Research on tourism satellite account statistics in Vietnam

The process of researching and compiling a tourism satellite account in Vietnam still faces many difficulties such as the number of officials who understand the tourism satellite account is still small, some concepts, methodologies and methods of calculating tourism statistical indicators are not yet understood in a unified way, and are not in line with international practices, the organization of information collection on tourism activities is still incomplete... Therefore, up to now, Vietnam has not yet compiled an official tourism satellite account to comprehensively assess tourism activities in Vietnam . Therefore, researching and compiling a tourism satellite account in Vietnam is a really necessary issue, of great significance both in theory and practice.

Based on this reality, the author chose the topic "Statistical research on tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam" to research and write his doctoral thesis in economics.

2. Overview of the research situation of tourism satellite accounts

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The term “Tourism Satellite Account” has been around for quite a while, since the late 70s of the 20th century, but until now, compiling a tourism satellite account is still a relatively new issue for many countries in the world. According to estimates from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), as of March 2009, only about 80 countries had compiled a tourism satellite account to analyze and evaluate their tourism activities. Therefore, research on this issue is still limited and incomplete.

In the world

- About the work of theoretical introduction:

+ The most important document, considered as a handbook and guide for countries when compiling tourism satellite accounts, is the document "Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methological Framework" published by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2001. The content of this document mainly reflects the

The theoretical issues include concepts related to demand and supply of tourism activities, especially proposing 10 tourism satellite account tables so that countries can rely on them to compile their own tourism satellite accounts.

+ Based on the above handbook, some organizations have compiled more detailed guidance documents, suitable for the characteristics of the countries belonging to that organization, such as the document "European Implementation Manual on Tourism Satellite Account" of Eurostat or "Tourism Satellite Account in the European Union" of the EU... These documents present the main sources of information necessary for compiling the tourism satellite account and the calculation method of some main tables (for example, the book "European Implementation Manual on Tourism Satellite Account" guides the calculation method from table 1 to table 6) in the 10 tourism satellite account tables proposed by UNWTO.

- On practical studies in some countries:

Searching on the internet, one can find many reports reflecting tourism satellite accounts in countries such as Canada, Philippines, Malaysia, Caribbean, New Zealand, India, etc. Tourism satellite accounts in these countries often have some differences compared to the tourism satellite account proposed by UNWTO in terms of the number of tables used and the concepts used in the tables. However, these reports often do not explain the reasons for the differences. The main content of these reports is to present the basic concepts used in tourism satellite accounts such as tourism concepts, tourist concepts, tourism consumption, etc. and provide tourism satellite account tables of their countries with data calculated in several years of research. Based on those tables, the countries' reports analyze the results of their tourism activities such as tourism export value, tourism import value, direct and indirect contribution of tourism activities to the gross domestic product, etc. Most of the reports do not clearly explain the calculation method and data source to calculate the indicators in those tourism satellite account tables.

In Vietnam

Up to now, there have been a number of research works related to the Tourism Satellite Account, specifically:

- About the work of theoretical introduction: Belonging to this research direction are:

+ “Tourism Newsletter” issue III-IV of the Tourism Information Technology Center (IT Center) under the General Department of Tourism, released in October 2006. The newsletter devoted its entire content to introducing the book “Tourism Satellite Account – Proposed Methodological System”, which is essentially a translation of the book “Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methological Framework” published by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2001.

+ The article “Tourism satellite account in the national economy” by Master Ngo Duc Anh published in Vietnam Tourism magazine in June 2007. In this article, the author only briefly introduced the general effects of tourism satellite account and the names of the tables in the tourism satellite account proposed by UNWTO without specifically stating the content and method of calculating the indicators in the table.

- Small studies use some indicators in the Tourism Satellite Account to study and calculate some specific issues about tourism activities:

Following this approach, there are some studies using some indicators in the tourism satellite account and data in the tourism census for analysis. However, these studies only focus on a specific aspect of tourism activities such as the spending situation of domestic tourists; characteristics and structure of tourists surveyed by means, by destination country... but have not yet calculated the indicators of a synthetic nature, reflecting the role and position of tourism activities in the national economy.

In addition, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) website also published a number of statistical indicators reflecting tourism activities.

Vietnam over the years such as direct and indirect contributions of tourism and travel to GDP, number of jobs created from tourism and travel activities... However, this information page does not clearly explain related concepts, methods and sources of information to calculate those indicators.

- Research works proposing tourism satellite accounts applicable to Vietnam:

For this approach, up to now, there has only been one official research project published, which is the basic-level topic of the General Statistics Office "Research on building a tourism satellite account model in Vietnam" chaired by Dr. Ly Minh Khai, accepted in 2003 and a project being implemented by the Tourism Information Center of the General Department of Tourism, expected to be accepted in December 2011, called "Project on implementing the application of tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam".

+ The topic "Research on building a tourism satellite account model in Vietnam" chaired by Dr. Ly Minh Khai only mentioned some basic theoretical issues about tourism satellite accounts, analyzed the ability to access and apply the World Tourism Organization's Tourism Satellite Account in Vietnam in general. The topic proposed 10 tourism satellite account tables applicable to Vietnam. These tables are also different from the tourism satellite accounts proposed by UNWTO for other countries. However, the topic has not explained the purpose of compiling the tables as well as the reasons for the differences. In particular, the topic has only proposed the names and indicators in the tables, but has not explained the method and information source for calculating the indicators in the accounts. Therefore, the topic has not yet calculated the Tourism Satellite Account based on Vietnam's tourism statistics to assess the current status of tourism statistical information sources to meet the information sources for compiling the Tourism Satellite Account, and has not yet applied the Tourism Satellite Account to analyze tourism activities as well as the contributions of tourism activities to the national economy of our country.

+ The project "Implementing the application of tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam" is currently being researched by the Tourism Information Center under the General Department of Tourism and is expected to be accepted in December 2011. The project's objective is to propose a roadmap for applying tourism satellite accounts in the actual conditions in Vietnam, develop a plan to count domestic tourist indicators specific to Vietnam tourism and not inconsistent with the tourism satellite account, and develop periodic reports on tourism indicators and statistics. If the project is completed, it will be a reliable basis for implementing tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam. However, at the time the author was writing the thesis, this project was only in the stage of reviewing the outline and preparing to begin implementation.

In addition to the two topics directly related to the compilation of the tourism satellite account in Vietnam mentioned above, in 2008, the Tourism Information Center under the General Department of Tourism implemented and accepted the topic "Research on the development of a system of statistical indicators in the tourism industry". Although this topic does not directly research the tourism satellite account in Vietnam, this is an important document to help implement the project "Implementing the application of tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam" which is being deployed. The topic has studied some basic concepts used in tourism statistics, assessed the current status of tourism statistics activities in Vietnam, proposed the issuance of 22 tourism industry statistical indicators, proposed a methodology for calculating some important indicators such as tourism revenue, tourism import and export turnover, etc., compared the correspondence of the proposed tourism industry statistical indicators with the indicators in the tourism satellite account. If the proposed indicators are successfully implemented in practice, it will be an important basis for implementing the tourism satellite account in Vietnam. However, the topic has not yet solved specifically and clearly how to collect information and calculate each proposed indicator based on information sources from periodic statistical reports and existing professional surveys.

In short, the research situation on tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam has not been fully studied. Currently, Vietnam has not compiled and calculated tourism satellite accounts to comprehensively evaluate its tourism activities. Therefore, the research and compilation of tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam at the present stage is really necessary.

3. Purpose and significance of the thesis research

The thesis focuses on clarifying the basic concepts of tourism satellite accounts as well as related concepts, thereby researching and compiling tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam to fully reflect and evaluate the position and role of Vietnam's tourism activities as well as the contributions of tourism activities to the national economy. Based on the proposed satellite accounts and the available tourism statistics, the thesis experimentally calculates a number of tables in the tourism satellite account and makes recommendations to promote the compilation of tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam.

4. Subject and scope of the thesis research

The research object of the thesis is tourism satellite account and related issues.

The scope of the thesis is to study and compile a tourism satellite account in Vietnam in accordance with Vietnam's information sources. Based on the available data, the thesis attempts to calculate some tables in the proposed tourism satellite account in Vietnam.

5. Research methods

The main research methods used in the thesis include:

- Method of information collection: The thesis collects documents on tourism satellite accounts of UNWTO, of countries around the world, information related to tourism statistics such as statistical reports on tourism activities, professional surveys on tourism activities... This information is collected mainly

mainly from the General Statistics Office, the General Department of Tourism, seminars on tourism satellite accounts organized by the General Department of Tourism, via the internet...

- Information processing method: The thesis used methods such as information synthesis, information analysis... to see the basic issues to guide the research on tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam such as the experience of some countries in compiling tourism satellite accounts, the advantages and limitations of information sources serving the compilation of tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam at present, thereby proposing tourism satellite account tables applicable to Vietnam. Based on the proposed tables, the thesis conducted a trial calculation of tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam to evaluate the role of Vietnam's tourism activities as well as demonstrate the feasibility of the calculation method.

6. New contributions of the thesis

- Clarifying some theoretical issues on tourism satellite accounts and the basic content of the indicators in the tourism satellite accounts proposed by the World Tourism Organization.

- Researching tourism satellite accounts in some countries to draw some experiences when compiling tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam.

- Research and compile tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam, specifically:

+ The thesis has researched and proposed 6 tourism satellite account tables in Vietnam.

+ In each table of accounts, the thesis clearly states the purpose of compiling those tables, comparing them with the tables in the tourism satellite accounts proposed by UNWTO.

+ Explain the content, calculation method, and information source to calculate the indicators in the tables.

- Conduct experimental calculations of some tables in the compiled tourism satellite account to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed calculation methods, thereby

Propose some solutions to promote the compilation of tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam.

7. Structure of the thesis

In addition to the introduction, conclusion, list of references and appendices, the thesis is divided into 3 chapters.

Chapter 1: General theoretical issues on tourism satellite accounts Chapter 2: Research on compiling tourism satellite accounts in Vietnam.

Chapter 3: Experimental calculation of tourism satellite account in Vietnam and some recommendations.