INSTAT, Institute of Statistics

Short Term Statistics Unit, Directory of Economic Statistics

St. Vllazën Huta, Building 35, Entrance 1, ZIP Code 1017, Tirana.

The purpose of the survey on accommodation establishments and other similar to them is to monitor tourist activities; to collect important indicators on tourism from the supply side; capture trends on resident nights and visitors, rooms, etc; to calculate statistical indicators on the Albanian tourism accommodation offer in monthly periods that are important to determine the tourism sector's capacity development trend. The data is collected monthly through the questionnaire "Accommodation Establishments Survey".

The variables collected by the survey are the following:

• Number of residents;
• Number of non-residents;
• Nights spent by residents;
• Nights spent by non-residents;
• Number of room nights sold to Albanian residents;
• Number of room nights sold to non- residents;
• Number of bedrooms;
• Number of bed-places;
• The number of days that the accommodation establishment was closed during the reference month.

The collection of these variables and the calculation of capacity and occupancy levels satisfy the requirements of Annex I "Supply side- Accommodation Statistics" of European Union (EU) Regulation no. 692/2011.

Nace Rev.2

Tourism accommodation establishments are classified and described in groups according to NACE Rev. 2 classification as follow:

55.10 Hotels and similar accommodation. This class includes accommodation provided by: hotels, resort hotels, suite/apartment hotels and motels.

55.20 Holiday and other short-stay accommodation. This class includes accommodation provided by: children and other holiday homes, visitor flats and bungalows, cottages and cabins without housekeeping services, youth hostels and mountain refuges.

55.30 Camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks. This class includes: provision of accommodation in campgrounds, trailer parks, recreational camps and fishing and hunting camps for short stay visitors, provision of space and facilities for recreational vehicles.

NUTS II

Statistical regions at level 1, 2 and 3 are defined according to the NUTS II territorial division, which is a unified classification and is used as a basis for the collection and processing of European Regional Statistics.

The information below includes which prefectures are in the North, Center and South region.

1. Northern Region: Dibër; Durrës; Kukës; Lezhë; Shkodër
2. Centre Region: Elbasan; Tiranë
3. South Region: Berat; Fier; Gjirokastër; Korçë; Vlorë

 Coastal areas

Coastal areas are Local Administrative Units (LAUs) that are on or near a coastline. Coastal areas are classified according to the following two categories:

• Coastal areas: LAUs bordering the coastline or LAUs having at least 50% of their surface at a distance of 10 km from the coastline;
• Non-coastal areas: LAUs that are not "coastal areas"; which means LAUs that are not bordered by the coastline and have less than 50% of their surface at a distance of 10 km from the coastline.

Additional Comments: The NUTS III and DEGURBA classification does not apply.

Census among units: classified in 55.10 with 10 or more employees; all enterprises classified in 55.20 and 55.30.

For small enterprises classified in 55.10, a sample is taken, using stratification by size of the enterprise.

According to Regulation 692/2011, NACE 55.1, 55.2 and 55.3 are covered.

Local units with economic sectors: NACE Rev.2 55.1; 55.2; 55.3 whenever this information is available at local unit level; and

The statistical coverage is in line with the Regulation no. 692/2011.

Coverage - Time [data comparable since (YYYY)]

Not applicable

Not applicable.

Data on Accomodation Statistics are transmitted to EUROSTAT via eDAMIS platform.

The data collected are considered as strictly confidential and used only for statistical purposes and scientific research in accordance with the  national Statistical Law No.17/2018 “On Official Statistics”, date 10.03.2018 and the Law no. 9887, dated 10.03.2008 "Personal Data Protection", Article 31 of the Law on Official Statistics clearly define that all statistical information collected by INSTAT are confidential and may only be used or published in such summary tables that do not identify the information of the unit. The direct identification is called when a statistical unit is directly identified by the name, address or any officially recognized identification number. When data processing is performed in such a way as to enable the data subject to be identified, the data must be coded immediately so that the entities are no longer recognized.

Albanian Institute of Statistics protects and does not disseminate data it has obtained or it has access to, which enable the direct or indirect identification of the statistical units. Albania Institute of Statistics takes all appropriate preventive measures so as to render impossible the identification of individual statistical units by technical or other means that might reasonably be used by a third party. Statistical data that could potentially enable the identification of the statistical unit are disseminated by Albania Institute of Statistics if and only if:

a) These data have been treated, as it is specifically set out in the Regulation, in such a way that their dissemination does not prejudice statistical confidentiality or

b) The statistical unit has given its consent, without any reservations, for the disclosure of data.

The confidential data that are transmitted to Albania Institute of Statistics are used exclusively for statistical purposes and the only persons who have the right to have access to these data are the personnel engaged in this task. Issues referring to the observance of statistical confidentiality are examined by the staff working in Albania Institute of Statistics. The responsibilities of this staff are to recommend on: which detailed level the statistical data can be disseminated, so as the identification, either directly or indirectly, of the surveyed statistical unit is not possible; the anonymization criteria for the microdata provided to users; the access granting to researchers on confidential data for scientific purposes.

Notifications about the dissemination of statistics are published in the release calendar, which is available on the website. The announcements and delays are per-announced in this calendar. In the case of delays, the date of the next  publication and the explanation of the reasons for the delays are specified.

Access to the release calendar is granted through the following link: Calendar

In accordance with article 34 of Law No. 17/2018 "On Official Statistics", official statistics are disseminated so that all users have an immediate and equal right and all possible forms of media are used. INSTAT and statistical agencies, having in the program the responsibilities of dissemination, seek to meet every requirement of any organization or individual for unpublished data or specific analysis. The following dissemination channels are used to release the results of the Accommodation Establishments Survey:

1. Press Release;
2. Written requests (by mail or e-mail);
3. The data in tabular form;
4. Special publications (General printed publications, Statistical yearbook);

Data request via the form on the INSTAT website.

Accomodation Establishments Statistics 2022 data are disseminated on monthly basis.

The news release on Accommodation Establishments Survey statistics are available on INSTAT website. The format of press release is defined by publication sector as well as the date of release. Press releases of Accommodation Establishments Survey are published online at INSTAT's website.

Accommodation Statistics Annual Results are published in dedicated publications: Tourism in figures, Albania in Figures and Regional Statistical Yearbook.

All the information is available in both Albanian and English language. The data on Accommodation Establishments Survey are n located in the statistical database. These tables can be found at the following link: PxWeb - Select table (instat.gov.al). Figures can also be found in Excel format where key indicators are published. These tables can be found at the following link: Figures

Data bases at micro level are not published due to confidentiality reasons. Aggregated data is the only type of data that is provided to external users. Even the micro data are not published they can be accessed based on the article 31, point 7 of the low No. 17/2018, dated 17.04.2018 “On official statistics”.

Users can submit specific requests for data from the survey through the INSTAT website: Data request

A short explanation related to the definitions of the main concepts and methodological explanations are provided to users in the end of press releases and publications. Additional support information is given to internal users when needed or required.

Short Term Statistics Unit documents all the work processes and procedures of Accommodation Establishments Survey for internal purposes.

INSTAT is committed to ensure the highest quality with respect to the compilation of statistical information. In accordance with the Statistics Law, INSTAT use statistical methods and processes in compliance with internationally recognized scientific principles and standards conduct ongoing analyses of the statistics with a view to quality improvements and ensure that statistics are as up to-date. In performing its tasks it follows the general principles of quality management from the European Statistics Code of Practice. INSTAT declares that it takes into account the following principles: impartiality, quality of processes and products, user orientation, employee orientation, effectiveness of statistical processes, reducing the workload for respondents.

Page Views (Hits) about Tourism statistics (Accommodation Establishments Survey) in 2022 are around 24,168 clicks.

During 2022 INSTAT conducted User Satisfaction Survey from INSTAT publications. The survey results show that the overall quality of Tourism statistics is rated 3.43 (68.6%) on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good).

 INSTAT conducts every year the User Satisfaction Survey.

12.3.1 Completeness

12.3.2 Thresholds used ("limitation of the scope")

Quality controls and validation of data are actions carried out throughout the process. It is a problem of the lack of one dedicated register for accommodation establishments which includes all the necessary variables to produce qualitative tourism statistics. When this register will be established, this will certainly contribute to a gradual reduction of under-coverage errors. The degree of under-coverage is unknown, because we do not know exactly how much is the actual number of all accommodation structures in Albania. Monthly surveys have helped to obtain very accurate information regarding under-coverage, and hence this problem exists only with the small units. All units that offer accommodation are not always registered in relevant activity in the Statistical Business Register (especially LU).

13.2.1 Sampling errors - indicators (Occupancy only)

13.2.2 Additional comments on sampling error

13.3.1 Coverage-errors

13.3.2 Unit non-response (for the reference month mentioned under 5.2)

13.3.3 Methods used for dealing with/minimising unit-non response

13.3.4 Item non-response

13.3.5 Additional comments on non-sampling error (e.g. in case the reference month is very different from other months in terms of non-response)

Data is fully comparable. See 3.7

There is no other source of similar data on capacity and occupancy of accommodation establishments with which comparisons or imputations can be made.

Coherence between annual and monthly data: Full Coherence

The staff working for the Accommodation Establishments Survey are:

• 1 specialist in the field of tourism (Short-Term Statistics Unit)
• 1 methodology specialist (Methodology Unit)
• 1 IT specialist (Computer Software Development Unit)
• 1 specialist (Data Collection Planning and Management Unit)
• 14 staff from the Regional Offices
• 27 enumerators staff
• 1 controller (Data Collection Coordination Unit)

18.1.1 Source data

18.1.2 Population frame

18.1.3 Sampling design

18.1.4 Other or additional comments on source data, population frame or sampling design (e.g. differences per NACE class)

18.3.1 Type of survey

18.3.2 Data collection methods

Missing data at the enterprise level are imputed using appropriate mathematical methods with data from previous periods. Sometimes unsustainable enterprise-level data or indicators are identified that need to be deleted. The next step is imputation at the enterprise-level level or indicator as appropriate, using data from previous periods. In some cases, mathematical techniques (hot deck imputation) are also used. Whenever large hotels do not respond, missing information cannot be covered by weights; therefore we need to put all of its information in the data set. And this is done again through past data and statistical techniques.

Beginning in January 2022, there was a significant transition in the data collection process, moving from PAPI (Paper and Pencil Interviewing) to CAPI (Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing) with tablet assistance. This shift had a notable impact on the efficiency of gathering data in the field and entering it into the data-entry system.

As a direct result of this improved data collection process, the publication frequency for tourism data related to "Accommodation Structures" underwent a substantial change. Previously published on a quarterly basis, this data is now released monthly. Specifically, it is made available on the 19th day of each subsequent month, which is 49 days after the conclusion of the reference month.

It's essential to mention that while there has been a significant improvement in the publication frequency, data transmission to Eurostat now takes place seven weeks after the reference month's conclusion. While this represents a one-week delay from the mandatory deadline, it's important to acknowledge that considerable efforts are underway and will continue to be made to meet the monthly data transmission deadline and ensure compliance with requirements, not only for monthly data but also for annual data reporting. These efforts demonstrate a commitment to timeliness and data quality in the reporting process.