The joint project between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the State Statistics Committee of Turkmenistan “Strengthening institutional and statistical capacity on national accounts” conducted an online round table on the compilation of a satellite tourism account in the System of National Accounts 2008.

The aim of the round table is to present a draft methodology for compiling a tourism satellite account corresponding to the System of National Accounts 2008. Tourism satellite account is being introduced into practice in many countries. For countries with a developed tourism industry, this account is mandatory for implementation.

Representatives of State Statistics Committee of Turkmenistan, Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan, Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, Central Bank of Turkmenistan, State Customs Service of Turkmenistan, State Migration Service of Turkmenistan, “Turkmenhowayollary” agency (Turkmenistan Airlines) took part in the discussions.

“The intention of Turkmenistan to implement the Tourism Satellite Account will lead to an expansion of the tourism statistics portfolio in general and a strong integration of tourism statistics with the system of national accounts”, underlined Mr. Peter Hackl, international expert.

The tourism satellite account is an important tool that allows to analyze all aspects of the demand for goods and services related to tourism, to observe operational interaction with the supply of such goods and services, and to describe the interaction of this supply with other economic activities.