Tourism Satellite Account. 2014
Idescat publishes the first Tourism Satellite Account of Catalonia, prepared with the participation of the Ministry of Business and Knowledge and through the Directorate-General of Tourism, and the Employment and Productive Model Observatory.
In 2014, domestic tourism consumption in Catalonia amounted 24,691.8 billion euros, which was equivalent to 11.9% of GDP.
The most important element of the internal tourism consumption was inbound tourism expenditure, which accounted for 68% of the total. By geographical origin, 81.3% of the inbound tourism expenditure came from abroad and 18.7% from the rest of Spain. Internal tourism expenditure, which includes tourism expenditure in our economy made by residents in Catalonia, regardless of whether the travel is made within the territory or outside it, accounted for 24.3% of internal tourism consumption. The other components of tourism consumption accounted for 7.7%.
The direct tourism GVA (DTGVA), which is the part of the gross value added generated by the tourism industries and other industries of the economy that directly cater for visitors in response to domestic tourism consumption, accounted for 6.0% of the total GVA of the economy, which was translated into a direct tourism GDP (DTGDP) of 5.9%. The DTGVA and the DTGDP do not measure, in accordance with international recommendations, the total direct effects of tourism, as they exclude both the contribution of the gross formation of fixed tourist capital and the collective tourist consumption of public administration agencies, as well as the indirect and induced effects on the economy.
Regarding employment, the tourism characteristic activities amounted to 419.5 thousand jobs in 2014, 12.3% of the total number of jobs in the economy.
The Tourism Satellite Account is an information system that consists of a series of tables and accounts with macroeconomic and non-monetary information, whose principal aim is to present an overview of the origin and destination of goods and services for the different kinds of tourism and quantify their importance in the economy of Catalonia.
The Tourism Satellite Account has been conducted on the basis of a synthesis of the various statistical and official sources, in accordance with the Statistical Plan for Catalonia currently in force. The estimate of the various tables and their component parts is based on international methodological standards. All of this makes it possible to obtain macro-economic information on the tourism sector which, moreover, is comparable with that of other countries and regions.
The 2014 Tourism Satellite Account, which will be updated periodically, represents a challenge in terms of methodology, validation and reconciliation of sources, and is a step forward in obtaining exhaustive knowledge of the economic magnitudes of the tourism sector in Catalonia.