I just saw the “State of the Tourism Industry” report for the 1st half of 2017. It’s eighteen pages long and it has nice graphs.
The report was sent out by ATA and it speaks well of the organization.
The timing of the report is not coincidental in view that elections are just a few weeks away.
So what does the report include?
Key Tourism Performance Indicators.
The average annual growth between 2011 and 2016 is especially encouraging: Tourist Receipts +4%; Stay-over visitor arrivals +5.2%; Cruise passenger arrivals +2.3% and revenue per available room +5.2%.
Nice.
What does the report leave out?
Conveniently, the report leaves one very important statistic out, namely ATA’s expenditure which is not included in the graphs. So indeed gains have been realized, but at what cost? What did this growth cost?
Whilst tourism receipts, revpar, stay-over and cruise arrivals have enjoyed an increase between 2.5% and 5.2%, ATA’s expenditure has increased as well, by more than double that number, 11%.
Many of the hoteliers feel that the chart of key tourism indicators should also include an expenditure line.
What would a balance sheet be without expenses? If they had presented their boards with a list of their accomplishments without indicating how much they spent in order to get there, they would be losing their jobs.
If the report is to be treated with respect, then add the expense line to the graph, otherwise it is just a piece of election propaganda.
