1. Introduction

1.1 Background, purpose and reading guide 

The Ministry of Economic Affairs has asked Statistics Netherlands (CBS) to monitor the economic evolution of the tourism sector in relation to its impact on the environment. CBS already conducted research in this area in 2016¹⁾, and will now update the results for the next reporting period from 2015-2022. 

After a brief introduction on the tourism and environment accounts, the section on methods (chapter 1) used goes into more detail on how the results were calculated. The section on results (chapter 3) presents and describes the indicators related to economic growth and environmental impact of the tourism sector. The report concludes with the conclusions (chapter 4) and recommendations for follow-up research into the impact of this sector on the environment (chapter 5). 

1.2 Tourism accounts 

CBS's Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) calculations are based on the 2008 definition of tourism from the Statistical Framework Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008²⁾. The concept of tourism within the TSA comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment. This may be for leisure, business or other activities that are not related to any activity which is paid for at the travel destination. A time criterion is used to define ‘outside the regular environment’: an activity, including travel, that lasts for more than two hours, but less than a year.

The key indicators of the TSA are spending on tourism, value added and tourism employment. Spending on tourism can be defined as ‘total spending by tourists or for the benefit of tourists before, during and after the trip, including their stay at the travel destination’. Spending is therefore classified as spending on tourism when the person who is spending is a tourist, or if the expense is for the benefit of a tourist. A distinction is made between spending on tourism at Dutch businesses and those outside the Dutch economic territory. This is broken down by spending by residents of the Netherlands³⁾, spending by visitors from other countries and other spending. 

1.3 Environmental accounts 

The environmental accounts, like the tourism accounts, are aligned with the national accounts. The environmental accounts link environmental statistics to economic data according to international standards laid down in the System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA)⁴⁾. This allows for a consistent and transparent analysis of the relationship between the environment and the economy. 

The environmental accounts comprise both physical and monetary data⁵⁾, including the emissions account and the material flow account. The former monitors the emissions of pollutants into the air, water and soil by the various economic sectors. The latter, and the material flow monitor⁶⁾⁷⁾ in particular, provides figures on the physical flows (in kg) of natural resources, products and residues in the economy. 

The environmental accounts provide an insight into how economic activities, such as those in the tourism sector, affect the environment and vice versa. This makes the accounts an essential tool for policy makers and researchers in developing sustainability strategies and evaluating environmental policies. 

1.4 Environmental impact of tourism 

In order to determine the environmental impact of the tourism sector, the data on the sector’s economic importance from the tourism accounts are calculated and combined with the environmental impact data from the environmental accounts. This approach is in line with the guidelines of the MST (Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism)⁸⁾. The MST is an internationally agreed upon framework that describes key concepts, definitions and data organisation structures that facilitate the production and organisation of data on the impact and dependencies of tourism on the economy, society and the environment. The MST guidelines allow for economic growth in the tourism sector to be monitored in relation to the sector's environmental performance. These guidelines were adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) in March 2024, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs endorses the importance of adhering to this international framework.