USAID Visit Tunisia in partnership with the National Statistics Institute (INS) helped publish the first North African Tourism Satellite Account (TSA). Based on TSA compilation results 2018-2022 and the results from two International Tourism Visitor Surveys, and emphasizing the importance and acceptance of the TSA, the Central Bank of Tunisia adjusted Tourism expenditure in the Balance of Payment to be compliant with UNWTO classification – a significant step forward in data-driven decision making for Tunisian tourism.
Strengthening Data-Driven Decision Making for Tunisian Tourism through the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA)
In February 2024, USAID Visit Tunisia and its partner Institut National de la Statistique (INS) presented to the Minister of Tourism, ONTT, and key public and private stakeholders the Tourism Satellite Account for Tunisia for 2018-2022 based on the UNWTO standards and methodology in the international framework, and the results of two International Tourism Visitors Survey (ITVS) of low and high seasons in 2023, developed and conducted by USAID Visit Tunisia.
Tunisia is the first North African country to successfully launch a Tourism Satellite Account
The development of 2018-2023 TSA remedies the lack of reliable and consistent tourism data for informed decision making and enables the Tunisian government to efficiently measure the impact of tourism on the Tunisian economy in compliance with national and international standards — Tunisia became the first North African country to successfully launch a TSA.
USAID Visit Tunisia contributed by creating the TSA Development Working Group (TSWG) that brought together the public and private sector and acted as a change catalyst for better decision making. The working group continues to raise awareness on these concepts among administration and media to ensure that tourism sector’s contribution to GDP is well measured and quantified, and the information system is consolidated and strengthened.
Tunisia’s Tourism Satellite Account 2018-2022
The TSA results were published on INS’s website as follows:
TSA compilation results 2018-2021
The TSA compilation results 2023 are yet to be released.
One tangible example of TSA results' application and positive change is reflected in the Balance of Payments revised by the Central Bank of Tunisia – the ‘Travel’ data has been replaced by ‘Tourism’ data and includes important disaggregation in the data on tourism revenue in accordance with TSA recorded results and UNWTO standards and methodology. It now includes the expenditure of international travelers visiting for medical tourism reason, and the income of Tunisians living abroad.
This sort of information is valuable both to the public sector in terms of government spending and investment on specific sectors and target markets, if not equally valuable for the private sector to make similar strategic decisions about investment, market reach, and pricing.
