A Tourism Satellite Account for Austria. Methodology, Results and Forecast for the Years 2000 to 2009

Tourism satellite accounts (TSAs) are designed to measure tourism as an economic phenomenon and allow its analysis and interface with the national accounts and other economic statistics. To this end, the national accounts provide the framework and integration grid. Nevertheless, the TSA is more than just a subsystem of the national accounts, especially because it can be extended to consider, whenever necessary, additional important data such as employment and investment. The TSA concept provides for a basic breakdown in "tourism-specific", "tourism-related" and "non-tourism-specific" production. The tourism industry as a whole contributed (as direct and indirect value added) 8.2 percent to the GDP in 2007. That amount appears to be 8.4 percent for 2008 and 8.2 percent for 2009. The direct and indirect effect of tourism on employment in 2007 was 12.1 percent of the overall employment rate (gainfully employed based on full-time equivalents).