About the tourism account

There are two major tourism products providing national accounts based tourism data. The tourism satellite account is an ad hoc publication. The national tourism indicators (NTI) are published on a quarterly basis.

Tourism satellite accounts (TSA)

The tourism satellite account is calculated based on information from the input-output tables, data from the International Travel Survey, the Canadian Travel Survey and employment data from the productivity tables. The TSA provides data on domestic and international tourism spending in Canada. Spending by Canadians abroad is included so that a tourism trade balance can be calculated. Tourism supply, the gross output of tourism commodities, as well as tourism GDP and employment are incorporated into the account. Estimates are calculated in current dollar on an annual basis.

National tourism indicators (NTI)

The national tourism indicators are published on a quarterly basis. The indicators are based on income and expenditure accounts data, particularly from tourism related personal expenditure series and from monthly industry data. Data from the International Travel Survey and the Canadian Travel Survey are also used in the NTI. The main aggregates include domestic and international expenditures on tourism commodities. Tourism supply by commodities, as well GDP and employment by industry are also included in the NTI. Estimates are published in both current dollars and constant dollars (adjusted for inflation). Raw and seasonally adjusted data is also published. Several tables of tourism related indicators are also contained in the publication.

Other tourism products

Government revenues attributable to tourism are published for the reference year 1998. These estimates were done at a national level. A human resource module (HRM) for tourism employment is currently under construction. The HRM will consist of detailed employment data related to occupations by industry in tourism. Information on wage levels, hours worked, full time and part time jobs, age, gender and immigration status will be integrated into this tourism product.

Historical data

Estimates for the national tourism indicators are available on a quarterly basis for all years from 1986 onward. These time series are measured on a consistent basis throughout this time period. Tourism satellite account (TSA) data is not published on a regular basis. The TSA is available for the years 1988, 1992, 1996, 1998 and 2000. The years 1988 and 1992 are not consistent with the later publications. Users can still access those estimates but have to use them with caution as they were not calculated using the same methods and concepts as the most recent TSAs. Data for 1996 and 1998 also have a provincial and territorial dimension.

Frequency

The quarterly national tourism indicators are released within 90 days of the reference period. Preliminary annual estimates are also available 90 days after the end of the year and revised approximately six months after the reference period.

The tourism satellite accounts are released on an ad hoc basis. Since they are base on input-output data, they are generally release five to six years after the reference period.

Revision policy

Estimates for each quarter of the NTI are revised when those for subsequent quarters of the same year are published. At the time of the first quarter of each year, revisions are made back five to six years, depending on the timing of the last TSA. They are not normally revised again except when historical revisions are carried out. Statistical revisions are carried out in order to incorporate the most recent information from the income and expenditure accounts, quarterly and annual surveys, as well as from benchmarking to the most recent tourism satellite account.