CARICOM Regional Tourism Satellite Account Implementation Initiative Kingston, Jamaica September 3 – 5, 2014

CARICOM Overview of Work on the Development of Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA) in CARICOM

CARICOM Overview Brief Background Synopsis of Previous work on TSA Recent workshops Current Work Programme on the TSA Conclusion

CARICOM Brief Background The CARICOM Secretariat has been undertaking developmental work on the production of Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA) since 2001 initially through the areas of National Accounts and International Trade in Services/ Investment. Additionally, the Regional Statistical Work Programme has been updated with Domain 2 (Economic Statistics) including the following:- Theme Tourism Statistics Tourism Satellite Account.

CARICOM Brief Background cont’d CARICOM’s mandates relative to developmental work on the TSA comes through the following:- The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, Article 55(1) - speaks to proposals in recognition of the importance of the tourism subsector to the economic development of the Region Twenty-ninth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government took the following decisions:- Agreed that a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) will be developed in each Member State to facilitate the effective management and planning of the sector. Also mandated the CARICOM Secretariat to collaborate with the CARTAC, the CTO and the ECCB and other regional institutions to establish the TSA.

CARICOM Brief Background cont’d The Twenty-Eight Special Meeting of COTED Mandated the establishment of a regional multi-agency committee for Regional TSA Implementation comprising of the relevant agencies and at least six(6) representatives from the NSOs and three(3) from the CARICOM Member States.

CARICOM Synopsis of Previous work on TSA Brief chronology of past work on TSA: CARICOM Regional Workshop on National Accounts, Trinidad and Tobago - Introduction of TSA concepts- through the Satellite Account approach contained in the 1993 SNA CARICOM Regional Workshop on National Accounts, St. Kitts and Nevis- exposition of the TSA in the Supply and Use Framework of the 1993 SNA.

CARICOM Synopsis of Previous work on TSA– cont’d CIDA funded Project on Strengthening Statistical Capacities in Member States to produce Statistics on International Trade In Services- Situational assessment recommended countries and regional organisation to develop tourism statistics and the TSA. Regional Workshop/Two national Workshops in which the Tourism sector was one of the few sectors featured CARICOM Regional Workshop on Tourism Satellite Accounts – Funded by the Government of Spain- TSA addressed in the context of the 1993 SNA.

CARICOM Synopsis of Previous work on TSA cont’d CARICOM in collaboration with CARICOM Trade and Competitiveness Development Programme (C-TRADECOM)- project funded by USAID - undertook developmental work on International Trade in Services including element of Tourism statistics and components such as Travel and Transportation (February) – Government of Spain –undertook developmental work on the TSA - A two-week pilot technical assistance mission in Saint Lucia. This mission included representatives from Barbados, Dominica and Grenada as part of capacity building in this area. The ECCB was also in attendance during this mission.

CARICOM Synopsis of Previous work on TSA cont’d 2006 (August) - Government of Spain –Follow-up mission to Saint Lucia served to advance the process of the TSA compilation in that Member State. –Initial missions were also held in Barbados, Dominica and Grenada. (CTO was in attendance in Barbados) –In most of the countries, there was a vibrant inter- agency platform and the level of cooperation from the tourism authorities was tremendous.

CARICOM Synopsis of Previous work cont’d Approach to 2006 Mission – followed first four steps –Nine (9) step approach recommended by UNWTO for the development of a TSA:- 1.A good understanding of the TSA framework and its proposed tables. 2.A description of the country’s tourism activity. 3.A description of the country’s system of tourism statistics (STS) in statistical terms; 4.A statistical description of the country’s system of national accounts and related systems. 5.A compilation of an experimental TSA. 6.The setting up of a feasibility study in order to decide how to remedy the flaws; 7.The implementation of the decisions and getting results/pilot estimations to monitor the advance of the process; 8.A statistical assessment of the quality of the TSA; 9.The dissemination of the results and further improvement of the proceedings.

CARICOM Recent Workshops 2012 (March) –WTO, CARICOM, UNSD in collaboration with other partners and with assistance from the Spanish Trust Fund organised a workshop on International Trade in Services Statistics focusing on the Creative Industries. In the Framework for Cultural statistics (FCR), tourism is listed as a related domain since it contains cultural elements. One recommendation coming from this workshop was that the use and development of tourism data sources can enhance the capture, compilation and classification of data and information on cultural and creative industries.

CARICOM Recent Workshops cont’d 2013 (May) - Led by UNSD in collaboration with CARICOM and supported by other partners - Regional workshop on Travel and International Tourism Consumption in Dominica- emphasised that the TSA needs to be grounded in the core areas of statistics such as:- –the System of National Accounts (SNA) including the Supply and Use tables (SUT) and GDP by Expenditure in Constant and Current Prices; –Visitor Expenditure Surveys; –Balance of Payments (BOP); –Trade in Services (TIS) including Modes of Supply/Movement of Persons and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and –Foreign Affiliate Statistics (FATS); One of the core messages coming from the workshop was that travel is not equivalent to tourism and underscored the need to understand the conceptual differences in the measurement of both transactions in accordance with the internationally recommended standards;

CARICOM Current Work Programme on the TSA 10 th EDF-Consultancy in the area of National Accounts Overall result - Production of key tables of the Minimum Required Data Set (MRDS) of the 2008 SNA including:- –Expenditure on the GDP in current prices –Expenditure on the GDP in constant prices –Value Added and GDP in current prices by industry –Value Added and GDP in constant prices by industry –Value Added components by industry, current prices and Employment by industry –Accounts of the Rest of the World (until net lending), and –Accounts for the Total Economy (until net lending) The TSA will be supported specifically through the development/refinement of statistical and administrative data sources for the above tables.

CARICOM Current Work Programme on the TSA cont’d 10th EDF - Consultancy on International Trade in Services Link with the TSA is the treatment of tourism as an internationally traded service. –Consultancy will undertake in-country Technical Assistance to:- Pilot-test the Common Core Trade in Services Questionnaire(s) in countries in specific sectors to:- Enable the compilation of Trade in Services Statistics by Direction of Trade by Country, Trading Blocs, Intra and Extra Regional ; and Bridge the data gaps by providing additional detailed data at the level of the (EBOPS) Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification.

CARICOM Conclusion TSA development requires a direct programme of support to countries. Continued investment is required to strengthen basic data sources for statistics in core areas in which the TSA is grounded such as:- System of National Accounts (SNA)(Inc. SUT) Visitor Expenditure Surveys Trade in Services

CARICOM Conclusion cont’d The partnership approach with organisations such as CARICOM, UNSD, UNWTO, ECCB, CARTAC and CTO is fundamental in utilizing scarce resources and avoiding undue burden on countries in the development of the TSA. Inter-agency coordination and collaboration within countries (at the national level) is vital. Given the intensive nature, the TSA may not be developed in a short time frame but feasible steps can be taken as highlighted above.

CARICOM Thank you for your attention!