The Employment Module for the Tourism Satellite Account of the OECD

Abstract

This paper describes the importance of the employment or human resource issue for the ‘tourism industry’. From a statistical point of view the data presented in this area are fragmented, immature and often lacking in quality. Data on tourism-related employment therefore lack credibility. Levels of tourism-related employment are derived largely from a demand-side approach. Such an approach, however, cannot assess the composition or structure of the employment generated by tourism. Thus a supply-side approach is always needed, but it is not easy from the supply-side to demarcate the ‘tourism industry’ properly, nor to take into account factors such as indirect employment. This paper proposes the use of both approaches simultaneously by connecting basic employment data from the supply-side to the data of the tourism satellite account (TSA) through an employment module as the integration framework. This provides not only a connection between supply and demand, but also an essential central framework for definitions and classifications. Furthermore, this approach offers a means of connecting employment data with other aspects of the economic process as well as other extensions of the TSA, such as types and numbers of visitors and characteristics of industries. This proposal follows the ideas of a Social Accounting Matrix, described in the System of National Accounts, 1993. After outlining the methodology, the author presents his main conclusions and recommendations.