Macau Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) Director Kong Pek Fong said Thursday that the bureau had studied how to calculate the ratio of the city’s tourism sector contribution to gross domestic product (GDP)and that the findings were expected to be announced for the first time in the next quarter.
Kong made the remarks on the sidelines of the opening ceremony for a three-day international conference on statistics.
The conference, held at Macau Tower, is jointly organised by the bureau and the University of Macau (UMAC). It drew about 200 scholars in the field of statistics and officials on the first day.
Talking to reporters, Kong said that the bureau had started to study how to assess the “real value” of the city’s tourism sector two or three years ago.
“To calculate the value of the tourism sector – its contribution to the city’s GDP – is quite complicated… actually the [contribution] of the tourism industry is part of the city’s GDP,” Kong was quoted by The Macau Post Daily as saying. She also said that since the tourism sector is related to different economic sectors, officials needed to study how to assess its real value.
For example, regarding local restaurants or retail businesses, the bureau needed to calculate how much locals and how much tourists spend in these sectors, Kong said.
“We expect that we can announce the results of the contribution of the tourism sector to the city’s GDP for 2010 in the fourth quarter [of this year]. The result should show us the ratio of the tourism sector in the city’s GDP…according to international rules regarding statistics, which usually provide results for the previous three years,” Kong added.
A DSEC source told The Macau Post Daily that the bureau’s definition of the city’s tourism sector was based on a value-added “cross-industry” approach that would include “everything” concerning local tourism, such as restaurants, hotels, retail, transport and gaming.(macaunews)
