UN-WTO fast tracks TSA implementation

The United Nations-World Tourism Organization (UN-WTO) is set to fast track the implementation of a standardized Tourism Satellite Account to measure the economic power of the tourism industry.

UN-WTO secretary general Francesco Frangialli said this system is very important to gauge how much the tourism industry can contribute to the economy of a country.

Frangialli was the speaker of the opening of the workshop during the 6th International Tourism Forum for Parliamentarians and Local Authorities yesterday at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort.

Three sectors in the tourism industry need a concrete and reliable data-gathering tool on how tourism related businesses are able to sustain a healthy economic landscape and back up the budgetary allocations of every government in every country especially during times of crisis.

Frangialli said the UN-WTO needs to initiate the creation of the standardized statistical measuring system in the tourism industry, especially in the fields of job creation, Balance of Payment (BoP), and measurement of tourism related activities in one destination.

The system, which is called Tourism Satellite Account, will be used as barometer to find out the real economic contribution of tourism industry to a country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for instance, and help governments and their respective Finance Departments to realize the importance to financial support tourism related programs, in their countries.

At present, support in terms of budget allocation from most of the government is not enough to maximize the economic potential of tourism. Frangialli said the adopting of one system of measurement will encouraged the Ministry of Finance of every country to allocate a budget for tourism departments initiated programs.

UN-WTO, in their next international meeting to be held in Bali, Indonesia, will present this advocacy to the International Labor Organization (ILO) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the implementation of new standardized scientific reporting system for tourism generated statistics.

For his part, Department of Tourism (DOT) secretary Joseph Ace Durano said that the Philippines will overhaul its statistics or data gathering system, and will implement the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) system, in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). —Ehda M. Dagooc