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Understanding Domestic Tourism and Seizing its Opportunities
Published by: UNWTO, 2020
As the world’s tourism turns to domestic travel to boost the restart and recovery of the sector in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, this briefing note aims to analyse the global domestic tourism market and provide policy-makers and the tourism sector at large with examples of initiatives implemented around the world to promote domestic travel and restore confidence.
This report identifies the world’s major domestic tourism markets, analyses its main characteristics and shares the measures that are being implemented around the world to promote domestic tourism and restore confidence, as tourism restarts in the face of COVID-19.
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UNWTO Report: Understanding domestic tourism and seizing its opportunities
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In the light of ongoing restrictions of international mobility due to COVID-19, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has published a report on domestic tourism and its potentials. The market for domestic tourism is six times larger than that for international tourists in terms of visitor numbers. It can now play a greater role in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is proving to be more crisis-proof, while a normalization of international tourism will still take time due to risks and restrictions. The report analyzes domestic tourism markets and provides examples how to boost domestic tourism.
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- UNWTO Briefing Note – Tourism and COVID-19, Issue 3. Understanding Domestic Tourism and Seizing its Opportunities
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An estimated 9 billion domestic tourist trips (overnight visitors) were recorded around the world in 2018, of which well over 50% in Asia and the Pacific. Worldwide, domestic tourism is over six times bigger than international tourism (1.4 billion international arrivals in 2018) measured in number of tourist trips. As restrictions on travel begin to ease globally, destinations around the world are focusing on growing domestic tourism, with many offering incentives to encourage people to explore their own countries. According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), with domestic tourism set to return faster than international travel, this represents an opportunity for both developed and developing countries to recover from the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing the importance of domestic tourism, UNWTO has released the third of its Tourism and COVID-19 Briefing Notes, -Understanding Domestic Tourism and Seizing its Opportunities. The publication identifies ways in which destinations around the world are taking proactive steps to grow domestic tourism, from offering bonus holidays for workers to providing vouchers and other incentives to people travelling in their own countries.
World Tourism Organization (2020), UNWTO Briefing Note – Tourism and COVID-19, Issue 3. Understanding Domestic Tourism and Seizing its Opportunities, UNWTO, Madrid, DOI: https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284422111
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Domestic tourism
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Domestic tourism can be described as tourism involving residents of one country traveling within their own country. It does not involve the crossing of international borders at entry points. As early recorded history provides a glimpse into ancient tourism activities, domestic tourism is in fact the first form of tourism practiced. It has been a well-established practice, happening in every country or region in the world. A strong relationship among tourism and visiting friends and relatives and religious pilgrimage has been found in countries with a long history of domestic tourism (Rogerson and Lisa 2005 ). On the contrary, mass domestic tourism has only recently emerged due to increased disposable income, introduction of labor rights associated with leisure and vacation , governmental policy about the deregulation of internal movement, and so on (Scheyvens 2007 ).
Tourism is essentially an activity engaged by human beings. The minimum necessary features that need to exist for it to be...
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Pierret, F. 2011 Some Points on Domestic Tourism. Madrid: World Tourism Organization.
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Rogerson, C., and Z. Lisa 2005 “Sho’t Left”: Changing Domestic Tourism in South Africa. Urban Forum 16(2-3): 88-111.
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Scheyvens, R. 2007 Poor Cousins No More: Valuing the Development Potential of Domestic and Diaspora Tourism. Progress in Development Studies 7:307-25.
Sindiga, I. 1996 Domestic Tourism in Kenya. Annals of Tourism Research 23:19-31.
Telfer, D., and G. Wall 2000 Strengthening Backward Economic Linkages: Local Food Purchasing by Three Indonesian Hotels. Tourism Geographies 2:421-447.
UNWTO 2012 Methodological Notes to the Tourism Statistics Database. Madrid: World Tourism Organization.
Xu, G. 1998 Domestic Tourism and its Economic Effect in Beidaihe: The Largest Seaside Resort of China. Pacific Tourism Review 2:43-52.
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Hyungsuk Choo
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Honggen Xiao
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Choo, H. (2015). Domestic tourism. In: Jafari, J., Xiao, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_255-1
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UNWTO says domestic tourism will return faster than international travel
September 14, 2020 | News | IMTM
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) expects domestic tourism to return faster than international travel, representing an opportunity for both developed and developing countries to recover from the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNWTO says that it is important to recognize the opportunities that domestic tourism can provide to a country. Their data shows that in 2018, around 9 billion domestic tourism trips were made worldwide, six times the number of international tourist arrivals (1.4 billion in 2018). The publication identifies ways in which destinations around the world are taking proactive steps to grow domestic tourism, from offering bonus holidays for workers to providing vouchers and other incentives to people traveling in their own countries.
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “UNWTO expects domestic tourism to return faster and stronger than international travel. Given the size of domestic tourism, this will help many destinations recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic, while at the same time safeguarding jobs, protecting livelihoods and allowing the social benefits tourism offers to also return.”
The briefing note also shows that, in most destinations, domestic tourism generates higher revenues than international tourism. In OECD nations, domestic tourism accounts for 75% of total tourism expenditure, while in the European Union, domestic tourism expenditure is 1.8 times higher than inbound tourism expenditure. Globally, the largest domestic tourism markets in terms of expenditure are the United States with nearly US$ 1 trillion, Germany with US$ 249 billion, Japan US$ 201 billion, the United Kingdom with US$ 154 billion, and Mexico with US$ 139 billion.
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Initiatives to boost domestic tourism
Given the value of domestic tourism and current trends, increasing numbers of countries are taking steps to grow their markets, UNWTO reports. This new Briefing Note provides case studies of initiatives designed to stimulate domestic demand. These include initiatives focused on marketing and promotion as well as financial incentives . Examples of countries taking targeted steps to boost domestic tourist numbers include:
- In Italy, the Bonus Vacanze initiative offers families with incomes of up to EUR 40,000 contributions of up to EUR 500 to spend in domestic tourism accommodation.
- Malaysia allocated US$113 million worth of travel discount vouchers as well as personal tax relief of up to US$227 for expenditure related to domestic tourism.
- Costa Rica moved all holidays of 2020 and 2021 to Mondays for Costa Ricans to enjoy long weekends to travel domestically and to extend their stays.
- France launched the campaign #CetÉtéJeVisiteLaFrance (‘This Summer, I visit France’) highlighting the diversity of destinations across the country.
- Argentina announced the creation of an Observatory for Domestic Tourism to provide a better profile of Argentine tourists.
- Thailand will subsidize 5 million nights of hotel accommodation at 40% of normal room rates for up to five nights.
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Statistics of tourism
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The United Nations recognizes the World Tourism Organization as the appropriate organization to collect, to analyse, to publish, to standardize and to improve the statistics of tourism, and to promote the integration of these statistics within the sphere of the United Nations system.
“Official statistics provide an indispensable element in the information system of a democratic society, serving the government, the economy and the public with data about the economic, demographic, social and environmental situation.”
Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics
The UN Tourism Statistics Department is committed to developing tourism measurement for furthering knowledge of the sector, monitoring progress, evaluating impact, promoting results-focused management, and highlighting strategic issues for policy objectives.
The department works towards advancing the methodological frameworks for measuring tourism and expanding its analytical potential, designs practical guidance for their implementation in countries, supports statistical strengthening in countries through capacity building, and compiles and disseminates tourism statistics of countries all over the world.
The United Nations recognizes the World Tourism Organization as the appropriate organization to collect, to analyses, to publish, to standardize and to improve the statistics of tourism , and to promote the integration of these statistics within the sphere of the United Nations system.
Tourism Statistics Database
UN Tourism systematically gathers tourism statistics from countries and territories around the world into a vast database that constitutes the most comprehensive statistical information available on the tourism sector.
COVID-19 AND TOURISM STATISTICS
With new situations emerging from the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, some clarifications need to be made to the UN statistical standards on tourism to maintain as far as possible data consistency and international comparability
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IMAGES
COMMENTS
Domestic tourism expenditure: Domestic tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a resident visitor within the economy of reference, (IRTS 2008, 4.15(a)). Domestic tourism trip: A domestic tourism trip is one with a main destination within the country of residence of the visitor (IRTS 2008, 2.32).
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: "UNWTO expects domestic tourism to return faster and stronger than international travel. Given the size of domestic tourism, this will help many destinations recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic, while at the same time safeguarding jobs, protecting livelihoods and allowing the ...
It is aimed that these operational definitions provide UNWTO members and other tourism stakeholders with a comprehensive and concise, operational, applicable and globally relevant conceptual framework on some concepts used in the tourism value chain and on some selected tourism types to set the scene and contribute to establish a common ground ...
Domestic tourism can be described as tourism involving residents of one country traveling nationally. It does not involve the crossing of international borders at entry points. As early recorded history provides a glimpse into ancient practices, domestic tourism is in fact the first form practiced. Domestic tourism has been a well-established ...
Basic concepts and definitions: Travel and Tourism (domestic and international) Travel refers to the activity of travelers. A traveler is someone who moves between different geographic locations, for any purpose and any duration. A visitor is a traveler taking a trip to a main destination outside his/her usual environment, for less than a year ...
domestic. or . outbound tourism trips. Outbound tourism . Comprises the . activities. of a resident. visitor. outside the country of reference, either as part of an . outbound tourism trip. or as part of a . domestic tourism trip. Place of usual residence . The . place of usual residence. is the geographical place where the enumerated person
An estimated 9 billion domestic tourist trips (overnight visitors) were recorded around the world in 2018, of which well over 50% in Asia and the Pacific. Worldwide, domestic tourism is over six times bigger than international tourism (1.4 billion international arrivals in 2018) measured in number of tourist trips.
UN Tourism systematically collects tourism statistics from countries and territories around the world in an extensive database that provides the most comprehensive repository of statistical information available on the tourism sector. This database consists mainly of more than 145 tourism indicators that are updated regularly. You can explore the data available through the UNWTO database below:
An estimated 9 billion domestic tourist trips (overnight visitors) were recorded around the world in 2018, of which well over 50% in Asia and the Pacific. Worldwide, domestic tourism is over six times bigger than international tourism (1.4 billion international arrivals in 2018) measured in number of tourist trips.
Published by: UNWTO, 2020. As the world's tourism turns to domestic travel to boost the restart and recovery of the sector in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, this briefing note aims to analyse the global domestic tourism market and provide policy-makers and the tourism sector at large with examples of initiatives implemented around the world ...
What is domestic tourism? As I described in my tourism glossary, domestic tourism is the act of travelling for business or leisure within one's home country. According to the UNWTO, a person must be away from their usual place of residence (but still in their home country) for at least one night to qualify as a domestic tourist.. Popular destinations for domestic tourism include the USA ...
In Chapter 3, the main concepts and definitions with respect to tourism are presented and discussed. Special attention is given to the concepts of international tourism, domestic tourism, and same-day visits. Finally, Chapter 4 starts with a brief inventory of the key characteristics of tourism.
In the light of ongoing restrictions of international mobility due to COVID-19, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has published a report on domestic tourism and its potentials. The market for domestic tourism is six times larger than that for international tourists in terms of visitor numbers.
All Regions; 5 Mar 18 UNWTO Tourism Definitions | Définitions du tourisme de l'OMT | Definiciones de turismo de la OMT As an outcome of the work of the Committee on Tourism and Competitiveness (CTC), the 22nd Session of the General Assembly held in Chengdu, China (11-16 September 2017), adopted as Recommendations (A/RES/684 (XXII)) some operational definitions used in the tourism value ...
The publication identifies ways in which destinations around the world are taking proactive steps to grow domestic tourism, from offering bonus holidays for workers to providing vouchers and other incentives to people travelling in their own countries. World Tourism Organization (2020), UNWTO Briefing Note - Tourism and COVID-19, Issue 3.
For this reason, domestic tourism throughout the world is a predominant yet invisible portion of economic activities known as the tourism industries. Hence, the domestic overnight leisure tourism market is a key segment in many countries. UNWTO estimated 83 % or four out of five billion arrivals per year was domestic tourism (Rogerson and Lisa ...
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: "UNWTO expects domestic tourism to return faster and stronger than international travel. Given the size of domestic tourism, this will help many ...
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) expects domestic tourism to return faster than international travel, representing an opportunity for both developed and developing countries to recover from the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. UNWTO says that it is important to recognize the opportunities that domestic tourism can provide to a country.
UNWTO Study on Domestic Tourism Across Asia and the Pacific. Asia and the Pacific; Domestic tourism plays a significant role in the resilience of the tourism industry, especially in times of crisis. Domestic tourism sustains services and jobs, offsets losses from inbound international tourism and reduces the disparity in regional development ...
This webpage provides UN Tourism resources aimed at strengthening the dialogue between tourism and culture and an informed decision-making in the sphere of cultural tourism. It also promotes the exchange of good practices showcasing inclusive management systems and innovative cultural tourism experiences.. About Cultural Tourism. According to the definition adopted by the UN Tourism General ...
tourism sector, especially in large domestic markets2. However, it did not compensate for the drop in international tourism in destinations that are largely dependent on international demand. Figure 3: International tourist arrivals (monthly change, %) Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) (y-o-y monthly change, %)-100-90-80-70-60-50-40-30-20
The UN Tourism Statistics Department is committed to developing tourism measurement for furthering knowledge of the sector, monitoring progress, evaluating impact, promoting results-focused management, and highlighting strategic issues for policy objectives.. The department works towards advancing the methodological frameworks for measuring tourism and expanding its analytical potential ...
Domestic Tourism (English version) Published: 1975 Pages: 52. eISBN: 978-92-844-1044-6. Abstract: The themes of these two technical meetings show our concern over problems which members of the organization must solve. Nobody expects our work to spawn miracle solutions. On the contrary, I deem it wise to limit our ambitions and to concentrate ...