8.17. The structural metadata in tourism statistics provide identifiers and descriptors of data. Without the associated metadata, any data item (e.g., a specific number) becomes meaningless and cannot be used.
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Box VIII.3 A simple numerical example of metadata To treat any number, say, 10, as part of tourism statistics would require its association with certain minimal metadata items. A comma‑delimited record, combining data and metadata items, created to achieve this goal might resemble the following (10, number of arrivals, thousand, 2012, XYZ, Australia, Air). This record can be understood as follows: there were 10 thousand arrivals in 2012 to country XYZ from Australia by air. The structural metadata used in this example are: • Unit of measure (number of arrivals) • Multiplier (thousand) • Reference period (year 2012) • Reporting country • Country of residence (Australia) • Mode of transport (air) ______________________________ Source: World Tourism Organization. |
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8.19. The required structural metadata can be determined on the basis of the recommendations contained in IRTS 2008 and in the preceding chapters of this Compilation Guide. Examples of a list of of structural metadata items are presented in Table VIII.1 and Table VIII.2. The first list is for use in data on tourism trips and characteristics of visitors and the second is for use in data on tourism expenditure.
Table VIII.11 Structural metadata for use in data sets on tourism trips and characteristics of visitors
Metadata item | Description of possible values of metadata item |
Form of tourism | Inbound tourism, outbound tourism, domestic tourism, internal tourism, national tourism, international tourism |
Unit of measure | Number of arrivals, number of departures, number of visits |
Multiplier | E.g., thousand, million |
Reference period | Month, quarter, annual |
Sex | Male, female |
Age | Age groups |
Economic activity status | ICSE-93 |
Occupation | ISCO-08 |
Annual income | National classification of income groups |
Education | ISCED 1997 |
Travel party size | Number |
Country of residence | Any in United Nations Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use |
Country of destination | Any in United Nations Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use |
Territorial unit | Territorial unit according to the national classification of territories and administrative areas of a compiling country |
Main purpose of trip | As defined in IRTS 2008, figure 3.1 and paragraphs 3.17–3.20 |
Duration of a trip or visit | Number of overnight stays and/or number of days |
Mode of transport | As defined in IRTS 2008, figure 3.2 |
Type of accommodation | National classification of types of accommodation |
Table VIII.22 Structural metadata for use in data sets on tourism expenditure
Metadata item | Description of possible values of metadata item |
Forms of tourism expenditure | Inbound tourism expenditure, outbound tourism expenditure, domestic tourism expenditure, internal tourism expenditure, |
national tourism expenditure, international tourism expenditure | |
Categories of tourism expenditure | Classification of categories of tourism expenditure: IRTS 2008, para. 4.26 |
Unit of measure | National currency, United States dollars |
Multiplier | E.g., thousand, million |
Reference period | Month, quarter, annual |
Country of origin | Any in United Nations Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use |
Country of destination | Any in United Nations Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use |
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8.420. The main components of tourism statistics reference metadata are:
(a) Concepts and definitions used in national tourism statistics (including definitions of particular data variables, and any deviations from IRTS 2008);
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(b) Classifications applied and correspondence tables (including correspondence tables between national or regional classifications and classifications recommended in IRTS 2008);
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(c) Description of data sources and data‑collection methods and their specificity (e.g., administrative sources, tourism demand‑ and supply‑side surveys, including comments on limitations of source data in terms of coverage, frequency, level of detail, reliability and availability; description of the methods used to validate the data and ensure their internal and external consistency);
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(d) Description of data compilation procedures (e.g., description of specific procedures used for data aggregation, including estimation and imputations applied, or in deriving tourism data from statistical observations: for instance, calculating inbound tourism expenditure is not directly derived from one survey but requires the combination of information on flows of visitors (at arrival) and on expenditure of visitors classified by types (on departure);
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(e) Description of dissemination policy (including coverage of the disseminated data, data release and revision schedules and confidentiality rules) (see sect. C below for details);
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(f) Description of the disseminated data variables (including a list of such variables and their periodicity);
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(g) Quality measures and indicators (see para. 8.10).