Indicators of the Competitive Position of the Tourism Sector. 2Q 2015
The price competitiveness of the Catalan tourism sector, according to trend data, has improved by 3 points with respect to other countries worldwide in the second quarter of 2015. This improvement is due to the effect of the prices component and the exchange rate component. With respect to the EU-28, an improvement of 1.8 points has been seen due to the positive development of both the prices component and the exchange rate component.
Furthermore, the market share indicator of international tourism in Catalonia, according to trend data, has increased by 2.6 points with respect to other countries worldwide in the second quarter of 2015. In contrast, it has decreased by 2.2 points in comparison with the EU-28 countries.
The Relative Prices Indicator of International Tourism in Catalonia is defined as the product of two indexes, one that is specifically associated to tourism prices (prices component) and another that is associated to the euro rate of exchange (rate of exchange component). The price component index is the quotient between tourist prices in Catalonia and the weighted geometric average of the tourist prices of the countries included in each of the areas and markets under consideration. The exchange rate component index is the weighted geometric average of the cash exchange rates of the euro and the currencies of each of the countries included in the markets under consideration. An increase in the relative price indicator denotes a loss of competitiveness of tourism in Catalonia in relation to that of competing countries and markets.
The Market Share Indicator of International Tourism in Catalonia is defined as the number of arrivals of foreign tourists (receptive tourism) that visit the Catalan territory divided by the number of arrivals of foreign tourists visiting the indexed competitor territory with respect to 2010. Inversely to what occurs with the Relative Prices Indicator, an increase in the tourism market share should be interpreted as an improvement in competitiveness.
These indicators are offered in gross and trend terms. In the latter case, they are calculated as a moving average of the last four quarters. The data is produced on a quarterly basis by Idescat and Ministry of Enterprise and Labour, using data from the OMT, and the FMI and the Eurostat and the INE.