ABSTRACT
The previous chapters analysed tourism from an essentially microeconomics perspective to provide a solid understanding of both demand-and supplyside issues. However, it is also important to address issues at an aggregate level and encapsulate the ‘big picture’ regarding the economic role of the sector. In this context, this and the following chapter discuss tourism in a macroeconomic context, fi rst in this one at a national/regional and then in the next at an international level. In particular, the present chapter fi rst focuses on measuring the size of the tourism industry in relation to the total economy. This is an important topic not only from a scientifi c and analytical point of view but also for policy-makers who need to have a relatively accurate estimate of the overall size of the sector before being exposed to the lobbying power of various pressure groups. Tourism satellite accounts (TSA) are extensively analysed in the chapter as they are broadly agreed to be the best methodological tool for this purpose, at least from an accounting perspective.
