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Abstract

We use big data from Wikipedia page views to examine its possible use in official tourism statistics. Big data offers many opportunities for National Statistics Institutes (NSIs). However, it is also challenging to ensure that it can be used effectively and can be relied on. Using the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) ‘Sandbox’ environment for big data, we find correlations between Wikipedia page views on cities and official tourism indicators in subsequent periods. We also find evidence using page views of beaches to support previous findings and concerns in the literature about selectivity and spurious correlation. While big data is useful, NSIs must be careful in how they formulate official statistics obtained with it.

Keywords

Big data spurious correlation selectivity tourism Wikipedia UNECE Sandbox

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Using big data from Wikipedia page views for official tourism statistics

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