PSA-Guimaras trains for Tourism Satellite Accounts Estimation

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-Guimaras Provincial Statistical Office participated in the Training Workshop on the Compilation of Subnational Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA) and the Related Indicators for the Visayas Cluster held on August 2-5, 2022 at the Hue Hotel and Resorts Boracay, Malay, Aklan.

“The TSA was the second data compilation activity of the Macroeconomic Accounts Service (MAS) to be implemented in the pilot regions to measure the economic performance for evidence-based decisions and planning towards sustainable tourism industry,” said Guimaras Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare.

The System of National Accounting (SNA), as a tool for data harmonization, enfolds the agency’s role in economic accounting through monitoring the behavior of the economy, the economic analyses, and comparison with other economies.

“Services apportioned the largest cut in the Philippine Economy. The 2008-2021 data disclosed its increasing share, even if the other two major sectors (Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing; and Industry) were to be combined,” Losare added.

She elaborated that the tourism industry played a significant role in the economic performance of the Philippines. TSA is a tool to measure the impact of travel and tourism on the country’s economy in the context of the SNA.

The Subnational TSA is the next step in the developmental phase of the TSA as it offers a more detailed perspective on tourism’s influence on the economy per region than a national TSA can offer.

TSA estimation will compile tables on the following: Inbound Tourism Expenditure, Domestic Tourism Expenditure, Outbound Tourism Expenditure, Internal Tourism Expenditure, Gross Value Added of Tourism Industries, Tourism Direct Gross Value Added, Employment in Tourism Industries, Tourism Gross Fixed Capital Formation, Tourism Collective Consumption, and Derived Indicators.

“This undertaking is timely and pertinent as the office has also piloted in the PPA, and Guimaras province had top travel destinations, cumulative tourists arrivals data based on DOT statistics, and strong appreciation/commitment of LGU’s provincial/municipal tourism office/agencies,” Losare explained.

“This year’s pilot regions are the Visayas Cluster: Regions VI (Western Visayas), VII (Central Visayas), and VIII (Eastern Visayas). The provinces personnel of the pilot Visayas regions joined the training in preparation for the provincial implementation of the project.”

PSA-Guimaras is among the Provincial Offices of Region VI to earmark its mission of delivering relevant and reliable statistics through this subnational TSA estimation in the direction of sustainable tourism development, thus seeking continued support and assistance of all its partners and stakeholders.