CONSTRUCTING A REGIONAL TOURISM SATELLITE ACCOUNT: THE CASE OF QUEENSLAND

This article presents the results of a scoping study to examine the feasibility of constructing Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSAs) for the regions of Queensland, Australia's primary holiday state. The construction of a regional TSA should not be considered as the end of a process but rather as the beginning of an ongoing process to unfold the importance of the tourism sector at a level relevant to policy makers. Regional TSAs may be expected to generate policy-relevant insights so that tourism activity can be adequately nurtured and stimulated at the right time and right place for sustainable regional economic development. This report presents findings regarding the most suitable methodology for the task, given the available data. The construction of a TSA at the regional level is a complex and potentially expensive task, and the aim of this study has been to propose a methodology that will have long-term application and that can be maintained and updated in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Although set in the context of regional Queensland, the discussion is of general interest for regional tourism stakeholders in destinations worldwide.