Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
G2: European businesses
1.3. Contact name
Restricted from publication
1.4. Contact person function
Restricted from publication
1.5. Contact mail address
2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG
1.6. Contact email address
Restricted from publication
1.7. Contact phone number
Restricted from publication
1.8. Contact fax number
Restricted from publication
2.1. Metadata last certified
19 March 2024
2.2. Metadata last posted
19 March 2024
2.3. Metadata last update
19 March 2024
3.1. Data description
This collection covers national tourism, in other words tourism by residents of a country to destinations in the country of residence (domestic tourism) or abroad (outbound tourism).
Alternatively, this part of tourism statistics is sometimes referred to as "the demand side".
Data are collected by the competent national authorities of the Member States (generally the national statistical institute) and are compiled according to harmonised concepts and definitions and recommended methodological guidelines, before transmission to Eurostat. Most of the time, data on domestic and outbound trips (where "outbound tourism" means residents of a country travelling to another country) is collected via sample surveys. However, in a few cases the data relating to outbound flows are compiled from border surveys. Surveys are generally conducted on a monthly or quarterly basis.
The information on tourism demand concerns trips (for the population aged 15 years and over) of which the main purpose is holidays or business and which involve at least one or more consecutive nights spent away from the usual place of residence. Member States are transmitting microdata to Eurostat, which enables a more detailed analysis of the data, as well as better use of partner data.
Aggregated data on participation in tourim are also transmitted to Eurostat and cover the resident population aged 15 or over, participating in tourism for personal purpose during the reference year. Finally, the data also include aggregate data on same-day visits.
Microdata on trips of EU residents as well as participation data and data on same-day visits are transmitted to Eurostat one time per year. Data are disseminated when they respect agreed validation rules and other quality criteria.
3.2. Classification system
Country codes are based on the ISO 3166 (International Organisation of Standardisation – alpha-2 format), with the exception of Greece, which is coded as EL. For more details on the classification, please consult: Country codes.
The International standard classification of education (ISCED) is used to measure the educational attainment level. The currently disseminated data are based on ISCED 2011. For more details on the classification, please consult: Eurostat-Metadata (ISCED).
For data up to 2011 (reference year), the classification system applicable (under Directive 95/57/EC) is described in the document: "Community methodology on Tourism statistics", which is available from OPOCE, under the reference: ISBN 92-828-1921-3.
Available statistics include data on residents' (for the population aged 15 years and over) tourism demand: participation, trips, nights and expenditure
Participation in tourism for personal purposes
Number of residents, aged 15 or over, having made at least 1 trip of at least 1 overnight stay. Only trips for personal purpose are covered. A breakdown by duration and by destination of the trip is provided as well as by socio-demographic characteristics of the tourist.
Concerning the breakdown by destination:
domestic trips cover tourists who made domestic trips only,
outbound trips cover tourists who made outbound trips only,
domestic and outbound cover tourists who have made both domestic and outbound trips.
Number of tourism trips
All tourism trips made by residents, aged 15 or over, for personal or professional/business purpose, with at least 1 overnight stay.
Concerning outbound trips with a world geographical breakdown, the destination can be understood in different ways. It may be:
The place the visitor considers as the most important place visited (motivating destination);
The place where the most amount of time is spent (time destination); or
The farthest place visited (distance destination).
It is useful to know all these destinations as well as less important destinations in transit. The main destination (place, country) should be separated from other destinations. The main destination is related to the main purpose of the trip and therefore the main destination should be defined as the place that the visitor considers as the main destination. If the respondent has difficulties for deciding what that is (e.g. for a touring trip), the main destination may secondarily be decided as the place, where most nights were spent or, if there are several such places, the farthest place.
Number of tourism nights
All tourism nights spent by residents, aged 15 or over, outside their usual environment for personal or professional/business purpose.
Expenditure on tourism trips
The total consumption expenditure made by a visitor or on behalf of a visitor for and during his/her trip and stay at destination.
Total expenditure (TOTAL) is broken down by following expenditure items:
Transport
Accommodation
Food and drinks in cafés or restaurants (to report separately on an optional basis, if not, it should be included under 'other expenditure')
Other expenditure
Expenditures for durable and valuable goods are also available, but are not included in the total expenditure. Durables and valuable goods include for instance cars, computers, paintings, works of arts or jewellery. This category is not included in the total expenditure, because goods are used mainly after the trip. Starting with year 2013 there is a recommendation to apply 300 EUR threshold and to not include smaller values in the category durables and valuable goods (300 EUR refers to unit price rather than the total price). This recommended threshold was not applied at the same time in all countries, which may lead to fluctuations in this category from 2013 on.
From the reference year 2020 onwards, data is also available on the expenditure on packages.
3.5. Statistical unit
For collecting data on participation in tourism, the statistical unit is the individual.
For collecting data on tourism trips and visitors making the trips, the statistical unit is the trip made by the individual.
Visitor
Any person travelling to a place other than that of his/her usual environment for less than twelve months and whose main purpose of trip is other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited.
3.6. Statistical population
The statistical population consists of all residents in the respective Member States, aged 15 or over. However, the Regulation allows to send data for the age group 0-14 years on an optional basis. The series published refer in general to the population 15+.
3.7. Reference area
EU individual Member States and EFTA countries.
European aggregates (EU Member States) are calculated when sufficient data is available.
Data referring to (potential) candidate countries to the EU are also published if available.
Eurostat tourism statistics also serve as an input for a.o. OECD and UNWTO datasets.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to these confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
The collection of micro-data is considered as confidential. For this reason, all tourism data is stored and processed in a secure environment.
After the aggregation process, tourism demand data is in principle not confidential.
However, to avoid the publication of figures which are statistically unreliable, Eurostat applies the following basis guidelines when disseminating aggregate tables:
an estimate shall not be published (data are flagged as confidential) if it is based on fewer than 20 sample observations,
an estimate shall be published with a flag (u) if it is based on 20 to 49 sample observations.
8.1. Release calendar
Tourism statistics releases are announced in the Eurostat release calendar. This concerns data releases, news articles and updates to (Statistics Explained) articles. The announced release dates refer to the publication of EU aggregates, country level data is published as soon as it is validated and fit for publication.
Data are released via Eurobase shortly after reception of the data transmitted by the Member State. Data are released when all validation rules are respected and when they are of sufficient quality.
EU aggregates for annual data are generally published towards the end of Q3 of the year following the reference year (eg. Year X -> transmission by end June YearX+1 -> EU aggregates released by end Q3 YearX+1).
8.2. Release calendar access
Via Eurostat website.
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
Annually
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
News releases on-line. News releases are issued at 11 a.m CET on Eurostat's website.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Publications
Statistics in focus, pocketbooks and yearbooks in pdf format are accessible on Eurostat's website :
Statistics Explained is an official Eurostat website presenting many statistical topics in an easily understandable way. Together, the articles make up an encyclopedia of European statistics, completed by a statistical glossary clarifying all terms used and by numerous links to further information and the very latest data and metadata, a portal for occasional and regular users alike.
The page, which provides a clickable list of all articles in Statistics Explained on tourism, can be accessed under the following link:
National metadata reports are available on Eurostat's website.
11.1. Quality assurance
Tourism statistics are compiled by the competent national statistics authorities. Data are collected and compiled in line withRegulation (EU) 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council and with the Code of Practice applicable to all processes for collecting and compiling European statistics.
After reception of the data, thorough quality control and validation checks are performed by Eurostat before releasing the data.
According to Regulation (EU) 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Article 6 (4)3), every year, Member States shall provide the Commission with a report on the quality of the data. The report shall be provided within 9 months after the end of the reference year.
Timeliness and completeness: compliance with transmission deadlines and compliance with the data requirements is evaluated on a regular basis.
Punctuality: efficient validation tools and intensive compliance monitoring improves the punctuality of data disseminated on Eurostat public database.
Accessibility and clarity: data are available and disseminated on Eurostat's online database (Eurobase) and via online articles. Breaks in series, when observed, are flagged.
Accuracy: evolutions are systematically verified. When huge variations are observed, the reporting country is asked to explain/confirm.
Coherence and comparability: where possible, data are compared with population data. The comparison is generally very good.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The importance of the tourism sector for the economic, social and cultural development of Europe is generally acknowledged. Council Directive 95/57/EC of 23 November 1995 on the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism provided for the establishment of an information system on tourism statistics at Community level. The Directive has helped create national data collection systems with data on the capacity and occupancy of accommodation establishments, from a business perspective, and on tourism demand, from a visitors' perspective. The current availability of a system of tourism statistics in the European Union would not have been possible without the Directive. Regulation (EU) 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishes a common framework for the systematic development, production and dissemination of European statistics on tourism.
Any appraisal of the competitiveness of the Community tourism industry, which occupies an important place in the economy of the Member States, with tourist activities representing a large potential source of employment, requires a good knowledge of the volume of tourism, its characteristics, the profile of the tourist and tourism expenditure.
The statistics on tourism demand complete the partial picture given by the statistics on tourism supply (capacity and occupancy of collective accommodation establishments) which only reflect the tourist accommodation sector. Further, the tourism demand data allow to analyse the tourism patterns by the socio-demographic profile of the visitor.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Measured directly via download statistics for publications and feedback on publications or presentations.
User satisfaction surveys (for all Eurostat statistics) are regularly conducted.
12.3. Completeness
The Regulation has as a scope, trips made by individuals aged 15 and over. In general, the data are only representative for the population aged 15 years and over (totals also refer to this age group). Note that data for individuals younger than 15 can be sent on an optional basis.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The main possible source of error comes from the memory effect (respondents might forget trips and expenditure). This would lead to an underestimation of trips and expenses.
Sampling errors vary among variables. The main variables are relatively accurate (e.g. Number of trips with purpose "leisure, recreation and holidays") whereas more detailed variables have a larger sampling error (e.g. Number of trips by destination).
Non-response can be high for expenditure data. Data are in this case imputed by the Member State.
According to the size of the sample, number of trips/nights and expenditure with some partner countries of relatively low importance can show high variations.
Breaks at the level of Member States are described in footnotes and are flagged as such in the database.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
[Not applicable]
15.4. Coherence - internal
The quality checks and validation rules include checks on the internal coherence across tables and across reference periods.
Not measured in a systematic way.
Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council specifies that by 12 August 2016, and every 5 years thereafter, the Commission shall submit an evaluation report to the European Parliament and to the Council on tourism statistics, in particular on their relevance and the burden on business.
17.1. Data revision - policy
To further specify the general Eurostat revision policy, the following revision policy has been established for tourism statistics.
Released data are revised on an ad-hoc basis, following reception of revised data sent by the Member States. The revisions are published instantly (with the next update of the online database), EU aggregates are recalculated and republished accordingly when relevant.
The revision practice effectively corresponds to the revision practice of the domain listed under sub‑concept 17.1 (data revision – policy).
All reported errors (once validated) result in corrections of the disseminated data.
Reported errors are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated.
Data may be published even if they are missing for certain countries or flagged as provisional or of low reliability for certain countries. They are replaced with final data once transmitted and validated. When updates or revisions affect the European aggregates, these are also recalculated, for consistency with new country data.
Whenever new data are provided and validated, the already disseminated data are updated right away after validation, alongside with the relevant EU aggregates that are affected by the update.
18.1. Source data
The majority of the Member States compile this information via household surveys in which the respondents are asked to report on their trips during the reference period (a month, a quarter). In a few cases, the information is collected via visitor surveys at the border.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Surveys are conducted generally on monthly or quarterly basis.
Data are transmitted to Eurostat on an annual basis.
18.3. Data collection
Tourism demand data are collected by Member States by the way of:
Postal questionnaire
Telephone interviews
Face-to-face interviews
Web surveys
These figures are transmitted exclusively via eDAMIS, respecting the formats as specified by Eurostat.
The participation in tourism (annual data - first reference period 2012) and the main reasons for not participating in tourism (triennial data - first reference period 2013)
The micro-data on tourism trips and visitors making the trips (annual data - first reference period 2012)
The data on outbound same-day visits (annual data - first reference period 2014)
The data on domestic same-day visits (triennial data - first reference period 2015 optional, 2018 compulsory)
Data must be transmitted within six months after the end of the reference period.
18.4. Data validation
Data validation is done at the level of Member States and at the level of Eurostat.
Member States should send data file:
Complete
Consistent with format description
Internally consistent
Fully imputed where necessary
Eurostat makes some additional validation on micro-data, such as plausibility, detection of outliers and other verifications on aggregated data such as verifying the internal consistency of aggregated data, time validation and comparison with other sources.
18.5. Data compilation
Data conversion
Data conversion consists in associating micro-data records to the correct dissemination code. Codes used in the tourism database have been harmonised as much as possible with the codes used in Eurobase.
Indicators calculation
As from 2012, data on trips of EU residents (from national tourism surveys) are transmitted to Eurostat in the form of micro-data. Each record represents and includes information both on the trip (duration, purpose, destination, expenditure for this trip, means of transport...) and on the tourist (sex, age, educational level). The Member States also provide information on the weight of each record (from sample to population).
Taking into account all the records with their respective weight, aggregated data on number of trips, number of nights and expenditure combined with trips characteristics and tourist profile are calculated.
EU aggregate calculation
EU aggregates are automatically calculated when data from all countries composing the aggregate are present. In case of missing countries, EU aggregates include estimated values for the missing countries; EU aggregates are only calculated if a minimum number of countries, representing a minimum share of EU tourism, is available.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable.
Special warnings
Please consult the file containing footnotes (See annex at the bottom of the page).
This collection covers national tourism, in other words tourism by residents of a country to destinations in the country of residence (domestic tourism) or abroad (outbound tourism).
Alternatively, this part of tourism statistics is sometimes referred to as "the demand side".
Data are collected by the competent national authorities of the Member States (generally the national statistical institute) and are compiled according to harmonised concepts and definitions and recommended methodological guidelines, before transmission to Eurostat. Most of the time, data on domestic and outbound trips (where "outbound tourism" means residents of a country travelling to another country) is collected via sample surveys. However, in a few cases the data relating to outbound flows are compiled from border surveys. Surveys are generally conducted on a monthly or quarterly basis.
The information on tourism demand concerns trips (for the population aged 15 years and over) of which the main purpose is holidays or business and which involve at least one or more consecutive nights spent away from the usual place of residence. Member States are transmitting microdata to Eurostat, which enables a more detailed analysis of the data, as well as better use of partner data.
Aggregated data on participation in tourim are also transmitted to Eurostat and cover the resident population aged 15 or over, participating in tourism for personal purpose during the reference year. Finally, the data also include aggregate data on same-day visits.
Microdata on trips of EU residents as well as participation data and data on same-day visits are transmitted to Eurostat one time per year. Data are disseminated when they respect agreed validation rules and other quality criteria.
Available statistics include data on residents' (for the population aged 15 years and over) tourism demand: participation, trips, nights and expenditure
Participation in tourism for personal purposes
Number of residents, aged 15 or over, having made at least 1 trip of at least 1 overnight stay. Only trips for personal purpose are covered. A breakdown by duration and by destination of the trip is provided as well as by socio-demographic characteristics of the tourist.
Concerning the breakdown by destination:
domestic trips cover tourists who made domestic trips only,
outbound trips cover tourists who made outbound trips only,
domestic and outbound cover tourists who have made both domestic and outbound trips.
Number of tourism trips
All tourism trips made by residents, aged 15 or over, for personal or professional/business purpose, with at least 1 overnight stay.
Concerning outbound trips with a world geographical breakdown, the destination can be understood in different ways. It may be:
The place the visitor considers as the most important place visited (motivating destination);
The place where the most amount of time is spent (time destination); or
The farthest place visited (distance destination).
It is useful to know all these destinations as well as less important destinations in transit. The main destination (place, country) should be separated from other destinations. The main destination is related to the main purpose of the trip and therefore the main destination should be defined as the place that the visitor considers as the main destination. If the respondent has difficulties for deciding what that is (e.g. for a touring trip), the main destination may secondarily be decided as the place, where most nights were spent or, if there are several such places, the farthest place.
Number of tourism nights
All tourism nights spent by residents, aged 15 or over, outside their usual environment for personal or professional/business purpose.
Expenditure on tourism trips
The total consumption expenditure made by a visitor or on behalf of a visitor for and during his/her trip and stay at destination.
Total expenditure (TOTAL) is broken down by following expenditure items:
Transport
Accommodation
Food and drinks in cafés or restaurants (to report separately on an optional basis, if not, it should be included under 'other expenditure')
Other expenditure
Expenditures for durable and valuable goods are also available, but are not included in the total expenditure. Durables and valuable goods include for instance cars, computers, paintings, works of arts or jewellery. This category is not included in the total expenditure, because goods are used mainly after the trip. Starting with year 2013 there is a recommendation to apply 300 EUR threshold and to not include smaller values in the category durables and valuable goods (300 EUR refers to unit price rather than the total price). This recommended threshold was not applied at the same time in all countries, which may lead to fluctuations in this category from 2013 on.
From the reference year 2020 onwards, data is also available on the expenditure on packages.
For collecting data on participation in tourism, the statistical unit is the individual.
For collecting data on tourism trips and visitors making the trips, the statistical unit is the trip made by the individual.
Visitor
Any person travelling to a place other than that of his/her usual environment for less than twelve months and whose main purpose of trip is other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited.
The statistical population consists of all residents in the respective Member States, aged 15 or over. However, the Regulation allows to send data for the age group 0-14 years on an optional basis. The series published refer in general to the population 15+.
EU individual Member States and EFTA countries.
European aggregates (EU Member States) are calculated when sufficient data is available.
Data referring to (potential) candidate countries to the EU are also published if available.
Data refer to the reference year.
Data on trips is available by month of departure, data on same-day visits is available by quarter.
The main possible source of error comes from the memory effect (respondents might forget trips and expenditure). This would lead to an underestimation of trips and expenses.
Sampling errors vary among variables. The main variables are relatively accurate (e.g. Number of trips with purpose "leisure, recreation and holidays") whereas more detailed variables have a larger sampling error (e.g. Number of trips by destination).
Non-response can be high for expenditure data. Data are in this case imputed by the Member State.
Data are expressed in absolute values.
Participation data are expressed in absolute values and as percentage of population.
Data for expenditure on tourism trips are expressed in euro.
Data conversion
Data conversion consists in associating micro-data records to the correct dissemination code. Codes used in the tourism database have been harmonised as much as possible with the codes used in Eurobase.
Indicators calculation
As from 2012, data on trips of EU residents (from national tourism surveys) are transmitted to Eurostat in the form of micro-data. Each record represents and includes information both on the trip (duration, purpose, destination, expenditure for this trip, means of transport...) and on the tourist (sex, age, educational level). The Member States also provide information on the weight of each record (from sample to population).
Taking into account all the records with their respective weight, aggregated data on number of trips, number of nights and expenditure combined with trips characteristics and tourist profile are calculated.
EU aggregate calculation
EU aggregates are automatically calculated when data from all countries composing the aggregate are present. In case of missing countries, EU aggregates include estimated values for the missing countries; EU aggregates are only calculated if a minimum number of countries, representing a minimum share of EU tourism, is available.
The majority of the Member States compile this information via household surveys in which the respondents are asked to report on their trips during the reference period (a month, a quarter). In a few cases, the information is collected via visitor surveys at the border.
According to the size of the sample, number of trips/nights and expenditure with some partner countries of relatively low importance can show high variations.
