NoC52/22 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 19.2.94
OpinionontheFinalReportfromtheCommissiontotheCouncil,theEuropeanParliament
andtheEconomicandSocialCommitteeontheimplementation ofCouncilDecision90/665/
EECof17December1990regardingatwo-yearprogramme (1991/1992)fordeveloping
Communitytourismstatistics
(94/C52/08
On21September1993theBureauoftheEconomicandSocialCommittee,actingunderthe
thirdparagraphofArticle20oftheCommittee'sRulesofProcedure,decidedthatthe
CommitteeshoulddrawupanOpinionontheabovementioned report.
TheSectionforRegionalDevelopmentandTownandCountryPlanning,whichwasrespon­
sibleforpreparingtheCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon13December
1993.TheRapporteurwasMrCunha.
Atits311thPlenarySession(meetingof21December1993),theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeunanimouslyadoptedthefollowingOpinion.
1.Introduction 2.SummaryoftheCommissionDocument
1.1.Theneedforreliable,comparabletourismstat­
isticsatEClevelhaslongbeenrecognized .2.1.TheCouncilDecisionof17December1990(*)
adoptedtheprogrammefordevelopingCommunity
tourismstatistics.Theaimoftheprogrammeisto
developaframeofreferenceforthecompilationof
ECtourismstatisticsbyharmonizingtheconceptsand
methodsusedbytheMemberStates.
2.1.1.Article6(b)oftheDecisionrequirestheCom­
missiontopresent,by31December1992,areport
evaluatingtheoutcomeoftheworkreferredtoin
Article3oftheDecision.1.2.Onvariousoccasions,theEuropeanParliament,
theESCandtheCouncilhaveacknowledged thatthe
Communityshouldbeactivelyinvolvedinthepro­
ductionandpublicationoftourismstatistics,opinion
pollsandinformation .
1.3.Althoughtourismisnowakeyinternational
industry,particularlyintheEC,itisalsooneofthe
mostpoorlydocumented .Thismakesitdifficultto
developitproperly,andtodovetailitwithnational
andECpolicies.2.2.TheCommissionhasmetthisobligationwith
thereportissuedon1September1993.
2.3.TheneedtoestablishacoherentsystemofCom­
munitytourismstatistics,andtheneedforrapid,
reliableandcomparablestatisticalinformationforall
users,ledtheCommissiontosetupanECworking
groupontourismstatistics,whosemembershipwas
extendedtoEFTAdelegates.
2.4.Theworkinggroup,whichalsoinvited
observersfromtheOECDandWTO(WorldTourism
Organization )secretariats,focusedon:1.4.Thebiggestprobleminthepreparationand
publicationoftourismstatisticsatEClevelisthelack
ofcomparability ofthedatacollectednationally,and
thedifferingconceptsandmethodsused.
—evaluationofusers'needs;
1.5.ThemaintaskoftheCommission willtherefore
betoharmonizecollectionmethodsandstandardize
concepts,inordertomakedatacomparable .—collectionanddissemination ofexistingdataon
tourism;
—analysisofexistingstatisticalsystems;
—developmentofamethodological frameworkfor
thecompilationofCommunitystatisticsontourism.1.6.TheCouncil'sDecisiontocarryoutatwo­
yearprogrammefordevelopingCommunitytourism
statisticsisthusatimelysteptowardsabetterknowl­
edgeoftourismwhichshouldhelpintegrateitwith
otherECpolicies. HOJNoL358,21.12.1990.

19.2.94 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC52/23
2.4.1.Evaluation ofusers'needs whichenablestheusertomanipulatemultiplearrays
ofstatisticaldata.
2.4.2.1.4.Dissemination throughpublications2.4.1.1.Theimmediateaimherewastostructurethe
demandforstatisticalinformationthatcanbeusedto
monitortourismanditsmanyfacets.
2.4.1.2.Thereportstatesthatoverathousandusers
wereconsulted,inboththepublicandprivatesectors.
Tradeorganizations andotherinternationalorgan­
izationssuchastheCouncilofEurope,OECDand
WTOalsotookpart.Annualstatisticsareavailableinatourismyearbook,
whilemonthlystatisticsareprovidedinapublication
entitledServices,TransportandTourism.Statisticsare
alsocontainedinapublicationentitledTourismin
Europe.
2.4.3.Analysisofexistingstatistical
systems2.4.1.3.Theanalysisofuserneedscoversboth
demandandsupply-sideinformation,aswellasthe
interactionoftourismwithitsgeneralenvironment .
2.4.1.4.Theneedsaregroupedunder(a)supply-side
statisticsand(b)demand-sidestatisticsingeneral.They
coveralargenumberofvariableswhichwerethen
classifiedinorderofpriority.2.4.3.1.TheCommissionhasdrawnupareport
analysingexistingstatisticalsystemsandmethodology
forthecollectionofdataontourismintheECand
EFTAMemberStates.
2.4.3.2.Thereportfocusesonfivemainfields:2.4.2.Collection anddissemination
existingdataontourismof
—borderstatistics;
—accommodation statistics; 2.4.2.1.TheCouncilDecisionstipulatedthatsteps
shouldbetakentoimprovethecollectionanddissemi­
nationofexistingdata.Thiswastobedoneby:—othersupply-sidestatistics;
—developmentofaninformationsystem; —statisticsonthetravelhabitsofresidents;
—statisticsonthevalueofinternational tourism. —cooperationwithinternationalorganizations for
datacollection;
—introductionofmagneticandelectronicmedia;2.4.4.Development ofamethodological
frameworkforthecompilation of
Community statisticsontourism —disseminationthroughpublications .
2.4.2.1.1.Developmentofaninformationsystem
TheECandEFTAMemberStatessuppliedtheCom­
missionwithallexistingdataavailableatnational
level.TheCommissionthenorganizedthesedatainan
informationsystementitledTOURwhichismanaged
andmonitoredconstantly .2.4.4.1.Sincetourismisanindustrywhichtouches
mosteconomicsectors,thedevelopmentofamethod­
ologicalframeworkfortheanalysisandproductionof
statisticsinvolvesnumerousproblemareas.Hencevery
broadanddifferentapproachescanbeestablished .
2.4.4.2.TheCommission feltthatevenifthemeth­
odologywasnotexhaustive,ithadtobebroadenough
toprovideausefultoolformostdatacollectioncarried
outbythepublicorprivatesector.Annex1ofthe
reportliststhesubjectsdeemedtobeofcommonand
basicinterest,whileAnnex2setsouttheoverall
methodological framework .2.4.2.1.2.Cooperationwithinternationalorganiza­
tions
Acommonsystemofdatacollectionisbeingsetupby
theCommission ,theOECDandtheWTO.
2.4.2.1.3.Introductionofmagneticandelectronic
media2.5.Alongsidetheabovementioned activities,the
followingadditionalinitiativesweretakentohelp
developtourismstatistics:
—cooperationwithinternationalorganizations ;
—inter-departmental actionbytheCommission ;
—cooperationwithECtradeorganizations .Dataarenowalsobeingcollectedanddisseminated
throughmagneticandelectronicmediasuchasCD­
ROMandon-linesystems.TheCommission has
devisedamultidimensional programmeentitledCUB.X

NoC52/24 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 19.2.94
2.6.TheCommission'sconsultations haverevealed
widesupportfortheestablishmentofacoherentEuro­
peansystemoftourismstatistics.—touristandculturalheritage,resourcesandinfra­
structure;
—leisureamenitiesandaccommodation ;
—relationsbetweentourismandtheenvironment ;
—economicandsocialimpactoftourism;
—effectsoftourismonsocialchange,traditionsand
culture.2.7.Stepstodeveloptheinformationsystem
requiredforpost-1992ECtourismstatisticswere
definedonthebasisoftheabovementioned workand
inthelightoftheECstatisticalprogrammefor1993­
1997.Thefollowingmeasuresandobjectivesareenvis­
aged:
2.7.1.Completion andconsolidation of
themethodology fortourismstat­
istics 3.2.HowevertheCommitteeregretsthatthereport,
whichwasdueon31December1992,hasonlybeen
presentednow.Thedelayisboundtoaffectthefuture
courseofthework. Themethodological manualwillbefinalizedandfor­
wardedtothemainprovidersandusersofstatistics.
Theworkwillbesupportedbyaspecificlegalinstru­
mentsuchasaRecommendation .3.3.TheCommunityactionplantoassisttourism,
adoptedbytheCouncilinaDecisionofJuly1992(!),
containsapackageofmeasurestoimproveknowledge
ofthetouristindustry.Theseinclude:
—developmentofCommunitystatisticsontourism;2.7.2.Organizing andaddingvalueto
existingdatainordertodissemi­
nateharmonized statistics
Thismeansdevelopingthenecessarysynergiesbetween
nationalandCommunitystatisticalprojects,andestab­
lishinganappropriatelegalbasis.ADirectivecould
provideacommonframeworkforthevariousactions
beingcarriedoutatnationallevel,andwouldhelpto
channeleffortsinthesamedirection.—detailedstudiesaimedatimprovingknowledgeof
tourismasanactivity,assessmentoftheimpact
ofcurrentCommunitypoliciestoassisttourism,
forwardanalysisofnewtypesoftourism,andthe
preparationofstrategiestokeeppacewithdemand.
3.3.1.Despiteonlybeingissuednow,thereport
makesnoreferencetotheprogressofthesemeasures.
Thissuggeststhattheywerenotconsideredduringthe
Commission'swork.Ifthisisthecase,itislikelyto
meanafurtherdelayinthedevelopmentoftourism
statistics.3.GeneralComments
3.4.Thereportidentifiesalargenumberofneeds
voicedbyusers,butdoesnotmakeacriticalassessment
ofthequalityandaccuracyoftheinformationprovided
ortherelatedcosts.3.1.TheCommitteeendorsesthemeasuresandthe
methodologyfollowedbytheCommissiontoachieve
theobjectivelaiddowninArticle2oftheCouncil
Decisionof17December1990.TheCommitteewel­
comestheextensiveconsultationsthathavetakenplace,
andthefactthattradeorganizationswerealsoinvolved.
3.1.1.WhiletheCommitteeendorsestheproposals
andthedatacollectionandprocessingmethodsused
bytheCommission ,itwonderswhethertheresults
obtainedwillguaranteetheavailabilityofappropriate
instrumentsforframingastrategydesignedtodevelop
andadministertourismproperly.3.4.1.TheCommitteethinksthatwhendeciding
whatdatatocollect,accountmustbetakenoftheextra
workloadwhichdatacollectionmayentailforfirms,
especiallyforsmallandmedium-sized businesses,and
thelikelycosts.
3.4.2.Theidentification andclassification ofuser
needsmustbeaccurateinordertoavoidambiguities
thatcouldgiverisetoproblems.Forexample,itis
wrongtobracket'timeshares'under'secondhomes'3.1.2.Theactionstobeadoptedinthetourismsec­
tor,andthedovetailingoftourismwiththeCom­
munity'ssectoralpolicies,musttakeaccountofawhole
swatheofrelatedissuessuchas:
—thefactorswhichdeterminetouristdemand;
touristmovements,brokendownbyorigin,desti­
nationanduse; (!)OJNoL231,31.8.1992.

19.2.94 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC52/25
asthesearequitedifferent.Norshouldspasbebracket­
edwithsaunasandbeautyandhealthfarms.
3.5.Themovetostandardizeconceptsandthecol­
lationoftourismstatistics,asreflectedintheEurostat
publicationofannualtourismstatisticsfor1991,is
mostwelcomebutisstillfarfromcompleteandin
somecasesdoesnotmakeaggregationpossible.Itis
thereforenecessarytopressaheadwiththeworkin
ordertoprovidemorecompleteandreliablestatistics
attheearliestpossibleopportunity .clearwhatstatisticswillbeprocessed.Accountshould
betakenhereoftheclassificationof'traveller'already
usedbytheWTOandtheOECD.
4.2.2.The'mainsegmentsintourismdemand'do
notmentionweekendvisitsorshorttripsusuallymade
inconnectionwithpublicholidays.Itisnotclear
whetherthesearecoveredbytheheading'visitsfor
holidaypurposes'.
4.2.3.The'emergingspecificissues'arelimitedto
culturalandruraltourism.Theydonotmentionsocial
tourismorthespecificformsoftourismreferredtoin
4.1.above.
4.2.4.Undertheheading'impactoftourism',no
mentionismadeofinvestment—akeyindicatorwhen
assessingimpact.3.6.Thereportcitestheyear2000asthedateby
which'satelliteactionsorinstruments 'willbeestab­
lishedaroundacoresystemoftourismstatisticssup­
portedbyalegalbase.Giventhattheprogrammewas
decidedin1990,theCommitteeisconcernedatthis
deadline,andatthefactthattheCommissionfeelsit
needsovertenyearstoacquireinformationwhich
shouldhavebeenavailablelongago.4.3.Theremovalofborderswithinthesinglemarket
willaffectthetraditionalpracticeofusingborder
checkstocollectstatisticaldataoninternational move­
ments.ItwouldthereforebeadvisablefortheCom­
missiontodeviseauniformmethodologytobefollowed
byallMemberStates. 4.SpecificComments
4.1.Thefollowingcommentsshouldbemade
regardingthesubjectstobeanalyzedinthemethod­
ologicalwork:4.4.TheCommittee(*)hasalreadyvoiceditscon­
cernabouttheexcessiveconcentration oftourismin
certainregionsandtheenvironmental deterioration
causedbytourism,especiallyincoastalandmountain
areas.Thestatisticspublishedshouldgiveabreakdown
ofspatialinfluencesincertainregions,howtourism
interactswithcertainregionsandthedegreeofoccu­
pationofexistingtouristfacilities.
4.5.Theconceptsused(e.g.socialtourism,rural
tourism)donothavethesameconnotations inall
MemberStates.TheCommitteethereforeagain
recommendsthedraftingofatourismglossary.—thesubjectsarefragmentaryanddonotcoverall
eventualities .Forexample,thevariablesmentioned
undertheheading'tourismdemand'donotcover
allaspectsoftheproblem;
—someoftheconceptsarevagueandimprecise,e.g.
'short-longstays','samedaytravel';
—someareconfusedandnotnecessarilyrelated,e.g.
'tourismandpassengertransport';
—the'specificformsoftourism'donotevencoverall
theformsidentifiedintheCommunityactionplan;
—thestatementthatthemethodology issupplemented
byafurtherlistofactionsrequiresclarification .5.Conclusions
5.1.TheCommitteecongratulatestheCommission
onitsworkbutasksittoconsidertheabovecomments
whentakingthefurtherstepswhicharestillneeded.
4.2.Theproposed'generalframeworkforthecom­
pilationofCommunitytourismstatistics—method­
ologicalmanual'isnotguaranteedtocoverthemain
aspectsofthetouristindustry.5.2.TheCommitteesupportstheissuingofa
4.2.1.Thefirstheading,'tourismdemand',isnot
brokendownintoitsmaincomponents ,soitisnot(')OpiniononaCommunityactionplantoassisttourism,
OJNoC49,24.2.1992.

NoC52/26 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 19.2.94
Directivetochanneleffortsatpresentdeployedina
fragmentedwayatnationallevel,butfeelsthatthisshouldcomeafterthecosts/benefitsanalysisof
harmonization .
DoneatBrussels,21December1993.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN
OpiniononObjective5(a)oftheReformoftheStructuralFunds(1994-99)AmendedProposal
foraCouncilRegulation (EEC)amendingRegulations (EEC)No2328/91,No866/90,No
1360/78,No1035/72andNo449/69withaviewtoExpeditingtheAdjustmentofProduction,
ProcessingandMarketingStructureswithintheframeworkoftheReformoftheCommon
AgriculturalPolicy(*)
(94/C52/09)
TheCouncildecidedon1September1993,inaccordancewithArticles43and198ofthe
EECTreaty,toasktheEconomicandSocialCommitteeforanOpinionontheabovemen­
tionedproposal.
TheSectionforAgricultureandFisheries,whichwasresponsibleforthepreparatorywork,
adopteditsOpinionon8December1993.TheRapporteurwasMrdePauldeBarchifontaine .
Atits311thPlenarySession,heldon21and22December1993(meetingof21December
1993),theEconomicandSocialCommitteeadoptedunanimouslythefollowingOpinion.
1.PreliminaryRemark
1.1.Firstofall,theCommitteewouldliketopoint
outthatitdeplorestheshortdeadlinewhichhasbeen
imposedonitbytheCouncil,obligingittoprepare
thisOpinionunderunreasonableconditionswhichdo
notallowaseriousandthoroughexaminationofthe
complexdocumentwhichhasbeensubmittedtoit.It
askstheCouncilforthwithtogiveitadeadlineenabling
ittoplayitsroleofaconsultativeassemblyrepresenting
theinterestsofEuropeancitizensonvitalmatters.ciple,thefactthatthevariouspartsoftheregulations
havebeenconsiderablysimplifiedbothasregardscon­
tentandtheproceduresfortakingdecisions(content
ofplans,requestsforaid,singleplanningdocument,
etc.).Itishopedthattheimplementation ofthenew
regulationwillbemadeeasier,providedthatthecom­
petentnationalandregionalauthoritiesintheMember
Statescanfollowtheleadgiven.
2.2.However,thetextoftheproposalisdifficultto
readandisunclearinmanyrespects,asitmakesalarge
numberofreferencestootherregulationsadoptedas
partofthereformoftheStructuralFunds('framework',
'co-ordination 'and'EAGGFGuidance'regulations).
TheCommitteedeploresthisstateofaffairs,especially
sinceitcontrastssharplywiththeoften-expressed wish
tomakeCommunityruleseasiertounderstandand
closertocurrentpractice.2.GeneralComments
2.1.TheCommitteenoteswithinterestthecontent
oftheCommission'sproposalandwelcomes,inprin­
(!)OJNoC235,31.8.1993,p.15.2.3.TheCommitteenotesthatthenewproposal
doesnotmakeanybasicchangestotheinvestmentaid