Indicator Fact Sheet

Household expenditure for tourism and recreation

Indicator Fact Sheet

Prod-ID: IND-246-en

Also known as:

This page was archived on 06 Nov 2013 with reason: Other (Not currently being regularly updated)

Assessment made on 01 Jan 2001

Generic metadata

Classification

Topics:

DPSIR: Driving force

Identification

Indicator codes

Contents

Policy issue: What causes the growth in tourism?

Key messages

Demand for tourism is growing as people become more affluent, more people retire, and travel becomes relatively less expensive.

Figures

Household consumption expenditure on recreation, EU15

Key assessment

Household expenditure on recreational, entertainment, educational, and cultural services, which includes tourism, increased by 16% between 1990 and 1997. This share is expected to grow as the EU's retired population both grows in number and, thanks to medical advances, remains healthy and active.

Many people are also getting more holiday time, and they are taking it. Vacation time in Denmark, for example, increased from 5 weeks to 5.5 weeks during the 1990s, while the growth in short breaks in the Netherlands grew twice as fast as long vacations. The same trend was also seen in France, where the average number of trips per person increased from 3.1 in 1975 to 4.8 in 1994, while the average length of each holiday fell from 18 to 13 days.