News Release
Tourism Satellite Accounts, Third Quarter 2007
Real direct tourism spending increased at an annual rate of 1.6 percent in the third quarter of 2007, according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real direct tourism spending (all output consumed by visitors) decreased 0.6 percent (revised). By comparison, real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 4.9 percent (preliminary) in the third quarter of 2007 and 3.8 percent (final) in the second quarter of 2007.
The components of travel and tourism provide a mixed picture in the third quarter. Recreation and entertainment experienced strong growth (6.3 percent) as did overall transportation (4.4 percent); however, traveler accommodations declined (7.1 percent).
Direct tourism employment rose 0.1 percent in the second quarter of 2007 (the most recent period for which data are available), slower than the 3.1 percent growth in the first quarter of 2007. By comparison, overall U.S. employment grew 1.2 percent in the second quarter of 2007 after 1.5 percent growth in the first quarter.
Also:
- Prices for all tourism goods and services increased 4.7 percent in the third quarter of 2007 following a 10.5 percent increase (revised) in the second quarter. The large second quarter increase reflected increases in petroleum prices.
- Traveler accommodations fell 7.1 percent in the third quarter of 2007 following a 3.0 percent decline in the second quarter of 2007 (revised). Prices in traveler accommodations rose 12.5 percent in the third quarter, greater than the 9.7 percent growth in the second quarter, as demand for accommodations has outpaced supply.
- Passenger air transportation fell 1.0 percent in the third quarter of 2007 following growth of 0.5 percent in the second quarter (revised). Prices in passenger air transportation increased 13.5 percent in the third quarter after 8.1 percent growth in the second quarter.
In the third quarter of 2007, passenger air transportation fell 1.0 percent while traveler accommodations fell 7.1 percent. In the second quarter of 2007, passenger air transportation grew 0.5 percent while traveler accommodations fell 3.0 percent.
Prices for traveler accommodations increased 12.5 percent in the third quarter of 2007. Supply of new accommodations has been flat since 1998, while demand has steadily increased, giving establishments greater leverage to adjust prices. Similarly, due to reductions in the number of available flights, prices for passenger air transportation increased 13.5 percent in the third quarter of 2007. In the second quarter, passenger air transportation prices increased 8.1 percent.
Employment in the traveler accommodations industry fell 0.7 percent in the second quarter of 2007 (the latest period for which data are available), the first quarter of decline in this industry since the fourth quarter of 2005. Employment in air transportation services increased 3.2 percent in the second quarter of 2007, larger than the employment growth in any other tourism industry group.
Total Tourism-Related Output. In the third quarter of 2007, total current-dollar tourism-related output of $1.3 trillion consisted of $744.7 billion of direct tourism output—output of goods and services sold directly to visitors—and $566.6 billion of indirect tourism-related output—output of goods and services used to produce what visitors buy.
Total Tourism-Related Employment. In the second quarter of 2007 (the most recent period for which data are available), total tourism-related employment of 8.6 million consisted of 5.9 million direct tourism jobs—jobs where workers produce goods and services sold directly to visitors—and 2.7 million indirect tourism-related jobs—jobs where workers produce goods and services used to produce what visitors buy.
Definitions
Direct tourism output. Direct tourism output comprises all output consumed by visitors (e.g., traveler accommodations, passenger air transportation, souvenirs).
Indirect tourism-related output. Indirect tourism-related output comprises all output used as inputs in the process of producing direct tourism output (e.g., toiletries for hotel guests, the various ingredients used to make the meals served airline passengers, and the plastic used to produce souvenir key chains). Indirect tourism-related output is estimated using commodity-by-commodity output multipliers from the Current Industry Analysis Division.
Total tourism-related output. Total tourism-related output is the sum of direct tourism output and indirect tourism-related output.
Direct tourism employment. Direct tourism employment comprises all jobs where the workers are engaged in the production of direct tourism output (e.g., hotel staff, airline pilots, and souvenir sellers).
Indirect tourism-related employment. Indirect tourism-related employment comprises all jobs where the workers are engaged in the production of indirect tourism-related output (e.g., employees of companies that produce toiletries for hotel guests, the various ingredients used to make the meals served airline passengers, and the plastic used to produce souvenir key chains). Indirect tourism-related employment is estimated using industry-by-industry employment multipliers from the Regional Economic Analysis Division.
Total tourism-related employment. Total tourism-related employment is the sum of direct tourism employment and indirect tourism-related employment.
These estimates are from the Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts (TTSAs), which are supported by funding from the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The current-price estimates of direct tourism output were derived from BEA’s annual TTSAs (revised in June 2007) and current-dollar quarterly estimates of personal consumption expenditures from the NIPAs. The constant-price estimates of direct tourism output were developed using price indexes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and constant-price quarterly estimates of personal consumption expenditures from the NIPAs. The estimates of direct tourism employment were derived from the annual TTSAs (revised in June 2007) and the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages from BLS. Employment data are available five to six months after the end of the reference quarter.
Quarterly estimates are expressed at seasonally adjusted annual rates, unless otherwise specified. Percent changes are calculated from unrounded data and annualized. “Real” estimates are in chained (2000) dollars. Price indexes are chain-type measures. Growth in overall U.S. employment is calculated using BLS Total nonfarm employment from Current Employment Statistics, www.bls.gov/ces/home.htm#data.
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Next release – Travel and Tourism estimates for fourth quarter 2007 will be released on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
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