Based on, and working as an extension of, the U.S. Input-Output Accounts (I-O), the U.S. travel and tourism satellite accounts enable the Department of Commerce (DOC) to accurately measure the aggregate travel and tourism industry. More importantly, TTSAs allow the Department to measure the travel and tourism industries’ competitiveness relative to other U.S. industries, along with measuring the overall competitiveness of the United States relative to other countries.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis, through funding provided by the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, produces annual TTSA data that includes:
- Direct and indirect travel and tourism-related output
- Direct and indirect travel and tourism-related employment
- Total U.S. travel and tourism-related sales/expenditures
Additionally, annual TTSA data provide the industry with:
- Output and employment data for twenty-six (26) individual industries
- Value-added contribution of travel and tourism to the U.S. economy (GDP)
- Supply of, and demand for, travel and tourism commodities
- Disaggregated demand data of household, business, government, and nonresident demand for American travel and tourism-related goods and services
The travel and tourism industry recognizes the need for one consistent, comparable, and credible set of data highlighting the importance of one of America’s largest employers. Recent Senate testimony by the DOC and industry leaders fortifies this need—three different testimonies cited three different measurements of the travel and tourism industry. The industry is only now embracing the numbers produced by the DOC, realizing the need of one set of credible accounts for a national number. TTSAs should become a permanent fixture in our country’s national accounts.
With the exception of the most recent year, which includes only travel and tourism output and employment, these files showcase the core U.S. TTSA tables:
- Table 1. Production of Commodities by Industry
- Table 2. Supply and Consumption of Commodities
- Table 3. Demand for Commodities by Type of Visitor
- Table 4. Output and Value Added by Industry
- Table 5. Output by Commodity
- Table 6. Employment and Compensation of Employees
- Table 7. Employment by Industry
- Table 8. Real Tourism Output