Arrivals of non-resident tourists in accommodation (hotelor similar establishments) is one of the standard measures of international tourism activity. It excludes domestic tourism.

Definition

This statistic refers to the number of non-residents who arrive in a hotel or similar establishment such as apartment-hotels, motels, roadside inns, beach hotels, timeshares, residential clubs, boarding houses, and similar accommodation providing limited hotel services. Note that arrivals of non-resident tourists do not show the number of travellers. When a person visits the same country several times a year, each visit is counted as a separate arrival and if a person visits several countries during the course of a single trip, his/her arrival in each country is recorded as a separate arrival. Same day visitors and tourists who stay with friends or relatives are excluded.

Comparability

Several OECD countries cannot provide statistics on“arrivals of non-resident tourists in hotels or similar establishments”. For those countries, the statistical profile presents “arrivals of non-residents at national borders”. Canada, China, India, Ireland and the United States report the number of non-resident tourist arrivals at their national borders; a tourist is a visitor who intends to stay for at least one night. The figures for Japan, Korea and New Zealand include the number of non-resident visitor arrivals at their national borders; visitors include overnight (tourists) and same day visitors. For Australia (1990-97, 2007 visitors and1998-2006 tourists) and South Africa (1990-94 visitors and1995-2007 tourists) time series present mixed indicators.