About

Summary

The Ministry of Tourism in Jordan, in association with the Central Statistics Office and with USAID funding required an update of the Tourism Satellite Account to measure the economic impact of tourism in Jordan.  An international inbound visitor survey was also implemented to ensure the most economically important form of tourism (inbound visitor arrivals) was accurately measured.

The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) is the internationally recognised methodology for measuring the economic impact of tourism.  It requires robust demand and supply side data to be compiled, and in most economies an international inbound visitor survey is an essential part of the demand-side data.  Such a visitor survey had not been undertaken in Jordan for 10 years, and therefore this was essential before a TSA could be compiled.  The previous TSA, also compiled by Acorn, was published three years previously, and therefore a more current assessment of tourism’s impact on the Jordanian economy was required.

Our Approach

The Inbound Visitor Survey was executed by the Central Statistics Office following a detailed review of the questionnaire to ensure it complied with UNWTO concepts, classifications and definitions, and generated the visitor expenditure data required for the TSA.  The survey was also utilised to gather data on visitor and trip characteristics, and to assist with tourism marketing and development.  Once the data from the questionnaire had been processed, a report was compiled using charts and infographics to present the data in an easy-to-access way, so that all stakeholders could benefit from the findings.

For the TSA, the most important element of the survey was the expenditure questions.  Considerable analysis was required to deal with package holiday expenditure (to disaggregate it into its constituent parts), currency exchange rates, and outlying values.  This inbound expenditure data was then combined with the findings of a domestic tourism survey and reconciled with the national accounts to compile the tables of the TSA, and generate the key indicators of tourism direct gross value added and tourism GDP

Outcome

The results of the inbound visitor survey and the tourism satellite account were presented and distributed at a national seminar in Amman, Jordan to all the key stakeholders.  It showed that tourism had grown in Jordan in recent years, with it contributing to a larger share of GDP.  This provided key stakeholders, such as the Minister of Tourism, with valuable data to argue the importance of tourism viz-a-viz other sector, at cabinet-level meetings.

Stakeholders were able to benefit from the inbound visitor survey by receiving clearly interpreted findings relating to inbound visitor arrivals, including how tourists planned their trips, their booking patterns, activities and places visited when in Jordan, and their trip evaluations.