Appendix 7: Tourism Indicators

Browse this section:

Summary

This table sets out the 50 performance indicators suggested by the Tourism Sustainability Group for the European Commission, including environmental and destination performance indicators.

Table

No	Core	Indicator	Purpose – what the indicator shows	Collected by	Main aim	Main challenge
1	Yes	Total visitor arrivals or bednights per month	Tourism volume and seasonality	Records from accommodation establishments	1a, 2a	1
2	Yes	Total day visitor estimate per annum or per month	Tourism volume and seasonality	Counts and visitor survey at arrival points/ key sites	1a, 2a	1
3	Yes	Number of bedspaces (by accommodation type)	Tourism capacity and basis for calculating volume.	Existing records or regular audit	1a, 2a	1
4	Yes	Annual average % bedspace and bedroom occupancy of accommodation	Enterprise performance, and basis for calculating volume.	Business records or survey	1a, 2a	1, 3
5		% of enterprises reporting growth in business over previous year	Relatively robust measure of growth and competitiveness	Business survey	1a	1, 3
6	Yes	Average spending per head	Economic return from tourism	Visitor survey	1a, 2a	4
7		Local spending (or GDP) generated by tourism	Tourism value and contribution to local economy	Visitor survey showing spend plus business survey on occupancy (or local TSA process)	1a, 2a	1, 4
8	Yes	% of bedspaces available all year	Seasonality	Existing records, regular audit or business survey	1a, 1b	1, 3
9	Yes	Ratio of average occupancy (or total bednights) between busiest and least busy 3 months	Seasonality	Business records or survey	1a, 1b, 2a	1, 3
10	Yes	Number of bedspaces per 1000 local population	Potential imbalance and pressure on community and resources	From indicator 3 and population records	2a	4
11	Yes	Ratio of number of tourists to local population	Potential imbalance and pressure on community and resources	From indicators 1 and 2 and population records	2	4
12	Yes	Average length of stay	Value to the community as against impact of transport	Visitor and business surveys	1a, 2a, 3a	2, 4
13		% tourism enterprises accessible by public transport	Potential to accommodate non-car access and need for improvement	Facility audit and business survey	3a	2
14	Yes	% of visitors arriving by means other than car or plane	Trend in transport modal change – effect on carbon emissions	Visitor survey	3a	2
15		% visitor use of public transport when in the destination	Trend in transport modal change – effect on carbon emissions	Visitor survey	3a	2
16		Total employment in sector as percent of total employment	Relative importance of tourism jobs and balance in the economy	Industry sector records/codes	1b, 2a	3, 4
17	Yes	% of tourism jobs that are seasonal only	Job quality and seasonality	Business survey	1a, 1b	1, 3
18	Yes	Average hourly earnings in tourism as ratio of all industry hourly earnings	Job quality	Business survey and comparative sector figures	1b	3
19		% employees with vocational qualifications in tourism	Job quality and career conditions.	Business survey	1b	3
20	Yes	% residents indicating that they are satisfied with local impact of tourism	Community acceptance and benefit from tourism	Residents survey	2a	4
21		% residents identifying that they are directly benefiting from local tourism and % believing that it adds to overall quality of life	Community benefit from tourism	Residents survey	2a	4
22	Yes	% of enterprises with recognised environmental certification	A robust indication that action is actually being taken	Records from certification schemes and/or business survey	3a	5
23		% of enterprises reporting that they are taking environmental management measures	Wider (but less robust) indication of environmental management irrespective of reaction to certification	Business survey	3a	5
24		Amount and proportion of waste sent to landfill (Total or sum from tourism)	Resource efficiency and land pollution	Municipal measurement or sum of data submitted by tourism enterprises	3a	5
25		% of waste recycled by tourism enterprises	Commitment to resource efficiency	Business survey	3a	5
26		Sewage discharge (Total or sum from tourism)	Pollution potential	Municipal measurement or sum of data submitted by tourism enterprises	3a	5
27		% tourism enterprises not connected to efficient sewage treatment	Pollution potential	Municipal records and business survey	3a	5
28	Yes	Water consumption (Total or sum from tourism) – total and at busiest period	Resource efficiency and community impact	Municipal measurement or sum of data submitted by tourism enterprises	2a, 3a	5
29		% water recycled by tourism enterprises	Commitment to resource efficiency	Business survey	2a, 3a	5
30	Yes	Water quality (sea and freshwater areas)	Nature conservation and attractiveness of environment for local people and tourists	Regular water sampling	1a, 3a, 3b, 2b	6, 7, 1
31		Total energy consumption (or CO₂ emissions) from tourist facilities	Resource efficiency and pollution	Sum of data submitted by tourism enterprises	3a	5
32		Air quality	Attractiveness of environment for local people and tourists	Regular air purity sampling	3a, 3b, 2b	6, 7
33	Yes	Quantity of strewn litter at selected sites	Attractiveness of environment for local people and tourists	Observation. Visitor and residents surveys)	3b, 1a, 2a, 2b	6, 7,
34		Number of people at selected sites on busiest days	Pressure on community and environment	Visitor counts and survey	2a, 2b	4, 6
35	Yes	Environmental state of selected sites	Damage to landscape and biodiversity	Observation, visitor and residents survey	3b	6
36		Number and size of protected sites and land area	Natural and cultural heritage quality and ability to withstand pressure	Recorded designations	3b	6
37	Yes	Percentage of selected types of precious landscape area (eg length of coastline) that is built upon	Reduction in attractiveness	Land use records and observation	1a, 2a, 2b, 3b	4, 6, 7
38		Percentage of area subject to land use planning and development control	Ability to withstand pressure	Land use plans	2a, 3b	4, 6
39		Contribution of tourism enterprises and visitors to conservation	Support from tourism for conservation	Visitor survey, business survey. Monitoring of specific schemes	3b	6
40	Yes	% tourism enterprises participating in quality certification scheme	Business engagement, quality and competitiveness	Records from schemes. Business survey	1a, 2b	7
41	Yes	% visitors indicating that they are satisfied with overall experience	Destination quality and visitor satisfaction	Visitor survey	1a, 2b	7
42		% visitors who are on a repeat visit and % who say they will return	Destination quality and visitor satisfaction	Visitor survey	1a, 2b	7
43	Yes	% tourism enterprises meeting specified accessibility standards	Ability to provide a visitor experience without discrimination	Inspection scheme records. Business survey	2b	7
44		% of visitors with a physical or sensory impairment	Relative social inclusion of the destination	Visitor survey	2b	7
45		% of visitors from lower socio-economic groups	Relative social inclusion of the destination	Visitor survey	2b	7
46		% of visitors who are benefit from a supported holiday scheme	Importance of social tourism to the destination	Visitor or business survey	2b	7
47		Level of satisfaction of visitors with a physical or sensory impairment	Relative social inclusion of the destination	Visitor survey	2b	7
48	Yes	Presence of a destination management organisation that involves different stakeholders	Inclusive approach to destination management	Presence/absence against definition
49	Yes	% of businesses that belong to local tourism association	Degree of engagement by the private sector in destination management	Membership records
50	Yes	Existence of an agreed and monitored sustainable tourism strategy and action plan	Commitment to sustainable destination management	Presence/absence against definition

Oct 2008

Subject categories

Below are the categories for this article. Click on these to find Articles / DM Toolkit sections on similar subjects

Destination management Statistics