenditure on transportation in the country and expenditure on shopping. It, however, excludes payments to international carriers in respect of journeys to and from the country covers what is incurred at the destination, but not expenditure on the journey to and from the destination.
Payments made in respect of journeys to and from the destination do not necessarily accurate to the destination and they are therefore, normally excluded from statistics of expenditure at the destination. However, for purpose of the total estimates of tourist expenditure, they may be include or separately evaluated.
For the balance of payments purposes, fare payment by foreign visitors to a country’s carries represent income to the country visited. Although, this item is usually included in the transport item of the (balance of payments in conformity with the international recommendations, it is a part of tourist spending and a part of the country’s earnings from tourism.
When the total visitor’s expenditure at the destination is divided by the number of arrivals or by the number of tourist days or nights, the result is the average expenditure per visit or per day or night.
While the global estimates of tourist expenditure give a general indication of the value of tourism to an economy, visit and daily average provide, respectively, general indications of the type and quality of the traffic for a destination.
Characteristics Statistics:
Characteristic statistics are yet another type of tourist statistics which are very essential for those concerned with marketing and development of tourism. Any information regarding the markets, the mode of transport used and the socio-economic characteristics of the visitors are all essential for tourism planning and development.
The total volume of arrivals and tourist nights have to be divided into various market segments according to the purpose of visit, mode of transport used, place of origin, tourist profile characteristics and tourist behaviour patterns in order to provide meaningful information for marketing and development purpose.
The main profile characteristics of tourists include such occupation and income. The behaviour characteristics include such elements as time of visit, mode of transport used, type of accommodation used, whether travelling alone or in groups and his activities at the destination.
For the purposes of promotion, the profile and behaviour characteristics also include such information profile and impressions about the visit. Information about the population which does not engage in tourism or the population which does engage in tourism but, does not visit a particular destination is also very important. All this information provides for evolving a realistic marketing strategy and for the physical planning of the amenities at the tourist destination.