Commission Decision of 9 December 1998 on the procedures for implementing Council Directive 95/57/EC on the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism (notified under document number C(1998) 3950) (Text with EEA relevance) (1999/34/EC) (repealed)

1.2. DEFINITIONS OF VARIABLES

1.2.1. Capacity of collective tourist accommodation: local units on national territory

Number of establishments

Definition:

The local unit is an enterprise or part thereof situated in a geographically identified place. At or from this place economic activity is carried out for which — save for certain exceptions — one or more persons work (even if only part-time) for one and the same enterprise.

The accommodation establishment conforms to the definition of local unit as the production unit. This is irrespective of whether the accommodation of tourists is the main or secondary activity. This means that all establishments are classified in the accommodation sector if their capacity exceeds the national minimum even if the major part of turnover may come from restaurant or other services.

Number of bedrooms

Definition:

A bedroom is the unit formed by one room or groups of rooms constituting an indivisible rental whole in an accommodation establishment or dwelling.

Rooms may be single, double or multiple, depending on whether they are equipped permanently to accomodate one, two or several people (it is useful to classify the rooms respectively). The number of existing rooms is the number the establishment habitually has available to accommodate guests (overnight visitors), excluding rooms used by the employees working for the establishment. If a room is used as a permanent residence (for more than a year) it should not be included. Bathrooms and toilets do not count as a room. An apartment is a special type of room. It consists of one or more rooms and has a kitchen unit and its own bathroom and toilet. Apartments may be with hotel services (in apartment hotels) or without hotel services.

Cabins, cottages, huts, chalets, bungalows and villas can be treated like bedrooms and apartments, i.e. to be let as a unit.

Number of bed places

Definition:

The number of bed places in an establishment or dwelling is determined by the number of persons who can stay overnight in the beds set up in the establishment (dwelling), ignoring any extra beds that may be set up by customer request.

The term bed place applies to a single bed, double bed being counted as two bed places. The unit serves to measure the capacity of any type of accommodation.

A bed place is also a place on a pitch or in a boat on a mooring to accommodate one person. One camping pitch should equal four bed places if the actual number of bed places is not known.

1.2.2. Occupancy in collective accommodation establishments: domestic and inbound tourism

Arrivals of residents and non-residents

Definition:

An arrival (departure) is defined as a person who arrives at (leaves) a collective accommodation establishment or at private tourism accommodation and checks in (out).

Statistically there is not much difference if, instead of arrivals, departures are counted. No age limit is applied: children are counted as well as adults, even in the case when the overnight stays of children might be free of charge. Arrivals are registered by country of residence of the guest and by month. The arrivals of non-tourists (e.g. refugees) should be excluded, if possible. The arrivals of same-day visitors spending only a few hours during the day (no overnight stay, the date of arrival and departure are the same) at the establishment are excluded from accommodation statistics.

Nights spent by residents and non-residents

Definition:

A night spent (or overnight stay) is each night a guest actually spends (sleeps or stays) or is registered (his/her physical presence there being unnecessary) in a collective accommodation establishment or in private tourism accommodation.

Overnight stays are calculated by country of residence of the guest and by month. Normally the date of arrival is different from the date of departure but persons arriving after midnight and leaving on the same day are included in overnight stays. A person should not be registered in two accommodation establishments at the same time. The overnight stays of non-tourists (e.g. refugees) should be excluded, if possible.

Country of residence

Definition:

A person is considered to be a resident in a country (place) if the person:

(a)

has lived for most of the past year or 12 months in that country (place); or

(b)

has lived in that country (place) for a shorter period and intends to return within 12 months to live in that country (place).

International tourists should be classified according to their country of residence, not according to their citizenship. From a tourism standpoint any person who moves to another country (place) and intends to stay there for more than one year is immediately assimilated with other residents of that country (place). Citizens residing abroad who return to their country of citizenship on a temporary visit are included with non-resident visitors. Citizenship is indicated in the person's passport (or other identification document), while country of residence has to be determined by means of question or inferred for example from the person's address.

Net use of bed places

Definition:

The net occupancy rate of bed places in one month is obtained by dividing total overnight stays by the product of the bed places on offer and the number of days when the bed places are actually available for use (net of seasonal closures and other temporary closures for decoration, by police order, etc.) for the same group of establishments, multiplying the quotient by 100 to express the result as a percentage.

Formula: NORB = (P/Gd) × 100

where P is the number of registered overnight stays during the month (year) and Gd is the number of bed-days actually available for use during the month (year). The rates are generally calculated with an accuracy of one decimal.

Gross use of bed places

Definition:

The gross occupancy rate of bed places in one month is obtained by dividing total overnight stays by the product of the bed places and the number of days in the corresponding month (sometimes termed bed-nights) for the same group of establishments, multiplying the quotient by 100 to express the result as a percentage.

Formula: GORB = (P/Gp) × 100

where GP is the number of potential bed-days.