To help ETIP deliver its priorities, the TIU has been established in the Office of National Statistics (ONS). For the first three years the unit is grant funded by ETIP. As well as delivering several work streams in ETIP’s business plan, the Unit is fast becoming a centre of expertise on tourism data and intelligence.

Dr. Sean White is the Head of the TUI. He previously lectured and researched at Cardiff University School of City and Planning.

TIU Workstreams

1. Supply-side report development: The TIU has developed a better statistical picture of the ‘supply-side’ of tourism, drawing on the wide range of business data ONS have on industries supplying services to tourists at national, regional and local level. A report on GVA, employment and turnover has been produced and is available here. 

2. Day Visits:  The TIU are working with VE to deliver a new Day Visits Survey. A new regular survey is being put into place with data collection commencing in January 2011. National and regional analysis of day visits will be reported, establishing a benchmark which can be tracked in future years.

3. UK Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) Development: An experimental TSA for the UK has been published for 2008, and can be found here. A nowcasting paper using TSA data has also been published, and can be found here.

4. Measuring Tourism Locally: Helping DMOs, local authorities and sub national organisations to measure their tourism activity with methods, definitions and templates that are consistent across the country will help with trend analysis and data sharing. A Local Stakeholder Group has worked with the TIU to produce a series of guidance notes on measuring tourism locally on the following topics:

i.   Definitions of Tourism
ii.  Local Economic Impact Modelling approaches
iii. Demand Side Data: Undertaking Visitor Surveys
iv. Benchmarking and Tourism Performance Indicators
v.  Measuring the Supply-side of tourism 

5. Regional and Sub Regional Value of Tourism:  The TIU has undertaken a regional economic analysis to demonstrate the economic impact of tourism across the regions of England, and another report on the sub-regional value of tourism. 

6. Impact of Events: The TIU has produced a sixth guidance note, Event Analysis and Evaluation, summarising approaches to measuring the impact of events.

7. Tourism and Sustainability: The TIU has published a review of sustainable tourism indicators.