NBS Commits to Use of TSA, Cultivates Sectorial Partnerships

As part of the efforts to ensure a more robust and realistic aggregation of tourism statistics in Nigeria, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has committed to use of the Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA) framework.

Recommended by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the TSA framework, adopted in 2015 by the NBS, links all tourism and travel statistics in Nigeria with the national accounts framework before national GDP is calculated.

Speaking at a recent interactive session in Lagos with members of the Association of Travel & Tourism Writers of Nigeria (ATTWON), the StatisticianGeneral of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of NBS, Dr. Yemi Kale stated that until recently “tourism data has been disaggregated and oftentimes fragmented.”

“We have begun to build the structure to compile the Tourism Satellite Accounts,” Kale said, The NBS, according to him, has already established collaboration with such stakeholders as the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to build a system of tourism statistics that feeds into the TSA. He added that a broader platform will soon be established to function as a forum where other stakeholders can also put forward their contributions towards the development of a robust TSA.

The TSA developed by UNWTO in 2008, adopts the basic system of concepts, classifications, definitions, tables and aggregates of the System of National Accounts 2008 (SNA 2008), the international standard for a systematic summary of national economic activity, from a functional perspective.

It allows for the harmonisation and reconciliation of tourism statistics from an economic (National Accounts) perspective.

This enables the generation of tourism economic data such as Tourism Direct GDP that is comparable with other economic statistics. DKale, who was represented by Technical Adviser to the StatisticianGeneral, National Bureau of Statistics, Mrs. Lola Talabi-Oni, noted that developing tourism had various far-reaching benefits ranging from job creation to increased revenue through taxes and foreign exchange to improved local infrastructure.

He said that it directly impacts the transportation, accommodation & food services, and the arts and entertainment sectors.

Kale said the contribution of tourism to GDP using the Supply and Use Table of Nigeria was a measurement of Tourism Value Added. The contribution of tourism to GDP declined from 2.34 per cent in 2010 to 1.77 per cent in 2011 to 1.22 per cent in 2012.

Although transportation constitutes the highest contribution of Tourism to GDP, it declined from 70 per cent in 2010 to just over 50 per cent in 2012.

On the converse, hotels and accommodation which contributed 20 per cent to the tourism economy in 2010 grew to 45 per cent in 2012. Kale noted that though there were over 1000 hotels in Nigeria, very few were predominantly used by inbound tourists.

He revealed the NBS was “in the process of designing a template, in collaboration with other supervisory agencies and associations to further capture the composition and main growth drivers within this sub-sector.”

Kale stated that soon it will be possible to collect and disseminate indicators on occupancy rates, room capacity, bed capacity, total foreign guest nights and average room rates across the country.

The NBS is already publishing quarterly reports on international and domestic air passenger traffic. “We have a large domestic market to feed into the demand side of tourism, and increasing globalisation and decreasing international air flight costs, have translated into an expanding foreign market and interest in Nigeria.