Destination Economic Benefits
The tourism activity in a destination is often a driver of development, triggering desired investments and employment opportunities. In order to contribute to the desired development objectives of destinations while fostering sustainability, it is important to regularly monitor and evaluate the economic benefits, among them the return on its investment, the direct and indirect employment effects, on taxes earned from tourism businesses, and any increase in asset value (land and infrastructure prices). In addition, tourism causes often indirect economic benefits through the development of support services and increased opportunities in other industries ranging from food and agriculture to crafts and construction.
Indicators of the economic effects of tourism activity in a destination range from measuring employment, business investments, tourism revenues, community expenditures to aspects of leakages. Many of these aspects are considered in the Tourism Satellite Account, the statistical framework that is used as a standardised tool to measure the direct economic contributions of tourism consumption to a national economy.
PUBLICATIONS
Economic Benefits, Excerpt from Indicators of Sustainable Development of Tourism Destinations, A Guidebook, World Tourism Organization (2004), pp.128–134. |
Types of Indicators, What Tourism Managers Need to Know, World Tourism Organization (1997), p. 72. |
Baseline issues and indicators of sustainable tourism, Making Tourism more Sustainable, A Guide for Policy Makers, World Tourism Organization (2005), p. 178. |
The Economic Impact of Tourism: Overview and Examples of Macroeconomic Analysis, World Tourism Organization (2013) |
Enhancing the economic benefits of tourism for local communities and poverty alleviation, World Tourism Organization (2002). |
The Indicators, Indicators for Measuring Competitiveness in Tourism: A Guidance Document, OECD Tourism Papers, No. 2013/02, p.17. |
OTHER RESOURCES
Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST), UNWTO |
System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA), United Nations |