Statistics, as we know, can be used to prove anything, and when it comes to tourism statistics, there is no measure more open to interpretation than that for tourist spending. Depending on where one stands on a particular argument, however, the spending stats can be called upon to provide useful support, even perhaps by those who would normally call the stats into question.
The Egatur survey of tourist spending is primarily a tool designed to give the Bank of Spain data for calculating the balance of payments. In this respect it does need to be pretty accurate, despite people often not believing it. A reason for questioning it is that it can seem as if it doesn't correspond with the realities of some resorts. How often does one hear someone complain that no one's spending any money, yet Egatur insists that spending is going up?
The survey isn't and cannot be totally comprehensive, but one has to accept that it is a reflection of variance in the tourism market: not all resorts are the same, not all tourists are the same. But there is one significant ingredient in Egatur that can skew the spending statistics: the cost of the holiday. If this is a package holiday, bought from a foreign tour operator, then much of this spending element never touches the destination. Take away the package and factor in direct bookings, and a more realistic figure is attained; realistic in terms of what goes into local economies.
Egatur does, therefore, seek to reflect the different types of holiday, and the latest survey provides some ammunition for the pro-holiday rentals lobby. Again, not all of the spending is in the destination, if the rentals booking is, say, made via a foreign agency, but for the most part it will be. And where Egatur is concerned, it doesn't distinguish between the nature of rentals - they could be legal, they could be illegal, they could be ones made under the terms of the tenancy act.
Anyway, the survey shows that tourists who last year stayed in holiday rental accommodation (which falls under what Egatur broadly defines as the "rest of the market") spent almost 24% more than tourists who stayed in hotels. The average spend per tourist in non-hotel accommodation was 1,295 euros, and it increased by 20% over 2016. Another survey, the Frontur one that measures foreign tourist arrivals, offered some symmetry in this regard: there was a 20% rise in foreign tourists staying in holiday rentals.
The figures are for the whole of the country, but they clearly tell a story where the Balearics are concerned. Importantly, Egatur (and Frontur) are about as independent as one can get in measuring tourism performance. There are no agendas, which isn't always the case with studies that emanate from rival factions in the rentals argument, most notably the Exceltur alliance for touristic excellence and the Aptur holiday rentals association. Egatur, while noting that spending by tourists in hotels increased by ten per cent, does provide greater support for the Aptur stance than Exceltur's.
As I say, the stats can prove what you want them to, but here - despite the questions that surround the Egatur methodology - is some evidence of what many have long argued: holiday rental tourists spend more.
Showing posts with label Egatur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Egatur. Show all posts
Saturday, February 10, 2018
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Spent Force: Tourist statistics
I have in the past said that I would never refer to tourist spend statistics again. Recently, a letter to "The Bulletin" from Ian Morrison mentioned an article of mine in saying that he takes no notice of various statistics (and I seem to recall Mr. Morrison having specifically highlighted tourism spend statistics previously). I take no notice either, Ian, other than to bring attention to how unrepresentative they can be.
Let us try, once and for all, to understand what the figures that come from the Egatur survey of tourism spend represent. And if we can understand them, then perhaps we can all stop bothering referring to them or suggesting that the "authorities" are somehow attempting to deliberately misinform. They are not. Within the scope of the Egatur surveys, the information is very clear. At the foot of this article is a link which shows just how clear the information is, and it is to this that I address my initial comments.
When I have written in the past about the spend statistics, I have made the point that the average daily spend per tourist or average spend per visit is arrived at by including data which is only partially related to what many people would think would represent spend, i.e. that on the ground, so to speak.
In a graphic for 2010 (to which the link refers), the way in which daily spend is divvied up is shown. For someone on a package holiday, the daily spend is 126.50 euros, 92.30 euros of which are for the package itself. Just under 30 euros go on restaurants, goods and other costs, with under three euros being spent on transport. For an independent traveller, there is no cost of a package but a figure (24.30 euros) for accommodation and 28.30 euros for transport. Spend on restaurants and other costs are 36.20 euros.
I will make the point that this graphic is for Spain as a whole, but it indicates nonetheless what the spend statistics comprise. My guess is that most people intuitively think that this spend is on restaurants and so on and that they don't think to include the cost of the package. Yet, for the package holidaymaker, it represents three-quarters of the spend. It is this which is the primary source of confusion as to the spend statistics, and of this three-quarters, a good chunk of it goes to non-Mallorcan (or Spanish) businesses - airlines and tour operators. What is illuminating about the graphic is that if a proportion for airlines and tour operators was taken out, the spend in-resort for package and independent travellers would be pretty much identical. And what is also illuminating (at least it was in 2010) is that spend on restaurants is almost the same between the two groups.
The figures just released for August suggest, if you want to be open to suggestiveness, that the British market is far rosier than had been thought. An average of 931 euros per stay is spent by Brit tourists (a figure for the whole of Spain). But what does this mean? It is in fact lower than German spend and significantly lower than that of Scandinavian tourists and those from "the rest of the world" (and I think we can guess what "rest of the world" mainly refers to). Yet even these comparisons are misleading when you factor in the cost of the package. Scandinavian and Russian tourists are the big spenders but then the cost of their flights and packages are generally that much higher. At the lower end of the spend scale are the French, but then how many French tourists travel independently to Spain?
For tourism spend statistics to ever be even vaguely meaningful, the cost of packages or the specific costs of hotels, other accommodation and air transport need to be stripped out or shown separately. They would also be more meaningful if they were to identify just how much spend goes on stuff like tobacco and booze to take home, on supermarket shopping and even on purchases from chemists. Even then, they would only ever be a snapshot. Far, far more relevant is how spend varies according to location, as it would be bound to vary between resorts.
Why isn't there greater drilling down to get at meaningful information? One reason is that it would require a good deal more effort than the interviews which are conducted at airports, border crossings and ports to obtain the statistics which are presently gathered. Another is that the current information is collated according to demands made not by government but by the Bank of Spain and the European Central Bank. The statistics are therefore only general economic information. They have very little relevance to tourism as it really is.
http://www.iet.turismoencifras.es/gastoturistico/item/64-en-qué-se-dejan-los-cuartos.html
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Index for September 2012
Baby buggies - 25 September 2012
Binissalem golf - 7 September 2012
British culture and observation of Mallorcan life - 15 September 2012
Catalonia and independence - 24 September 2012
Catalonia and Mallorca history - 17 September 2012
Coincidence - 23 September 2012
Colonia Sant Pere prefabs - 5 September 2012
Columbus and Ibiza - 29 September 2012
Complementary sector and hotels - 13 September 2012, 16 September 2012
Convergència and La Lliga merge - 21 September 2012
Democracy standards criticised - 22 September 2012
Educational standards in Mallorca - 20 September 2012
Eurovegas - 10 September 2012
Hotel occupancy and attractions into September - 18 September 2012
Hotels and holiday lets - 8 September 2012
Import of waste from Europe - 14 September 2012
IVA rise: it won't work - 3 September 2012
Japanese tourism - 28 September 2012
John Hirst and fakes - 4 September 2012
Mariano Rajoy, his future and the bailout - 12 September 2012
New economic model needed - 2 September 2012
Pop music in Mallorca in the sixties - 9 September 2012
Population growth in Mallorca - 11 September 2012
Return to school: normal this year? - 6 September 2012
September - 1 September 2012
Slogans and tourism - 19 September 2012
Tourism and economic diversification - 26 September 2012
Tourism spend statistics - 30 September 2012
World Tourism Day and renewable energy - 27 September 2012
Let us try, once and for all, to understand what the figures that come from the Egatur survey of tourism spend represent. And if we can understand them, then perhaps we can all stop bothering referring to them or suggesting that the "authorities" are somehow attempting to deliberately misinform. They are not. Within the scope of the Egatur surveys, the information is very clear. At the foot of this article is a link which shows just how clear the information is, and it is to this that I address my initial comments.
When I have written in the past about the spend statistics, I have made the point that the average daily spend per tourist or average spend per visit is arrived at by including data which is only partially related to what many people would think would represent spend, i.e. that on the ground, so to speak.
In a graphic for 2010 (to which the link refers), the way in which daily spend is divvied up is shown. For someone on a package holiday, the daily spend is 126.50 euros, 92.30 euros of which are for the package itself. Just under 30 euros go on restaurants, goods and other costs, with under three euros being spent on transport. For an independent traveller, there is no cost of a package but a figure (24.30 euros) for accommodation and 28.30 euros for transport. Spend on restaurants and other costs are 36.20 euros.
I will make the point that this graphic is for Spain as a whole, but it indicates nonetheless what the spend statistics comprise. My guess is that most people intuitively think that this spend is on restaurants and so on and that they don't think to include the cost of the package. Yet, for the package holidaymaker, it represents three-quarters of the spend. It is this which is the primary source of confusion as to the spend statistics, and of this three-quarters, a good chunk of it goes to non-Mallorcan (or Spanish) businesses - airlines and tour operators. What is illuminating about the graphic is that if a proportion for airlines and tour operators was taken out, the spend in-resort for package and independent travellers would be pretty much identical. And what is also illuminating (at least it was in 2010) is that spend on restaurants is almost the same between the two groups.
The figures just released for August suggest, if you want to be open to suggestiveness, that the British market is far rosier than had been thought. An average of 931 euros per stay is spent by Brit tourists (a figure for the whole of Spain). But what does this mean? It is in fact lower than German spend and significantly lower than that of Scandinavian tourists and those from "the rest of the world" (and I think we can guess what "rest of the world" mainly refers to). Yet even these comparisons are misleading when you factor in the cost of the package. Scandinavian and Russian tourists are the big spenders but then the cost of their flights and packages are generally that much higher. At the lower end of the spend scale are the French, but then how many French tourists travel independently to Spain?
For tourism spend statistics to ever be even vaguely meaningful, the cost of packages or the specific costs of hotels, other accommodation and air transport need to be stripped out or shown separately. They would also be more meaningful if they were to identify just how much spend goes on stuff like tobacco and booze to take home, on supermarket shopping and even on purchases from chemists. Even then, they would only ever be a snapshot. Far, far more relevant is how spend varies according to location, as it would be bound to vary between resorts.
Why isn't there greater drilling down to get at meaningful information? One reason is that it would require a good deal more effort than the interviews which are conducted at airports, border crossings and ports to obtain the statistics which are presently gathered. Another is that the current information is collated according to demands made not by government but by the Bank of Spain and the European Central Bank. The statistics are therefore only general economic information. They have very little relevance to tourism as it really is.
http://www.iet.turismoencifras.es/gastoturistico/item/64-en-qué-se-dejan-los-cuartos.html
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Index for September 2012
Baby buggies - 25 September 2012
Binissalem golf - 7 September 2012
British culture and observation of Mallorcan life - 15 September 2012
Catalonia and independence - 24 September 2012
Catalonia and Mallorca history - 17 September 2012
Coincidence - 23 September 2012
Colonia Sant Pere prefabs - 5 September 2012
Columbus and Ibiza - 29 September 2012
Complementary sector and hotels - 13 September 2012, 16 September 2012
Convergència and La Lliga merge - 21 September 2012
Democracy standards criticised - 22 September 2012
Educational standards in Mallorca - 20 September 2012
Eurovegas - 10 September 2012
Hotel occupancy and attractions into September - 18 September 2012
Hotels and holiday lets - 8 September 2012
Import of waste from Europe - 14 September 2012
IVA rise: it won't work - 3 September 2012
Japanese tourism - 28 September 2012
John Hirst and fakes - 4 September 2012
Mariano Rajoy, his future and the bailout - 12 September 2012
New economic model needed - 2 September 2012
Pop music in Mallorca in the sixties - 9 September 2012
Population growth in Mallorca - 11 September 2012
Return to school: normal this year? - 6 September 2012
September - 1 September 2012
Slogans and tourism - 19 September 2012
Tourism and economic diversification - 26 September 2012
Tourism spend statistics - 30 September 2012
World Tourism Day and renewable energy - 27 September 2012
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Spend, Spend, Spend: Tourists and their money
I was waiting at the head of what became a lengthening queue at the local tabacs. All I wanted to do was hand over my euro for "The Bulletin" (and, yes, I pay for my copy). I could have just plonked the coin down on the counter and cleared off, but the wait promised to be productive, more so than that of the Guardia officer who wasn't prepared to tarry long in his quest for a pack of 20.
The queue developed because of Brit tourists, wristband wearing and cleaning the place out of cigarettes. The whole exchange was fascinating to observe, right down to the production of a sealed brown envelope with its bung of snout spondulicks. When finally all the booty was assembled on the counter, out came the calculator. "Nine hundred and four euros," said the girl. The envelope was emptied of its folding notes.
Nine hundred euros, thought I. There's a convenient amount. Where had I heard nine hundred euros, more or less, mentioned before? If I had forgotten, which I hadn't, I was to find out when thumbing through the newspaper. Tourism spend. The average spend per stay. It's always in the 900 region, a bit more. 900 euros on Super Kings and whatever else being handed over to the tobacco companies. 900 euros worth of fags being carted back to the all-inclusive. I wonder what else the Brits had been spending their money on, if anything.
The statistics on tourism spend come from something known as Egatur ("Encuesta de Gasto Turístico" - the tourist expenditure survey). The information it provides, so the blurb goes, "makes it possible to ascertain with a greater degree of precision the volume of tourist expenditure by foreign visitors". Moreover, it can "improve strategic knowledge of variables regarding fundamental expenditure and tourist behaviour by visitors from other countries".
These are bold claims for information that the casual reader of it in the press is often disinclined to believe, especially when it shows an upward trend.
What the tourism spend stats are not are exact figures. They are an estimation. They are arrived at through questionnaire-based interviews at border road crossings, airports and ports. A minimum of just over 100,000 interviews are conducted annually, the majority of them at airports (and this is nationally, by the way, not just in Mallorca). When the national statistics office speaks of "fundamental expenditure", what it is referring to are five key components which contribute to total tourist spend. Of these, two, spend in restaurants and on excursions and "others", amount to a third of the total. The rest comprises spend on accommodation, transport and the tourism package.
The tourism spend stats are also not, therefore, indications of what is actually being spent on what. Take the tobacco. Unless this is included under "others" (and I don't think for one moment that it is), then where is this spend in the equation, or that in other shops, come to that? And what of that in the chemists? Spend on mosquito-bite treatment alone must run into the many thousands.
The collection of data is also reliant on the interviewee giving accurate numbers. They are more than likely also to be estimations. Come on, how many of you can say precisely how much you spend on restaurants? Unless you are one of a small breed who writes all expenditure down in a diary, then you can't be 100% certain. It is just this sort of exact data capture that tourism spend surveys should require, but it is just this sort of exact data capture that isn't being conducted. And where higher spend is registered, to what extent does this reflect an increase in prices? If it does, then any increased spend is not necessarily one in real terms. Just to take an example, has the IVA rise been discounted in figures since 1 July which suggest an improvement in tourism spend?
Much time and many column inches are devoted to the various statistics, but in truth, and God knows I have spent a sadly large amount of time myself over the years discussing them, they really aren't of any great consequence. Certainly not when it comes to providing an accurate picture of activity in the resorts. The value of the tourism spend statistics, such as it is, lies in the contribution to a calculation of overall economic performance. As for "fundamental expenditure", yes that on restaurants and excursions is fundamental, but so also, for many tourists, is that over the counter in the tobacconists.
Tourism spend statistics? Ignore them.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The queue developed because of Brit tourists, wristband wearing and cleaning the place out of cigarettes. The whole exchange was fascinating to observe, right down to the production of a sealed brown envelope with its bung of snout spondulicks. When finally all the booty was assembled on the counter, out came the calculator. "Nine hundred and four euros," said the girl. The envelope was emptied of its folding notes.
Nine hundred euros, thought I. There's a convenient amount. Where had I heard nine hundred euros, more or less, mentioned before? If I had forgotten, which I hadn't, I was to find out when thumbing through the newspaper. Tourism spend. The average spend per stay. It's always in the 900 region, a bit more. 900 euros on Super Kings and whatever else being handed over to the tobacco companies. 900 euros worth of fags being carted back to the all-inclusive. I wonder what else the Brits had been spending their money on, if anything.
The statistics on tourism spend come from something known as Egatur ("Encuesta de Gasto Turístico" - the tourist expenditure survey). The information it provides, so the blurb goes, "makes it possible to ascertain with a greater degree of precision the volume of tourist expenditure by foreign visitors". Moreover, it can "improve strategic knowledge of variables regarding fundamental expenditure and tourist behaviour by visitors from other countries".
These are bold claims for information that the casual reader of it in the press is often disinclined to believe, especially when it shows an upward trend.
What the tourism spend stats are not are exact figures. They are an estimation. They are arrived at through questionnaire-based interviews at border road crossings, airports and ports. A minimum of just over 100,000 interviews are conducted annually, the majority of them at airports (and this is nationally, by the way, not just in Mallorca). When the national statistics office speaks of "fundamental expenditure", what it is referring to are five key components which contribute to total tourist spend. Of these, two, spend in restaurants and on excursions and "others", amount to a third of the total. The rest comprises spend on accommodation, transport and the tourism package.
The tourism spend stats are also not, therefore, indications of what is actually being spent on what. Take the tobacco. Unless this is included under "others" (and I don't think for one moment that it is), then where is this spend in the equation, or that in other shops, come to that? And what of that in the chemists? Spend on mosquito-bite treatment alone must run into the many thousands.
The collection of data is also reliant on the interviewee giving accurate numbers. They are more than likely also to be estimations. Come on, how many of you can say precisely how much you spend on restaurants? Unless you are one of a small breed who writes all expenditure down in a diary, then you can't be 100% certain. It is just this sort of exact data capture that tourism spend surveys should require, but it is just this sort of exact data capture that isn't being conducted. And where higher spend is registered, to what extent does this reflect an increase in prices? If it does, then any increased spend is not necessarily one in real terms. Just to take an example, has the IVA rise been discounted in figures since 1 July which suggest an improvement in tourism spend?
Much time and many column inches are devoted to the various statistics, but in truth, and God knows I have spent a sadly large amount of time myself over the years discussing them, they really aren't of any great consequence. Certainly not when it comes to providing an accurate picture of activity in the resorts. The value of the tourism spend statistics, such as it is, lies in the contribution to a calculation of overall economic performance. As for "fundamental expenditure", yes that on restaurants and excursions is fundamental, but so also, for many tourists, is that over the counter in the tobacconists.
Tourism spend statistics? Ignore them.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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