inbound and outbound tourism significato

What is Inbound and Outbound Tourism?

by Hammad Ur Rehman | Oct 25, 2021 | Travel Guide | 6 comments

Don’t you just love traveling around the world and exploring different places? Staying or visiting different countries or states for the sake of fun-filled holidays or work-related visits, are termed tourism. Tourism can be of two types, Inbound tourism or Outbound Tourism. Now the question arises that what is inbound and outbound tourism?

Well, the difference between the two is just a matter of perspective, that is, from where and how you see it. In simple words, if we look from the USA tourism perspective, the outbound tourism would be Robert going to Pakistan, while inbound tourism would be, Ali coming to the USA. Similarly, if we look from a Pakistani tourism perspective, the outbound tourism would be Ali going to the USA, and the inbound tourism would be, Robert coming to Pakistan.

Let’s move on and further elaborate on these two types of tourism.

What is Inbound tourism?

Inbound tourism is economically significant for a country. The tourist countries economically rely on the inbound visitors to drive their maintenance, growth, and development.

What exactly is inbound tourism? In easy words, you can call it incoming tourism. Let’s move further to see the definitions, meanings, significance, drawbacks, and examples of inbound tourism.

Definition of inbound tourism

When someone travels to a country, other than their own country, for tourism, this is called inbound tourism.

Inbound tourism is frequently influenced by certain factors like:

• Season or Weather
• Public holidays
• School’s summer or winter vacations

According to WTO (World Trade Organization) and UN (United States Nation), inbound tourism can be defined as follows:

“ The act of traveling to another country for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business, or other purposes .”

Importance of inbound tourism

Through foreign exchange, tourism may bring a lot of wealth into a country. This is especially advantageous in places where the local exchange rate is cheaper as compared to visitors’ native currency. Therefore, inbound tourism has high significance in many countries mainly because of the benefits it provides economically.

Mostly, countries target specific nations for advertising and promoting their inbound tourism. For instance, in today’s era, Chinese people tend to spend more on traveling every year as compared to any other nation, plus, the greatest outbound tourism markets are also produced by China. Therefore, Chinese inbound tourists are highly in demand by many tourist countries.

Drawbacks of inbound tourism

Depending entirely on income from the inbound tourism may cause problems. There are many places like Maldives, Goa, Fairy meadows, Greece, etc., whose economies rely on tourists from other countries.

The primary drawback of inbound tourism is that the place is at the hands of the transportation network. Many tourism industries have been ravaged as a result of airlines ceasing to operate a specific route. Cultural conflicts can also take place due to inbound tourism.

Some other disadvantages of inbound tourism include:

• Disposal, contamination, and emissions are all on the rise.
• Environmental and aquatic habitats are being physically harmed on a daily basis.
• Inappropriate buildings are being built next to historical places and monuments.
• Plenty of resources are being used up.
• Building infrastructure and utilization of land.

Inbound Tourism examples

Now that we have a basic understanding of inbound tourism, let’s look at some practical examples.

If a person from one country travels to another country for tourism, then it’s an inbound tourist. For example, Ali is having a summer break from his university and wants to go abroad. So, he decides to go for tourism to France and enjoys his summer break there. This is an example of inbound tourism because Ali is coming from Pakistan to France for his vacation, and it is a tourist activity for him.

Likewise, Robert is also having a summer break from his school and wants to visit another country. So, he decides to go for tourism to Pakistan and enjoys his summer break there. This is also an example of inbound tourism because Robert is coming from America to Pakistan for his vacation, and it’s a tourist activity for him.

Generally, some of the countries that are renowned for inbound tourism include Maldives, Goa, Greece, etc.

What is outbound tourism?

Leaving your homeland for the sake of gaining international tourism experience has wide importance for many countries.

Let’s jump into detail and find out what is outbound tourism, how do we define it, the importance of outbound tourism has it got any disadvantages, and a few examples of outbound tourism.

Definition of outbound tourism

When a tourist travels or visits outside his or her country for the sake of tourism, but not for more than a year. This type of tourism is called outbound tourism.

The WTO (World Trade Organization) and UN (United States Nation) define outbound tourism as follows, “The act of leaving your home country internationally for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business or other purposes.”

Throughout the years, the market for outbound tourism has grown significantly. However, different regions of the world have different growth rates of the tourism market, but the factors leading to progress are similar.

Importance of outbound tourism

Outbound tourism also has a positive impact on the economy of the county. It provides economic improvements in a variety of industries such as education, healthcare, business, and retail, etc.

For example, the more people travel to foreign nations, the more their demands for products and services increase. Thus, it is a source of economic growth and prosperity for many countries.

This direction of tourism helps in increasing employment opportunities, foreign currency earnings, and trade balance. Thus, it is a source of economic growth and prosperity for many countries.

Within a very short period, China has become the largest source of outbound tourists. The increasing number of Chinese outbound tourists opens the gate of opportunities for tour group operating companies, hotels, national government ad retailers.

Drawbacks of outbound tourism

Apart from the advantages, there are a few disadvantages of outbound tourism as well. These drawbacks include the following:

• Many outbound tourists spend a huge amount of money on international chains like KFC fast-food chains, which reduces the positive effects of tourism as the tourist is using money that has been taken out of his residence.
• ·Sometimes, a country relies far too much on its outbound tourism market. For example, some Caribbean island nations depend on money from tourists to fund their entire economy and government, but this is a risky move as the tourism market is highly inconsistent, and a small incident can lead to a large drop in tourism.

Outbound tourism examples

Let’s go through an example of outbound tourism from the USA point of view:

John is a US citizen and has a passport to the USA. He wants to go for tourism so he can explore the international culture and experience new things. So, he goes for a tour to Spain with his family and friends. This is an example of outbound tourism because John has applied for a tourist visa and is traveling outside his country, USA.

Another example of outbound tourism from Spain’s perspective:

Robert is a tourist from Spain who wants to go for tourism in the USA, but he has no American visa. So, he goes for a tour to the UK with his family and friends. This is an example of outbound tourism because Robert has applied for a tourist visa and is traveling outside his country, Spain.

What is domestic tourism?

Until here, we discussed international inbound and outbound tourism. However, tourism can also be domestic. Now you would want to ask what is domestic tourism ?

Well, it’s very simple. In domestic tourism, the tourist visits different regions, cities, or towns of the same country where he/she resides. In easy words, domestic tourism is vacations spent within the same country you live in.

Let me give you an example of domestic tourism, Sarah lives in California, USA, and for her vacations, she visits Pennsylvania, USA.

Domestic tourism is used by the government to eradicate poverty, economic development, production of employments, infrastructure upgrades, reduce the load from overcrowding. For instance, If the government of California promotes domestic tourism within its state, then more people would come to visit various places in California, which are less popular, and it would boost the economy of California by providing employment opportunities to the people.

Also Learn: Domestic vs International Travel

Final Thoughts

In general, tourism contributes significantly to international trade and the provision of job opportunities in many nations. I hope this article has provided you with a clear picture of what are the types of tourism and why are they significant. All types of tourism are important for the economic growth of any nation.

Check our article on: What is FIT And GIT in The Tourism

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What Is Inbound and Outbound Tourism With Example?

By Robert Palmer

Inbound and outbound tourism are two terms that are commonly used in the travel industry. Both of these terms refer to the movement of people from one place to another for the purpose of tourism. In this article, we will take a closer look at what inbound and outbound tourism means, along with examples.

What is Inbound Tourism?

Inbound tourism refers to when tourists visit a country that is not their own. In other words, it refers to the arrival of visitors from overseas into a country.

This type of tourism is also known as international tourism. The visitors could be traveling for various reasons such as leisure, business or visiting friends and family.

Inbound tourism can have a significant impact on a country’s economy by generating revenue through spending on accommodation, food, transport, and other tourist activities. For example, when tourists visit India to see the Taj Mahal or Singapore to experience its unique culture, they contribute significantly towards the local economy.

Examples of Inbound Tourism

• A family from Germany visiting Disneyland in California
• A group of backpackers from Australia traveling across Southeast Asia
• A businessman from Japan attending a conference in New York City

What is Outbound Tourism?

Outbound tourism refers to when tourists leave their home country to visit another country. It’s also known as domestic tourism when people travel within their own country for leisure or business purposes.

Outbound tourism can have an impact on both the traveler’s home country and the destination they are visiting. When people travel abroad from their home countries, they spend money on flights, accommodation and other tourist activities which can contribute significantly towards the local economy of the visited country.

Examples of Outbound Tourism

• A family from Canada taking a vacation to Hawaii
• A group of friends from the United States traveling to Europe for a backpacking trip
• A couple from Australia taking a romantic getaway to Bali, Indonesia

Inbound and outbound tourism are two important aspects of the travel industry. While inbound tourism refers to tourists visiting a country that is not their own, outbound tourism refers to people leaving their home country for leisure or business purposes.

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Glossary of tourism terms

Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. These people are called visitors (which may be either tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism has to do with their activities, some of which involve tourism expenditure.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Activity/activities : In tourism statistics, the term activities represent the actions and behaviors of people in preparation for and during a trip in their capacity as consumers ( IRTS 2008, 1.2 ).

Activity (principal): The principal activity of a producer unit is the activity whose value added exceeds that of any other activity carried out within the same unit ( SNA 2008, 5.8 ).

Activity (productive): The (productive) activity carried out by a statistical unit is the type of production in which it engages. It has to be understood as a process, i.e. the combination of actions that result in a certain set of products. The classification of productive activities is determined by their principal output.

Administrative data : Administrative data is the set of units and data derived from an administrative source. This is a data holding information collected and maintained for the purpose of implementing one or more administrative regulations.

Adventure tourism : Adventure tourism is a type of tourism which usually takes place in destinations with specific geographic features and landscape and tends to be associated with a physical activity, cultural exchange, interaction and engagement with nature. This experience may involve some kind of real or perceived risk and may require significant physical and/or mental effort. Adventure tourism generally includes outdoor activities such as mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, rock climbing, rafting, canoeing, kayaking, canyoning, mountain biking, bush walking, scuba diving. Likewise, some indoor adventure tourism activities may also be practiced.

Aggregated data : The result of transforming unit level data into quantitative measures for a set of characteristics of a population.

Aggregation : A process that transforms microdata into aggregate-level information by using an aggregation function such as count, sum average, standard deviation, etc.

Analytical unit : Entity created by statisticians, by splitting or combining observation units with the help of estimations and imputations.

Balance of payments : The balance of payments is a statistical statement that summarizes transactions between residents and non-residents during a period. It consists of the goods and services account, the primary income account, the secondary income account, the capital account, and the financial account ( BPM6, 2.12 ).

Bias : An effect which deprives a statistical result of representativeness by systematically distorting it, as distinct from a random error which may distort on any one occasion but balances out on the average.

Business and professional purpose (of a tourism trip): The business and professional purpose of a tourism trip includes the activities of the self-employed and employees, as long as they do not correspond to an implicit or explicit employer-employee relationship with a resident producer in the country or place visited, those of investors, businessmen, etc. ( IRTS 2008, 3.17.2 ).

Business tourism : Business tourism is a type of tourism activity in which visitors travel for a specific professional and/or business purpose to a place outside their workplace and residence with the aim of attending a meeting, an activity or an event. The key components of business tourism are meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions. The term "meetings industry" within the context of business tourism recognizes the industrial nature of such activities. Business tourism can be combined with any other tourism type during the same trip.

Business visitor : A business visitor is a visitor whose main purpose for a tourism trip corresponds to the business and professional category of purpose ( IRTS 2008, 3.17.2 ).

Central Product Classification : The Central Product Classification (CPC) constitutes a complete product classification covering goods and services. It is intended to serve as an international standard for assembling and tabulating all kinds of data requiring product detail, including industrial production, national accounts, service industries, domestic and foreign commodity trade, international trade in services, balance of payments, consumption and price statistics. Other basic aims are to provide a framework for international comparison and promote harmonization of various types of statistics dealing with goods and services.

Census : A census is the complete enumeration of a population or groups at a point in time with respect to well defined characteristics: for example, Population, Production, Traffic on particular roads.

Coastal, maritime and inland water tourism : Coastal tourism refers to land-based tourism activities such as swimming, surfing, sunbathing and other coastal leisure, recreation and sports activities which take place on the shore of a sea, lake or river. Proximity to the coast is also a condition for services and facilities that support coastal tourism. Maritime tourism refers to sea-based activities such as cruising, yachting, boating and nautical sports and includes their respective land-based services and infrastructure. Inland water tourism refers to tourism activities such as cruising, yachting, boating and nautical sports which take place in aquatic- influenced environments located within land boundaries and include lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, groundwater, springs, cave waters and others traditionally grouped as inland wetlands.

Coherence : Adequacy of statistics to be combined in different ways and for various uses.

Competitiveness of a tourism destination : The competitiveness of a tourism destination is the ability of the destination to use its natural, cultural, human, man-made and capital resources efficiently to develop and deliver quality, innovative, ethical and attractive tourism products and services in order to achieve a sustainable growth within its overall vision and strategic goals, increase the added value of the tourism sector, improve and diversify its market components and optimize its attractiveness and benefits both for visitors and the local community in a sustainable perspective.

Consistency : Logical and numerical coherence.

Country of reference : The country of reference refers to the country for which the measurement is done. ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Country of residence : The country of residence of a household is determined according to the centre of predominant economic interest of its members. If a person resides (or intends to reside) for more than one year in a given country and has there his/her centre of economic interest (for example, where the predominant amount of time is spent), he/she is considered as a resident of this country.

Country-specific tourism characteristic products and activities : To be determined by each country by applying the criteria of IRTS 2008, 5.10 in their own context; for these products, the activities producing them will be considered as tourism characteristic, and the industries in which the principal activity is tourism-characteristic will be called tourism industries ( IRTS 2008, 5.16 ).

Cultural tourism : Cultural tourism is a type of tourism activity in which the visitor's essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions/products in a tourism destination. These attractions/products relate to a set of distinctive material, intellectual, spiritual and emotional features of a society that encompasses arts and architecture, historical and cultural heritage, culinary heritage, literature, music, creative industries and the living cultures with their lifestyles, value systems, beliefs and traditions.

Data checking : Activity whereby the correctness conditions of the data are verified. It also includes the specification of the type of error or of the condition not met, and the qualification of the data and their division into "error-free data" and "erroneous data".

Data collection : Systematic process of gathering data for official statistics.

Data compilation : Operations performed on data to derive new information according to a given set of rules.

Data confrontation : The process of comparing data that has generally been derived from different surveys or other sources, especially those of different frequencies, in order to assess and possibly improve their coherency, and identify the reasons for any differences.

Data processing : Data processing is the operation performed on data by the organization, institute, agency, etc., responsible for undertaking the collection, tabulation, manipulation and preparation of data and metadata output.

Data reconciliation : The process of adjusting data derived from two different sources to remove, or at least reduce, the impact of differences identified.

Destination (main destination of a trip): The main destination of a tourism trip is defined as the place visited that is central to the decision to take the trip. See also purpose of a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.31 ).

Destination management / marketing organization (DMO) : A destination management/marketing organization (DMO) is the leading organizational entity which may encompass the various authorities, stakeholders and professionals and facilitates tourism sector partnerships towards a collective destination vision. The governance structures of DMOs vary from a single public authority to a public/ private partnership model with the key role of initiating, coordinating and managing certain activities such as implementation of tourism policies, strategic planning, product development, promotion and marketing and convention bureau activities. The functions of the DMOs may vary from national to regional and local levels depending on the current and potential needs as well as on the decentralization level of public administration. Not every tourism destination has a DMO.

Documentation: Processes and procedures for imputation,  weighting,  confidentiality  and suppression rules, outlier treatment and data capture should be fully documented by the  survey provider.  Such documentation should be made available to at least  the body financing the survey.

Domestic tourism : Domestic tourism comprises the activities of a resident visitor within the country of reference, either as part of a domestic tourism trip or part of an outbound tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39 ).

Domestic tourism consumption : Domestic tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a resident visitor within the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Domestic tourism expenditure : Domestic tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a resident visitor within the economy of reference, (IRTS 2008, 4.15(a)).

Domestic tourism trip : A domestic tourism trip is one with a main destination within the country of residence of the visitor (IRTS 2008, 2.32).

Domestic visitor : As a visitor travels within his/her country of residence, he/she is a domestic visitor and his/her activities are part of domestic tourism.

Durable consumer goods : Durable consumer goods are goods that may be used repeatedly or continuously over a period of a year or more, assuming a normal or average rate of physical usage. When acquired by producers, these are considered to be capital goods used for production processes, as is the case of vehicles, computers, etc. When acquired by households, they are considered to be consumer durable goods ( TSA:RMF 2008, 2.39 ). This definition is identical to the definition of SNA 2008, 9.42 : A consumer durable is a goodthat may be used for purposes of consumption repeatedly or continuously over a period of a year or more.

Dwellings : Each household has a principal dwelling (sometimes also designated as main or primary home), usually defined with reference to time spent there, whose location defines the country of residence and place of usual residence of this household and of all its members. All other dwellings (owned or leased by the household) are considered secondary dwellings ( IRTS 2008, 2.26 ).

Ecotourism : Ecotourism is a type of nature-based tourism activity in which the visitor's essential motivation is to observe, learn, discover, experience and appreciate biological and cultural diversity with a responsible attitude to protect the integrity of the ecosystem and enhance the well-being of the local community. Ecotourism increases awareness towards the conservation of biodiversity, natural environment and cultural assets both among locals and the visitors and requires special management processes to minimize the negative impact on the ecosystem.

Economic analysis : Tourism generates directly and indirectly an increase in economic activity in the places visited (and beyond), mainly due to demand for goods and services thatneed to be produced and provided. In the economic analysis of tourism, one may distinguish between tourism's 'economic contribution' which refers to the direct effect of tourism and is measurable by means of the TSA, and tourism's 'economic impact' which is a much broader concept encapsulating the direct, indirect and induced effects of tourism and which must be estimated by applying models. Economic impact studies aim to quantify economic benefits, that is, the net increase in the wealth of residents resulting from tourism, measured in monetary terms, over and above the levels that would prevail in its absence.

Economic territory : The term "economic territory" is a geographical reference and points to the country for which the measurement is done (country of reference) ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Economically active population : The economically active population or labour force comprises all persons of either sex who furnish the supply of labour for the production of goods and services as defined by the system of national accounts during a specified time-reference period (ILO, Thirteenth ICLS, 6.18).

Economy (of reference): "Economy" (or "economy of reference") is an economic reference defined in the same way as in the balance of payments and in the system of national accounts: it refers to the economic agents that are resident in the country of reference ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Education tourism : Education tourism covers those types of tourism which have as a primary motivation the tourist's engagement and experience in learning, self-improvement, intellectual growth and skills development. Education Tourism represents a broad range of products and services related to academic studies, skill enhancement holidays, school trips, sports training, career development courses and language courses, among others.

Employees : Employees are all those workers who hold the type of job defined as "paid employment" (ILO, Fifteenth ICLS, pp. 20-22).

Employer-employee relationship : An employer-employee relationship exists when there is an agreement, which may be formal or informal, between an entity and an individual, normally entered into voluntarily by both parties, whereby the individual works for the entity in return for remuneration in cash or in kind ( BPM6, 11.11 ).

Employers : Employers are those workers who, working on their own account with one or more partners, hold the type of job defined as a "self-employment job" and, in this capacity, on a continuous basis (including the reference period) have engaged one or more persons to work for them in their business as "employee(s)" (ILO, Fifteenth ICLS, pp. 20-22).

Employment : Persons in employment are all persons above a specified age who, during a specified brief period, either one week or one day, were in paid employment or self-employment (OECD GST, p. 170).

Employment in tourism industries : Employment in tourism industries may be measured as a count of the persons employed in tourism industries in any of their jobs, as a count of the persons employed in tourism industries in their main job, or as a count of the jobs in tourism industries ( IRTS 2008, 7.9 ).

Enterprise : An enterprise is an institutional unit engaged in production of goods and/or services. It may be a corporation, a non-profit institution, or an unincorporated enterprise. Corporate enterprises and non-profit institutions are complete institutional units. An unincorporated enterprise, however, refers to an institutional unit —a household or government unit —only in its capacity as a producer of goods and services (OECD BD4, p. 232)

Establishment : An establishment is an enterprise, or part of an enterprise, that is situated in a single location and in which only a single productive activity is carried out or in which the principal productive activity accounts for most of the value added ( SNA 2008, 5.14 ).

Estimation : Estimation is concerned with inference about the numerical value of unknown population values from incomplete data such as a sample. If a single figure is calculated for each unknown parameter the process is called "point estimation". If an interval is calculated within which the parameter is likely, in some sense, to lie, the process is called "interval estimation".

Exports of goods and services : Exports of goods and services consist of sales, barter, or gifts or grants, of goods and services from residents to non-residents (OECD GST, p. 194)

Frame : A list, map or other specification of the units which define a population to be completely enumerated or sampled.

Forms of tourism : There are three basic forms of tourism: domestic tourism, inbound tourism, and outbound tourism. These can be combined in various ways to derive the following additional forms of tourism: internal tourism, national tourism and international tourism.

Gastronomy tourism :  Gastronomy tourism is a type of tourism activity which is characterized by the visitor's experience linked with food and related products and activities while travelling. Along with authentic, traditional, and/or innovative culinary experiences, Gastronomy Tourism may also involve other related activities such as visiting the local producers, participating in food festivals and attending cooking classes. Eno-tourism (wine tourism), as a sub-type of gastronomy tourism, refers to tourism whose purpose is visiting vineyards, wineries, tasting, consuming and/or purchasing wine, often at or near the source.

Goods : Goods are physical, produced objects for which a demand exists, over which ownership rights can be established and whose ownership can be transferred from one institutional unit to another by engaging in transactions on markets ( SNA 2008, p. 623 ).

Gross fixed capital formation : Gross fixed capital formation is defined as the value of institutional units' acquisitions less disposals of fixed assets. Fixed assets are produced assets (such as machinery, equipment, buildings or other structures) that are used repeatedly or continuously in production over several accounting periods (more than one year) ( SNA 2008, 1.52 ).

Gross margin : The gross margin of a provider of reservation services is the difference between the value at which the intermediated service is sold and the value accrued to the provider of reservation services for this intermediated service.

Gross value added : Gross value added is the value of output less the value of intermediate consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 3.32 ).

Gross value added of tourism industries : Gross value added of tourism industries (GVATI) is the total gross value added of all establishments belonging to tourism industries, regardless of whether all their output is provided to visitors and the degree of specialization of their production process ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.86 ).

Grossing up : Activity aimed at transforming, based on statistical methodology, micro-data from samples into aggregate-level information representative of the target population.

Health tourism : Health tourism covers those types of tourism which have as a primary motivation, the contribution to physical, mental and/or spiritual health through medical and wellness-based activities which increase the capacity of individuals to satisfy their own needs and function better as individuals in their environment and society. Health tourism is the umbrella term for the subtypes wellness tourism and medical tourism.

Imputation : Procedure for entering a value for a specific data item where the response is missing or unusable.

Inbound tourism : Inbound tourism comprises the activities of a non-resident visitor within the country of reference on an inbound tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39 ).

Inbound tourism consumption : Inbound tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a non-resident visitor within the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Inbound tourism expenditure : Inbound tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a non-resident visitor within the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.15(b) ).

Innovation in tourism : Innovation in tourism is the introduction of a new or improved component which intends to bring tangible and intangible benefits to tourism stakeholders and the local community, improve the value of the tourism experience and the core competencies of the tourism sector and hence enhance tourism competitiveness and /or sustainability. Innovation in tourism may cover potential areas, such as tourism destinations, tourism products, technology, processes, organizations and business models, skills, architecture, services, tools and/or practices for management, marketing, communication, operation, quality assurance and pricing.

Institutional sector : An aggregation of institutional units on the basis of the type of producer and depending on their principal activity and function, which are considered to be indicative of their economic behaviour.

Institutional unit : The elementary economic decision-making centre characterised by uniformity of behaviour and decision-making autonomy in the exercise of its principal function.

Intermediate consumption : Intermediate consumption consists of the value of the goods and services consumed as inputs by a process of production, excluding fixed assets whose consumption is recorded as consumption of fixed capital ( SNA 2008, 6.213 ).

Internal tourism : Internal tourism comprises domestic tourism and inbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident and non-resident visitors within the country of reference as part of domestic or international tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(a) ).

Internal tourism consumption : Internal tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of both resident and non-resident visitors within the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism consumption and inbound tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Internal tourism expenditure : Internal tourism expenditure comprises all tourism expenditure of visitors, both resident and non-resident, within the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism expenditure and inbound tourism expenditure. It includes acquisition of goods and services imported into the country of reference and sold to visitors. This indicator provides the most comprehensive measurement of tourism expenditure in the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.20(a) ).

International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities : The International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) consists of a coherent and consistent classification structure of economic activities based on a set of internationally agreed concepts, definitions, principles and classification rules. It provides a comprehensive framework within which economic data can be collected and reported in a format that is designed for purposes of economic analysis, decision-taking and policymaking. The classification structure represents a standard format to organize detailed information about the state of an economy according to economic principles and perceptions (ISIC, Rev.4, 1).

International tourism : International tourism comprises inbound tourism and outbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident visitors outside the country of reference, either as part of domestic or outbound tourism trips and the activities of non-resident visitors within the country of reference on inbound tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(c) ).

International visitor : An international traveller qualifies as an international visitor with respect to the country of reference if: (a) he/she is on a tourism trip and (b) he/she is a non-resident travelling in the country of reference or a resident travelling outside of it ( IRTS 2008, 2.42 ).

Job : The agreement between an employee and the employer defines a job and each self-employed person has a job ( SNA 2008, 19.30 ).

Measurement error : Error in reading, calculating or recording numerical value.

Medical tourism : Medical tourism is a type of tourism activity which involves the use of evidence-based medical healing resources and services (both invasive and non-invasive). This may include diagnosis, treatment, cure, prevention and rehabilitation.

Meetings industry : To highlight purposes relevant to the meetings industry, if a trip's main purpose is business/professional, it can be further subdivided into "attending meetings, conferences or congresses, trade fairs and exhibitions" and "other business and professional purposes". The term meetings industry is preferred by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and Reed Travel over the acronym MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) which does not recognize the industrial nature of such activities.

Metadata : Data that defines and describes other data and processes.

MICE : See meetings industry.

Microdata : Non-aggregated observations, or measurements of characteristics of individual units.

Mirror statistics : Mirror statistics are used to conduct bilateral comparisons of two basic measures of a trade flow and are a traditional tool for detecting the causes of asymmetries in statistics (OECD GST, p. 335).

Mountain tourism : Mountain tourism is a type of tourism activity which takes place in a defined and limited geographical space such as hills or mountains with distinctive characteristics and attributes that are inherent to a specific landscape, topography, climate, biodiversity (flora and fauna) and local community. It encompasses a broad range of outdoor leisure and sports activities.

National tourism : National tourism comprises domestic tourism and outbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident visitors within and outside the country of reference, either as part of domestic or outbound tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(b) ).

National tourism consumption : National tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of resident visitors, within and outside the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism consumption and outbound tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

National tourism expenditure : National tourism expenditure comprises all tourism expenditure of resident visitors within and outside the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism expenditure and outbound tourism expenditure ( IRTS 2008, 4.20(b) ).

Nationality : The concept of "country of residence" of a traveller is different from that of his/her nationality or citizenship ( IRTS 2008, 2.19 ).

Non-monetary indicators : Data measured in physical or other non-monetary units should not be considered a secondary part of a satellite account. They are essential components, both for the information they provide directly and in order to analyse the monetary data adequately ( SNA 2008, 29.84 ).

Observation unit : entity on which information is received and statistics are compiled.

Outbound tourism : Outbound tourism comprises the activities of a resident visitor outside the country of reference, either as part of an outbound tourism trip or as part of a domestic tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39(c) ).

Outbound tourism consumption : Outbound tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a resident visitor outside the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Outbound tourism expenditure : Outbound tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a resident visitor outside the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.15(c) ).

Output : Output is defined as the goods and services produced by an establishment, a) excluding the value of any goods and services used in an activity for which the establishment does not assume the risk of using the products in production, and b) excluding the value of goods and services consumed by the same establishment except for goods and services used for capital formation (fixed capital or changes in inventories) or own final consumption ( SNA 2008, 6.89 ).

Output (main): The main output of a (productive) activity should be determined by reference to the value added of the goods sold or services rendered (ISIC rev.4, 114).

Pilot survey : The aim of a pilot survey is to test the questionnaire (pertinence of the questions, understanding of questions by those being interviewed, duration of the interview) and to check various potential sources for sampling and non-sampling errors: for instance, the place in which the surveys are carried out and the method used, the identification of any omitted answers and the reason for the omission, problems of communicating in various languages, translation, the mechanics of data collection, the organization of field work, etc.

Place of usual residence : The place of usual residence is the geographical place where the enumerated person usually resides, and is defined by the location of his/her principal dwelling (Principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses of the United Nations, 2.20 to 2.24).

Probability sample : A sample selected by a method based on the theory of probability (random process), that is, by a method involving knowledge of the likelihood of any unit being selected.

Production account : The production account records the activity of producing goods and services as defined within the SNA. Its balancing item, gross value added, is defined as the value of output less the value of intermediate consumption and is a measure of the contribution to GDP made by an individual producer, industry or sector. Gross value added is the source from which the primary incomes of the SNA are generated and is therefore carried forward into the primary distribution of income account. Value added and GDP may also be measured net by deducting consumption of fixed capital, a figure representing the decline in value during the period of the fixed capital used in a production process ( SNA 2008, 1.17 ).

Production : Economic production may be defined as an activity carried out under the control and responsibility of an institutional unit that uses inputs of labour, capital, and goods and services to produce outputs of goods or services ( SNA 2008, 6.24. ).

Purpose of a tourism trip (main): The main purpose of a tourism trip is defined as the purpose in the absence of which the trip would not have taken place ( IRTS 2008, 3.10. ). Classification of tourism trips according to the main purpose refers to nine categories: this typology allows the identification of different subsets of visitors (business visitors, transit visitors, etc.) See also destination of a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 3.14 ).

Quality of a tourism destination : Quality of a tourism destination is the result of a process which implies the satisfaction of all tourism product and service needs, requirements and expectations of the consumer at an acceptable price, in conformity with mutually accepted contractual conditions and the implicit underlying factors such as safety and security, hygiene, accessibility, communication, infrastructure and public amenities and services. It also involves aspects of ethics, transparency and respect towards the human, natural and cultural environment. Quality, as one of the key drivers of tourism competitiveness, is also a professional tool for organizational, operational and perception purposes for tourism suppliers.

Questionnaire and Questionnaire design : Questionnaire is a group or sequence of questions designed to elicit information on a subject, or sequence of subjects, from a reporting unit or from another producer of official statistics. Questionnaire design is the design (text, order, and conditions for skipping) of the questions used to obtain the data needed for the survey.

Reference period : The period of time or point in time to which the measured observation is intended to refer.

Relevance : The degree to which statistics meet current and potential users' needs.

Reliability : Closeness of the initial estimated value to the subsequent estimated value.

Reporting unit : Unit that supplies the data for a given survey instance, like a questionnaire or interview. Reporting units may, or may not, be the same as the observation unit.

Residents/non-residents : The residents of a country are individuals whose centre of predominant economic interest is located in its economic territory. For a country, the non-residents are individuals whose centre of predominant economic interest is located outside its economic territory.

Response and non-response : Response and non-response to various elements of a survey entail potential errors.

Response error : Response errors may be defined as those arising from the interviewing process. Such errors may be due to a number of circumstances, such as inadequate concepts or questions; inadequate training; interviewer failures; respondent failures.

Rural tourism : Rural tourism is a type of tourism activity in which the visitor's experience is related to a wide range of products generally linked to nature-based activities, agriculture, rural lifestyle / culture, angling and sightseeing. Rural tourism activities take place in non-urban (rural) areas with the following characteristics:

• Low population density;
• Landscape and land-use dominated by agriculture and forestry; and
• Traditional social structure and lifestyle

Same-day visitor (or excursionist): A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Sample : A subset of a frame where elements are selected based on a process with a known probability of selection.

Sample survey : A survey which is carried out using a sampling method.

Sampling error : That part of the difference between a population value and an estimate thereof, derived from a random sample, which is due to the fact that only a subset of the population is enumerated.

Satellite accounts : There are two types of satellite accounts, serving two different functions. The first type, sometimes called an internal satellite, takes the full set of accounting rules and conventions of the SNA but focuses on a particular aspect of interest by moving away from the standard classifications and hierarchies. Examples are tourism, coffee production and environmental protection expenditure. The second type, called an external satellite, may add non-economic data or vary some of the accounting conventions or both. It is a particularly suitable way to explore new areas in a research context. An example may be the role of volunteer labour in the economy ( SNA 2008, 29.85 ).

SDMX, Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange : Set of technical standards and content-oriented guidelines, together with an IT architecture and tools, to be used for the efficient exchange and sharing of statistical data and metadata (SDMX).

Seasonal adjustment : Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique to remove the effects of seasonal calendar influences on a series. Seasonal effects usually reflect the influence of the seasons themselves, either directly or through production series related to them, or social conventions. Other types of calendar variation occur as a result of influences such as number of days in the calendar period, the accounting or recording practices adopted or the incidence of moving holidays.

Self-employment job : Self-employment jobs are those jobs where remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits (or the potential of profits) derived from the goods or services produced.

Self-employed with paid employees : Self-employed with paid employees are classified as employers.

Self-employed without employees : Self-employed without employees are classified as own-account workers.

Services : Services are the result of a production activity that changes the conditions of the consuming units, or facilitates the exchange of products or financial assets. They cannot be traded separately from their production. By the time their production is completed, they must have been provided to the consumers ( SNA 2008, 6.17 ).

Social transfers in kind : A special case of transfers in kind is that of social transfers in kind. These consist of goods and services provided by general government and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) that are delivered to individual households. Health and education services are the prime examples. Rather than provide a specified amount of money to be used to purchase medical and educational services, the services are often provided in kind to make sure that the need for the services is met. (Sometimes the recipient purchases the service and is reimbursed by the insurance or assistance scheme. Such a transaction is still treated as being in kind because the recipient is merely acting as the agent of the insurance scheme) (SNA 2008, 3.83).

Sports tourism : Sports tourism is a type of tourism activity which refers to the travel experience of the tourist who either observes as a spectator or actively participates in a sporting event generally involving commercial and non-commercial activities of a competitive nature.

Standard classification : Classifications that follow prescribed rules and are generally recommended and accepted.

Statistical error : The unknown difference between the retained value and the true value.

Statistical indicator : A data element that represents statistical data for a specified time, place, and other characteristics, and is corrected for at least one dimension (usually size) to allow for meaningful comparisons.

Statistical metadata : Data about statistical data.

Statistical unit : Entity about which information is sought and about which statistics are compiled. Statistical units may be identifiable legal or physical entities or statistical constructs.

Survey : An investigation about the characteristics of a given population by means of collecting data from a sample of that population and estimating their characteristics through the systematic use of statistical methodology.

System of National Accounts : The System of National Accounts (SNA) is the internationally agreed standard set of recommendations on how to compile measures of economic activity in accordance with strict accounting conventions based on economic principles. The recommendations are expressed in terms of a set of concepts, definitions, classifications and accounting rules that comprise the internationally agreed standard for measuring indicators of economic performance. The accounting framework of the SNA allows economic data to be compiled and presented in a format that is designed for purposes of economic analysis, decision-taking and policymaking ( SNA 2008, 1.1 ).

Total tourism internal demand : Total tourism internal demand, is the sum of internal tourism consumption, tourism gross fixed capital formation and tourism collective consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.114 ). It does not include outbound tourism consumption.

Tourism : Tourism refers to the activity of visitors ( IRTS 2008, 2.9 ).

Tourism characteristic activities : Tourism characteristic activities are the activities that typically produce tourism characteristic products. As the industrial origin of a product (the ISIC industry that produces it) is not a criterion for the aggregation of products within a similar CPC category, there is no strict one-to-one relationship between products and the industries producing them as their principal outputs ( IRTS 2008, 5.11 ).

Tourism characteristic products : Tourism characteristic products are those that satisfy one or both of the following criteria: a) Tourism expenditure on the product should represent a significant share total tourism expenditure (share-of-expenditure/demand condition); b) Tourism expenditure on the product should represent a significant share of the supply of the product in the economy (share-of-supply condition). This criterion implies that the supply of a tourism characteristic product would cease to exist in meaningful quantity in the absence of visitors ( IRTS 2008, 5.10 ).

Tourism connected products : Their significance within tourism analysis for the economy of reference is recognized although their link to tourism is very limited worldwide. Consequently, lists of such products will be country-specific ( IRTS 2008, 5.12 ).

Tourism consumption : Tourism consumption has the same formal definition as tourism expenditure. Nevertheless, the concept of tourism consumption used in the Tourism Satellite Account goes beyond that of tourism expenditure. Besides the amount paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and services, as well as valuables for own use or to give away, for and during tourism trips, which corresponds to monetary transactions (the focus of tourism expenditure), it also includes services associated with vacation accommodation on own account, tourism social transfers in kind and other imputed consumption. These transactions need to be estimated using sources different from information collected directly from the visitors, such as reports on home exchanges, estimations of rents associated with vacation homes, calculations of financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM), etc. ( TSA:RMF 2008, 2.25 ).

Tourism destination : A tourism destination is a physical space with or without administrative and/or analytical boundaries in which a visitor can spend an overnight. It is the cluster (co-location) of products and services, and of activities and experiences along the tourism value chain and a basic unit of analysis of tourism. A destination incorporates various stakeholders and can network to form larger destinations. It is also intangible with its image and identity which may influence its market competitiveness.

Tourism direct gross domestic product : Tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP) is the sum of the part of gross value added (at basic prices) generated by all industries in response to internal tourism consumption plus the amount of net taxes on products and imports included within the value of this expenditure at purchasers' prices ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.96 ).

Tourism direct gross value added : Tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) is the part of gross value added generated by tourism industries and other industries of the economy that directly serve visitors in response to internal tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.88 ).

Tourism expenditure : Tourism expenditure refers to the amount paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and services, as well as valuables, for own use or to give away, for and during tourism trips. It includes expenditures by visitors themselves, as well as expenses that are paid for or reimbursed by others ( IRTS 2008, 4.2 ).

Tourism industries : The tourism industries comprise all establishments for which the principal activity is a tourism characteristic activity. Tourism industries (also referred to as tourism activities) are the activities that typically producetourism characteristic products. The term tourism industries is equivalent to tourism characteristic activities and the two terms are sometimes used synonymously in the IRTS 2008, 5.10, 5.11 and figure 5.1 .

Tourism product : A tourism product is a combination of tangible and intangible elements, such as natural, cultural and man-made resources, attractions, facilities, services and activities around a specific center of interest which represents the core of the destination marketing mix and creates an overall visitor experience including emotional aspects for the potential customers. A tourism product is priced and sold through distribution channels and it has a life-cycle.

Tourism ratio : For each variable of supply in the Tourism Satellite Account, the tourism ratiois the ratio between the total value of tourism share and total value of the corresponding variable in the Tourism Satellite Account expressed in percentage form ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.56 ). (See also Tourism share).

Tourism Satellite Account : The Tourism Satellite Account is the second international standard on tourism statistics (Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008 –TSA:RMF 2008) that has been developed in order to present economic data relative to tourism within a framework of internal and external consistency with the rest of the statistical system through its link to the System of National Accounts. It is the basic reconciliation framework of tourism statistics. As a statistical tool for the economic accounting of tourism, the TSA can be seen as a set of 10 summary tables, each with their underlying data and representing a different aspect of the economic data relative to tourism: inbound, domestic tourism and outbound tourism expenditure, internal tourism expenditure, production accounts of tourism industries, the Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) attributable to tourism demand, employment, investment, government consumption, and non-monetary indicators.

Tourism Satellite Account aggregates : The compilation of the following aggregates, which represent a set of relevant indicators of the size of tourism in an economy is recommended ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.81 ):

• Internal tourism expenditure;
• Internal tourism consumption;
• Gross value added of tourism industries (GVATI);
• Tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA);
• Tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP).

Tourism sector : The tourism sector, as contemplated in the TSA, is the cluster of production units in different industries that provide consumption goods and services demanded by visitors. Such industries are called tourism industries because visitor acquisition represents such a significant share of their supply that, in the absence of visitors, their production of these would cease to exist in meaningful quantity.

Tourism share : Tourism share is the share of the corresponding fraction of internal tourism consumption in each component of supply ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.51 ). For each industry, the tourism share of output (in value), is the sum of the tourism share corresponding to each product component of its output ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.55 ). (See also Tourism ratio ).

Tourism single-purpose consumer durable goods : Tourism single-purpose consumer durables is a specific category of consumer durable goods that include durable goods that are used exclusively, or almost exclusively, by individuals while on tourism trips ( TSA:RMF 2008 , 2.41 and Annex 5 ).

Tourism trip : Trips taken by visitors are tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.29 ).

Tourist (or overnight visitor): A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Tourism value chain : The tourism value chain is the sequence of primary and support activities which are strategically fundamental for the performance of the tourism sector. Linked processes such as policy making and integrated planning, product development and packaging, promotion and marketing, distribution and sales and destination operations and services are the key primary activities of the tourism value chain. Support activities involve transport and infrastructure, human resource development, technology and systems development and other complementary goods and services which may not be related to core tourism businesses but have a high impact on the value of tourism.

Travel / traveller : Travel refers to the activity of travellers. A traveller is someone who moves between different geographic locations, for any purpose and any duration ( IRTS 2008, 2.4 ). The visitor is a particular type of traveller and consequently tourism is a subset of travel.

Travel group : A travel group is made up of individuals or travel parties travelling together: examples are people travelling on the same package tour or youngsters attending a summer camp ( IRTS 2008, 3.5 ).

Travel item (in balance of payments): Travel is an item of the goods and services account of the balance of payments: travel credits cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by non-residents during visits to that economy. Travel debits cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from other economies by residents during visits to other economies ( BPM6, 10.86 ).

Travel party : A travel party is defined as visitors travelling together on a trip and whose expenditures are pooled ( IRTS 2008, 3.2 ).

Trip : A trip refers to the travel by a person from the time of departure from his/her usual residence until he/she returns: it thus refers to a round trip. Trips taken by visitors are tourism trips.

Urban/city tourism : Urban/city tourism is a type of tourism activity which takes place in an urban space with its inherent attributes characterized by non-agricultural based economy such as administration, manufacturing, trade and services and by being nodal points of transport. Urban/city destinations offer a broad and heterogeneous range of cultural, architectural, technological, social and natural experiences and products for leisure and business.

Usual environment: The usual environment of an individual, a key concept in tourism, is defined as the geographical area (though not necessarily a contiguous one) within which an individual conducts his/her regular life routines ( IRTS 2008, 2.21 ).

Usual residence : The place of usual residence is the geographical place where the enumerated person usually resides (Principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses of the United Nations, 2.16 to 2.18).

Vacation home : A vacation home (sometimes also designated as a holiday home) is a secondary dwelling that is visited by the members of the household mostly for purposes of recreation, vacation or any other form of leisure ( IRTS 2008, 2.27 ).

Valuables : Valuables are produced goods of considerable value that are not used primarily for purposes of production or consumption but are held as stores of value over time ( SNA 2008, 10.13 ).

Visit : A trip is made up of visits to different places.The term "tourism visit" refers to a stay in a place visited during a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.7 and 2.33 ).

Visitor : A visitor is a traveller taking a trip to a main destination outside his/her usual environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose (business, leisure or other personal purpose) other than to be employed by a resident entity in the country or place visited ( IRTS 2008, 2.9 ). A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Wellness tourism : Wellness tourism is a type of tourism activity which aims to improve and balance all of the main domains of human life including physical, mental, emotional, occupational, intellectual and spiritual. The primary motivation for the wellness tourist is to engage in preventive, proactive, lifestyle-enhancing activities such as fitness, healthy eating, relaxation, pampering and healing treatments.

What is outbound tourism and why is it important?

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Outbound tourism is an important type of tourism . Many countries rely heavily on travellers leaving their home country in search of an international tourism experience.

But what does it actually mean to be an outbound tourist? In this article I will explain what is meant by the term outbound tourism, provide definitions of outbound tourism and I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of outbound tourism. Lastly, I will provide examples of destinations which have significantly sized outbound tourism markets.

What is outbound tourism?

Outbound tourism definitions, the advent of low cost travel, increased disposable income and leisure time, globalisation, the importance of outbound tourism, the growth of the chinese outbound tourism industry, positive impacts of outbound tourism, negative impacts of outbound tourism, the value of outbound tourism to the uk, outbound tourism: conclusion, further reading.

Outbound tourism is the act of travelling ‘out’ of your home country for the purposes of tourism.

Outbound tourism does not include the purchasing of good or services before or after the trip within the tourism generating country.

To learn more about what a ‘tourism generating country’ is, read my post about Leiper’s Tourism System .

The terms outbound tourism and inbound tourism are often used interchangeably.

This is because a tourist who is travelling internationally is both an outbound tourist (because they travel OUT of their home country) and an inbound tourist (because they travel IN to another country).

The only exception to this would be if a person was travelling on a multi-centre trip, for example a backpacker. This is because they are not necessarily travelling from their home country.

The most widely utilised definition of tourism , proposed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and United States (UN) Nations Statistics Division (1994), prescribes that in order to qualify as a tourist one must travel and remain in a place outside of their usual residential environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business or other purposes.

When considering outbound tourism, it therefore makes sense to simply add in the prerequisite of leaving your home country country…

Based on this commonly accepted definition (although this is not without its limits- see this post for more details ), therefore, outbound tourism can be defined as:

‘The act of leaving your home country to travel internationally for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business or other purposes.’

Some other organisations have also offered definitions for the term outbound tourism.

The European Union define outbound tourism as:

‘Visits by residents of a country outside that country’.

Similarly, Visit Britain state that outbound tourism is:

‘The activities of a resident visitor outside of their country of residence’.

The growth of outbound tourism

The outbound tourism market has grown considerably throughout the years.

Of course, the outbound tourist market has grown at different rates in different parts of the world, but the reasons for this growth are largely the same.

Three of the biggest factors contributing to the growth of outbound tourism are: the advent of low cost travel, increases in disposable income and leisure time and globalisation.

The past two decades have seen significant developments in the history of tourism .

Increased competition within the marketplace and the introduction of low cost airlines has meant that more of us are able to travel more often.

In recent years the amount of disposable income that the average person has each year has increased. This means that people have more money to spend on international tourism .

People also have more leisure time than they used to. Paid holidays and increased flexibility as a result of flexi-time practices at work, means that people have more opportunities for international tourism than they did in the past.

Other posts that you might be interested in: – What is tourism? A definition of tourism – The history of tourism – The structure of the tourism industry – Stakeholders in tourism – Inbound tourism explained: What, why and where – What is ABTA and how does it work? – The economic impacts of tourism

More people want to experience outbound tourism nowadays than ever before. Globalisation has opened up many opportunities for us around the world.

Many destinations that were not previously accessible have opened up and subsequently developed their tourism industries.

Click here to learn more about globalisation and its impact on the tourism industry!

Outbound tourism is hugely important to many countries around the world. The OECD have a handy tool on their website which demonstrates the value of this tourism in different parts of the world.

Outbound tourism has many positive economic impacts that reaches further than just the tourism industry. Outbound tourism can help to enhance the economies of many countries by providing economic boosts in a range of sectors such as retail, healthcare and education.

Many countries, however, rely too much on outbound tourism. Should there be a reason that tourism declines, for example during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, a country’s economy could face dire consequences if they do not diversify their income.

A major recent development in the tourism industry is the growth of Chinese outbound tourism.

Today, China is the largest outbound tourism market in the world.

Chinese tourists spent more than $288billion on international travel in 2018, which equates to a whooping 25% of global tourism spend . It is predicted that Chinese tourists will take 160 million overseas trips by 2020.

This growth is largely attributed to rising incomes amongst Chinese workers and new freedoms allowed to the population . Many countries around the world now offer simpler and easy to obtain visas for Chinese citizens than they did in previous years.

This has resulted in a boom in Chinese outbound tourism. Whilst Chinese tourists travel all over the world, markets in Asian countries such as Thailand and Bali have seen particular increases in overall tourism numbers as a result.

Chinese tourists typically spend significantly more money when they travel than tourists from other countries. This means that the Chinese outbound tourism market is particularly welcomes in many destinations around the world.

Outbound tourism can be beneficial for both the traveller generating region and the tourist destination region .

In the tourist’s home country, outbound tourism can help to boost the economy. If tourists use a local operator to organise their travel arrangements, such as the national airline or a domestic travel agent, then some of the profits made will be retained in the home country.

When the tourist reaches their holiday destination there are many economic advantages to the host destination. The graph below by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) outlines the areas that profit the most from outbound tourism.

Foreign exchange income can be particularly beneficial in destinations where the currency is weak. Many destinations focus their marketing efforts in countries that have strong currencies, such as the UK, USA or Europe.

Another positive impact of outbound tourism is that income from tourism can be used to help boost the wider economy. Money can be reinvested in areas such as healthcare and education.

There are two major economic impacts that can have a negative effect on the destination.

The first is economic leakage in tourism . Outbound tourists often seek the familiar and may choose to spend their money in large chain organisations such as a Hilton Hotel or a McDonalds fast food restaurant. This causes money to be taken out of the tourist destination region, thus limiting the positive impacts from tourism.

The second is over dependence. If a destination relies too heavily on their outbound tourism industry, they could come into trouble should this be disrupted.

Disruptions to the tourism industry occur frequently around the world. Reasons include natural disasters, political unrest, economic instability and pandemics.

You can read about the economic impacts of tourism in more detail here.

According to the ONS, outbound tourism is a significant market in the UK, accounting for 1.8% of GDP.

The outbound tourism sector accounts for more than 221,000 jobs in the United Kingdom.

The economic contribution of UK outbound tourism equates to £37.1 billion.

The graph below indicates which destinations UK outbound tourists are choosing to travel to, with Spain being the most popular.

Outbound tourism is an important part of the structure of the tourism industry . Many countries rely heavily on outbound tourist markets and outbound tourism is a significant economic contributor. The outbound tourism market has grown and developed throughout the years, with the most significant and rapidly emerging market being the Chinese.

• An Introduction to Tourism : a comprehensive and authoritative introduction to all facets of tourism including: the history of tourism; factors influencing the tourism industry; tourism in developing countries; sustainable tourism; forecasting future trends.
• The Business of Tourism Management : an introduction to key aspects of tourism, and to the practice of managing a tourism business.
• Tourism Management: An Introduction : gives its reader a strong understanding of the dimensions of tourism, the industries of which it is comprised, the issues that affect its success, and the management of its impact on destination economies, environments and communities.

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Outbound tourism

• Peiyi Ding 3 &
• Shan Jiang 4  
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Outbound tourism describes the phenomenon of residents traveling from one country to another (World Tourism Organization 1994 ). It does not comprise of goods and services acquired for or after the trip within the generating country. It may be contrasted with inbound, domestic, and border tourism . For example, from an Australian perspective, visitors from the United States are inbound tourists, while from the US standpoint, they are outbound tourists.

With rising levels of disposable income, however, many emerging economies have shown fast growth. In 2012, the world’s top five destinations were the United States, Spain , France , China , and Macao (China). Source markets are largely concentrated in the industrialized countries of Europe , the Americas , and Asia and the Pacific (UNWTO 2013 ). With regard to expenditure on outbound tourism, China has shown by far the fastest growth. With the 2012 surge, China leaped to first place (US$102 billion), overtaking both the longtime top spender Germany...

• Travel Behavior
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• Tourist Market

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Gholipour, F., and R. Tajaddini 2014 Cultural Dimensions and Outbound Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research 49:203-205.

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World Tourism Organization 1994 Recommendations on Tourism Statistics. New York: United Nations.

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School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

Honggen Xiao

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Ding, P., Jiang, S. (2015). Outbound tourism. In: Jafari, J., Xiao, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_139-1

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_139-1

Received : 20 April 2015

Accepted : 20 April 2015

Published : 29 September 2015

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Online ISBN : 978-3-319-01669-6

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What is Tourism and explain in brief factors that promote tourism?

Ans: Travelling outside from their usual environment/places for the purpose of Leisure, Business, Pilgrimage, Education, Treatment, etc. There are Outbound tourism, Inbound Tourism, Domestic Tourism which has explained in detail below.

This Industry is a dynamic and competitive industry, very important for the country’s economy.

India is growing rapidly.

It has been calculated by the World Travel and Tourism Council of World that Indian tourism generated ₹16.91 lakh crores (US$240 billion) or 9.2% of Indian GDP and created 43 Million Jobs in 2018 and expected to grow ₹32.05 lakh crores (US$450 billion) by 2028.

It enhances the economy of the countries and boosts in a range of many sectors of the countries.

Many Countries rely on Tourism.

Outbound Tourism

Outbound tourism is the act of traveling “out” of your home country for the purpose of tourism, it comprises the activities to travel out their country of residence and outside their usual environment for not more than 12 consecutive months for the purpose of Leisure, Business, Pilgrimage, Education, Treatment, etc. It involves the people going from India to other provinces, territories, or countries. For example, going to Hawaii for a holiday is considered outbound tourism. The three biggest factors contributing to the growth of outbound tourism are the advent of low cost, an increase in disposable income, and leisure time in globalization. There are tourists who visit places with the objective of studies and exploration. The need for research promotes tourism. Archeologists, Geologists, Oceanographers, Biologists and Zoologists, Architects, and People researching Arts and Cultures seek places that have great significance in the field of research.

The recent growth in outbound tourism industries in the world market is from China. It has an estimate in 2018 is approx $300 billion only in outbound tourism. Whilst, Chinese tourism travel all over the world. This means that the Chinese outbound tourism market is particularly welcoming in many destinations around the world.

Inbound Tourism

The tourists coming from other places are called inbound tourists. Tourism can bring in a lot of money to a country through the foreign exchange from a global market. It is for this reason that many countries will target their advertising towards certain nationalities and will try to attract tourists, mainly from the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and many other countries. To attract the tourist the government explores the cultures, Places, Monuments & Heritage, Food, Lifestyles, etc. The best example is people mostly travel to see the “Wonder of the World” or a place like Las Vegas due to the biggest Casino or to a place like Dubai to watch” Burj Khalifa”. The Industry also implements marketing campaigns, aimed to attract travelers from other parts of the country.

The problems occur when there are pandemic, terrorism, natural calamities, etc. this kind of uncertainties our intentional problem creates a major problem in economics.

India is said to be the largest market for travel and tourism. India is a diverse product like eco-tourism, film, rural and religious, spiritual tourism.

Domestic Tourism

It comprises the activities of residents, traveling within the countries. It is also a big business to bring the economy of the local area. India is one of the popular domestic tourism. It is surrounded by Sea, Hills, Sand dune, Jungles, Different cultures, religion, food, temples (the state with the highest domestic tourists was Tamil Nadu, with over 385 million tourist visits), monuments, and heritage, etc.

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Why The World’s Top Travel Brands Are Betting Big On Indian Tourists

India’s surging middle class is projected to spend as much as $144 billion a year on international travel by 2030. and hotels, airlines and cities are spending millions to land them., by suzanne rowan kelleher , forbes staff.

L ast week, hundreds of global travel professionals gathered in Delhi for the inaugural Skift India Summit and the opportunity to glean valuable insights from the CEOs of major travel brands, including The Oberoi Group, OYO, Agoda and the country’s flag carrier, Air India. “India is having a moment,” explains Brian Quinn, head of event programming at Skift, “with the India outbound traveler poised to become the biggest global force in coming years.”

A decade ago, you could have said the same about Chinese tourists. Back in 2014, some 117 million Chinese tourists traveled internationally, which was a 20% increase from the previous year. But 10 years and one pandemic later, Chinese outbound travel still hasn’t rebounded to its pre-Covid heights, while the energy and focus of the global tourism machine has shifted southeast—to India.

With more than 1.4 billion people, India now has the world’s largest population and the fifth-largest economy . Outbound travel from India is growing much faster than from any other country, which has led to a flurry of predictions that have travel brands salivating.

“There’s such huge potential,” says Caroline Bremner, head of travel and tourism research at Euromonitor International , which projects 47 million Indian outbound travelers by 2030. “That’s more than doubling from 2019. And then on the spending side, it’s even better, going from $35 billion in 2019 to $84 billion in 2030,” she says. “Essentially, India is jumping up the ranks and will be the sixth-largest outbound source market globally by 2030, after China, the U.S., the U.K., Germany and France.”

A 2023 report by Nangia Andersen , the Indian arm of Andersen Global, forecasts that Indian outbound travel will grow at an 11.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between now and 2032—which roughly aligns with Euromonitor’s prediction for tourist volume. If these projections bear out, then another, wilder prediction may not be so implausible after all: organizers of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM), an industry conference to be held in Dubai in May, have touted that India’s outbound market will be worth $144 billion a year by the end of this decade.

And a recent report from McKinsey is similarly bullish on the longer-term prospects for Indian tourism. “India’s outbound travel has the potential to grow from 13 million trips in 2022 to over 80 million in 2040,” the authors write. “If India follows China’s outbound travel trajectory (which it could, due to similarity in population size and per capita income trajectory), then Indian tourists could make 80 million to 90 million trips a year by 2040.”

Given all the hype, travel brands have, naturally, begun heavily courting Indian tourists, often by tapping celebrities as influencers. Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan promotes Dubai and Katrina Kaif, a British actress who makes Hindi-language films, professes her loyalty to Accor. Actor Ranveer Singh appears in ads for Abu Dhabi , while his wife, Deepika Padukone, is the global brand ambassador of Qatar Airways . Meanwhile, Neeraj Chopra, the reigning Olympic gold medalist and world champion in javelin, has been enlisted to promote Switzerland’s spectacular alpine landscapes.

Yet before India’s outbound travel can reach its full potential, industry experts say, the volume of flights in and out of the country—a number mutually decided by the two respective governments—must increase dramatically. There were roughly 14% more flight routes by city pairs to and from India last year compared to 2019, according to data from FlightAware . Right now, airlines are operating just 18 scheduled passenger flights each week from India to the United States—up from 14 in 2019.

Some destinations have made policy tweaks to boost capacity. In late 2022, Canada lifted the cap on the number of flights from India from 35 per week to “unlimited” and gave Indian airlines access to six hubs, including Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, and Vancouver. South Africa Tourism, meanwhile, has teamed up with Ethiopian Airlines to provide faster links between India and Africa. Even Bhutan’s prime minister has emphasized the need to strengthen air connectivity between India and the tiny Buddhist kingdom.

Airlines are taking note of India’s growing importance as well. Most notably, Singapore Airlines inked a deal in late 2022 with Tata Group, paying a reported $250 million for a 25% stake in Air India. Last November, Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong told Forbes Asia of his plans to make India a new hub. “You can just tell how much potential there is,” Goh said. “India is growing but it’s significantly underserved.”

Hotel CEOs are also being seduced by the dizzying economic forecasts. “We just are blessed by the increase of demography in the world and blessed by the increase of households that want to travel,” Sébastien Bazin, CEO of the French hospitality giant Accor, told investors on the company’s most recent earnings call in February. He offered a short lesson on global economics, noting that the world’s emerging middle-class population exploded by one billion over the last 10 years. “Half of those are from India,” he emphasized. “We probably can wisely say that for the next 10 years, demand will no longer grow 3% to 5%, but probably 4% to 6%. You very well could be looking at a 3x demand over supply. And a lot of it, again, has to do with India alone, which is [expected to add] 500 million [to its] emerging middle class.”

“India is definitely an economic bright light,” echoes Bremner, noting that the country’s current 8% economic growth rate is stronger than China’s. Moreover, it shows no signs of slowing down.

Last year, 1.7 million Indian tourists visited the United States, making India the country’s fourth-largest travel source after Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom. The average Indian tourist also spends money when traveling internationally—roughly $5,252 per trip, according to the last six months of data collected by the National Travel & Tourism Office (NTTO), the agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce that tracks tourism statistics. Comparatively, the typical visitor from the United Kingdom and Brazil spends $2,656 and $3,344, respectively, while the average Japanese tourist spends $3,672. In other words, it takes two British tourists to spend as much as one Indian traveler.

If the United States wants to attract more Indian tourists in the future, experts say it needs to make entering the country much easier. “I am a firm believer that less friction will lead to more travel,” says Omri Morgenshtern, CEO of Agoda, the largest online travel agency in Asia. “Friction can be removed by adding direct flights, as well as by the introduction of visa waivers or by being able to book accommodation, flights and activities on one app.”

Currently, 62 countries permit Indian travelers to visit without first obtaining a visa—that’s 10 more than in 2016, the year that the Henley & Partners Passport Index launched. But the United States neither grants visa-free entry to Indian tourists nor does it make procuring a visa fast and easy.

While the U.S. is approving more visas for Indians today than in pre-pandemic years, the average visa wait time is still about 10 months, according to the U.S. State Department website . Before a leisure trip to America, an Indian citizen must wait for a visa interview, which can take anywhere from 197 days at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi to 423 days at the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai. In comparison, Indian tourists can get a visa for Canada in just 23 days or the United Kingdom in roughly three weeks.

U.S. officials readily acknowledge that visa wait times are a big problem. Speaking at the Skift India Summit on Tuesday, Eric Garcetti, the U.S. Ambassador to India, told conference-goers that President Joe Biden specifically asked him to tackle the backlog. “I bet it’s the only time the United States president has told the ambassador, ‘Please work on visa issues,’” Garcetti said.

Visa waivers have a proven track record and give nations a competitive edge, insists Agoda CEO Morgenstern. After Azerbaijan introduced the ASAN system, which processes electronic visas within three working days of submitting an application, interest from Indian tourists skyrocketed and arrivals increased fivefold in two years. “Thailand and Malaysia both introduced visa waivers for tourists from India late last year, and that led to an immediate increase in searches from India to both markets,” Morgenshtern says, noting that searches for Thailand grow by 46% even though Thailand was already the top searched destination by Indians. “In the two months after the visa waiver came into effect, Bangkok overtook Dubai as the most-booked city destinations for Indians.” Yet the emirate was not to be outmaneuvered. In February, Dubai introduced a five-year multiple-entry visa for inbound Indian travelers.

Another reason why India is such an attractive source market is its youthful population. Only 7% of India’s population is 65 years and older, compared with 14% in China and 18% in the U.S., according to data from a recent report from the Pew Research Center. People under the age of 25 account for more than 40% of India’s population . “ In fact, there are so many Indians in this age group that roughly one-in-five people globally who are under the age of 25 live in India,” notes the Pew report. “Looking at India’s age distribution another way, the country’s median age is 28. By comparison, the median age is 38 in the United States and 39 in China.”

“It’s an extremely well-educated populace, very digitally savvy,” says Bremner, adding that more than 75% of Indian millennials and Gen Xers traveled in 2023, according to Euromonitor data.

“Indian travelers are more engaged with ecotourism and sustainability than their global counterparts. They are open to all kinds of experiences, from luxury to eco-adventure,” Bremner continues. “And, of course, they are high spending. I’m not at all surprised that destinations from Asia to the Middle East and Europe and U.S. are chasing them.”

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Inbound Tourism February 2024

• Background Notes

Over 433,300 foreign visitors departed Ireland in February 2024

Periodicity.

Annual/Monthly.

Inbound travel patterns of foreign residents visiting Ireland, which involve overnight stays and same-day trips, and associated variables.

All foreign resident visitors departing Ireland on overseas air and sea routes. Foreign resident visitors who depart Ireland via Northern Ireland are not covered. Foreign resident cruise excursionists who visit Ireland are also not covered.

The purpose of the Inbound Tourism statistical series is to measure the travel patterns (trips, nights, purpose of trip, type of accommodation, expenditure, etc.) of foreign resident visitors to Ireland.  The series is one of several Central Statistics Office (CSO) tourism series conducted to comply with the requirements of Council Directive 95/57/EC of 23 November 1995 concerning the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism for data to the end of 2011 and Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2011 concerning European statistics on tourism and repealing Council Directive 95/57/EC in respect of data from the beginning of 2012.

Data Collection

Information is collected via the Passenger Survey , an ongoing survey of departing passengers at Cork, Dublin, Kerry, Knock and Shannon Airports, and at Dublin Port, Europort Rosslare and Ringaskiddy Port.

Why departing passengers (as opposed to arriving passengers). There are three reasons for this:

• EU Regulation on tourism statistics specifies that it is the date of departure, rather than the date of arrival, that determines the reference month for tourism flows. Surveying departing passengers aligns with this concept.
• The full details of a trip are not always known the moment a visitor first arrives in a country. This is particularly the case in relation to expenditure, where the visitor will not usually know exactly how much he/she will spend on their trip. Surveying departing passengers only, when the full trip details are known, avoids this ambiguity.
• From an operational perspective, it is easier to survey departing passengers (whilst waiting at an airport departure gate or waiting to board a vessel) than arriving passengers (who often depart directly the airport or port facilities).

The Passenger Survey is conducted by CSO enumerators and consists of enumerator-led interviews of a sample of departing passengers. The data is captured by the enumerators using of an electronic questionnaire hosted on tablets and mobile devices. The questionnaire captures information on the flight or sailing of the departing passenger, their residency, reason for travel, their length of stay in the country, the accommodation types they used and various expenditure information such as their fare cost, accommodation cost and day-to-day expenditure.

The Passenger Survey was first trialled in Dublin Airport in 2019 then, following a hiatus due to COVID-19, was fully implemented in Dublin Airport in 2022, before being rolled out to the other airports and seaports in early 2023.

Sample Design

The Passenger Survey employs a hybrid sample design. At Dublin Airport, where the main enumeration effort is made, a two-stage cluster sample approach is used. A sample of departing flights (clusters) is randomly selected. Then the enumerators interview a systematic sample of passengers preparing to board those flights. At Cork, Kerry, Knock and Shannon Airports, where flight departures are less frequent, a different approach is used. Enumerators are allocated rotating shifts that represent the full range of flight activity. The enumerators then attempt to interview a sample of passengers on all flights departing in their shifts. At the seaports, where sailings are even less frequent, a different approach again is taken. A systematic sample of departing sailings is selected and the enumerators then attempt to interview as many passengers as possible preparing to board these vessels. The overall sample size of the  Passenger Survey  in February 2024 was 12,493 passengers.

Series Volatility

Due to difficulties scaling up the enumerator field-force, the Passenger Survey has not yet fully reached its target size (at least 15,000 passenger interviews per month). This has implications for some of the series estimates, particularly the country of residence breakdowns, which often entail estimating relatively small proportions of the travelling population (see Table 2). Consequently, there is a significant imprecision in these estimates and this manifests as volatility in the month-on-month reporting of some of the less frequent residence categories. Instead of limiting this information the CSO has decided to publish the relatively extensive residency breakdown in the expectation that the sample size issue will be short-lived. In the interim, the user of these statistics should be mindful of the imprecision inherent in these estimates, particularly in May and June 2023 when the sample size was just 8,009 and 7,669 passengers respectively.

Definitions

Means the activity of visitors taking a trip to a main destination outside their usual environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose, including business, leisure or other personal purpose, other than to be employed by a resident entity in the place visited.

Usual Environment

The usual environment of an individual is defined as the geographical area (though not necessarily a contiguous one) within which an individual conducts his/her regular life routines.  Places that are frequently visited are part of a person’s  usual environment  even though they may be located at a considerable distance (or in another country) from the place of residence. For the purposes of this release, trips taken on a weekly or more frequent basis are considered to be within a respondent’s usual environment and are thus excluded from estimates for tourism trips.  The one exception being that of holiday homes which although may be frequently visited, are considered outside the  usual environment  according to the UNWTO 2008 International Recommendations on Tourism Statistics (IRTS).

Inbound Tourism

Inbound tourism is defined as the activities of foreign residents travelling to and staying in places within the Republic of Ireland and outside their usual environment. It is important to note that trips by Northern Ireland residents to the Republic, whilst technically classed as inbound tourism, are excluded from these series for practical reasons. Northern Ireland residents who depart the Republic via an airport or seaport in the Republic, are assumed to the same day visitors simply transiting through. 

A Visitor is defined as 'any person travelling to a place other than that of his/her usual environment for less than twelve months and whose main purpose is other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited'. 

Same Day Visitor

A same day visitor is a visitor who spends no more than one day in the country visited. They do not stay overnight.

Overnight Visitor

An overnight visitor is a visitor who stays at least one night in the country visited.

A trip refers to the travel by a person from the time of departure from his/her usual residence until he/she returns: it thus refers to a round trip. A trip may be made up of visits to different places. Only trips by foreign residents to Ireland are included in the Inbound Tourism series.

Reported are foreign resident overnight and same-day trips that ended in the reference month. Note that the overnight foreign resident visitors may have arrived in Ireland prior to the reference month (e.g. if a visitor arrived in Ireland in May 2023 and departed in June 2023, this would be classed as a June 2023 trip).

Included are all trips for personal or professional purposes (e.g. holidays, visiting friends or relatives, business or professional trips, sporting or religious events, medical visits, shopping trips). Excluded are all trips that are part of normal work routines, such as trips by aircrew, sea crew and commercial vehicle drivers. 

Country of Residence

Country of Residence is defined as the country in which the person has resided during the greater part of the 12 months prior to being interviewed.

Departing Passenger Categories

All passengers departing Ireland on overseas routes are divided into one of five categories;

• Outbound Irish; these are Irish residents heading abroad for tourism or other purposes. Irish residents (which may include foreign nationals) are those who have lived in Ireland for at least the last 12 months.
• Same Day Visitor: Northern Ireland; these are residents of Northern Ireland departing the Island of Ireland through an airport or sea port in the Republic of Ireland. It is assumed that these residents of Northern Ireland are merely transiting through the Republic to avail of the various additional overseas travel routes on offer. Therefore, these passengers are categorised as same day visitors.
• Same Day Visitor: Transfer; these are foreign residents who travel to an Irish airport solely for the purpose of catching a connecting flight to a foreign destination. They are usually in the country for just an hour or so and are therefore considered same day visitors. Transfer passengers are not the same as transit passengers, who remain onboard their aircraft before it flies on to a further destination. Transit passengers are outside the scope of this Inbound Tourism.
• Same Day Visitor: Other; these are foreign resident departing passengers, other than Northern Irish residents or transfer passengers, who depart an Irish airport or seaport on the same day they arrived. Examples include business travellers flying in and out on the same day for a business meeting or travellers flying in and out for a family funeral.
• Overnight Foreign Resident Visitors; these are departing foreign resident visitors to Ireland whose trip has comprised at least one overnight stay in the country.

Nights refer to the number of nights stayed in the country by the foreign resident visitors. By definition, same day visitors spend no nights in the country. It is important to note that the number of nights reported in a particular reference month refer to the cumulative trip nights spent in the country by the visitor departing that reference month. They are not apportioned out over individual months. Thus a visitor who arrives in Ireland on 24 May and departs on 8 June will be classed as having spent 14 nights in the country as he departs in June (even though 7 of those nights were actually spent in May). Seasonal factors (e.g. foreign students departing the country at the end of term) may inflate the number of nights reported in specific months (e.g. December).

Main Reason for Travel

The main reason for travel is the primary purpose for which the visitor came to Ireland. A visitor may have multiple reasons for visiting Ireland, but only the main reason is reported.

Main Accommodation Type

Main accommodation type is the type of accommodation the visitors used more than any other type. Very often, visitors will stay in only one accommodation type and this is their main accommodation type by default. If visitors stay in more than one accommodation type, the type they spent the most nights in is designated their main accommodation type.

Expenditure

Expenditure covers all routine expenditure relating directly to a trip. Expenditure is divided into four categories:

• Fares; the cost of air and ferry tickets to travel to and from Ireland.
• Prepayments; purchases of services in Ireland (e.g. car hire, tour bookings, concert tickets, etc, but excluding accommodation) undertaken in advance of the trip and relating directly to the trip.
• Accommodation; the cost of hotels, guesthouses, rented holiday homes etc, during the trip.
• Day-to-day expenditure; These are all other routine costs incurred during the trip. These include the cost of eating out, the purchase of gifts and routine consumables, tour and equipment costs (where not prepaid in advance of the trip) and other incidental expenses.

All expenditure relates to individual expenditure. Where visitors travel as a group and can only provide the cost of the group fare, group accommodation, etc. these group costs are divided by the number of persons in the travelling party to estimate the individual costs. The expenditure covers both payments made by the travelling party and all expenses paid for or reimbursed by others (e.g. an employer).

Fares only cover the cost of travelling directly to and from Ireland. Where a visitor purchases a ticket covering multiple destinations only the cost of the direct route to Ireland is nominally included (e.g. if a US visitor flies from John F Kennedy Airport to Heathrow Airport and from there to Dublin Airport, only the Heathrow-Dublin element of the fare is included). In these cases the visitor is assigned the median fare of those who only travel the direct route. For those who travel to Ireland by ferry, their accompanying vehicle (if any) is included in the cost of the fare.

Package fares are assumed to cover the cost of both fares and accommodation. Visitors who package fares are assigned a median fare based on their travel route and the remainder of their package costs are assumed to be their accommodation costs.

Prepayments only cover the purchases of services in Ireland. The purchase of travel-related services in other countries (e.g. airport parking at their point of embarkation to Ireland) are excluded.

Accommodation costs cover all direct costs associated with booking a room, bed or space in the accommodation premises. The purchase of additional services from the accommodation provider (e.g. an evening meal or on-site parking) are classed as day-to-day expenditures (or prepayments, when booked in advance). Note that nights spent with friends or relatives or in the visitors own properties are assumed to be unpaid accommodation.

Excluded from trip costs are any expenditure on housing, land, real estate, goods for resale, donations to charities/institutions or cash presents/payments to relatives and friends who are not part of the travel party.

Individual figures have been rounded independently and the sum of the component items therefore may not necessarily add to the totals shown.

List of Countries - Inbound Tourism 

Relationships to other cso tourism series.

The Inbound Tourism series complements the Household Travel Survey series in that whilst the former reports statistics on Inbound Tourism, the latter reports statistics on Domestic Tourism (Irish residents travelling within Ireland) and Outbound Tourism (Irish residents travelling abroad). Definitions and classifications between the two sets of series are harmonised as closely as possible and statistics on Outbound Tourism are calibrated to departing Irish resident passenger numbers compiled from the Passenger Survey . Taken together, the Inbound Tourism series and the Household Travel Survey series provide a very comprehensive overview of all tourism activities impacting the state.

The Inbound Tourism series also complements the Air and Sea Travel Statistics compiled and published during the COVID-19 era (and updated and maintained on a monthly basis in the CSO Database system:

Air and Sea Travel Statistics, ASM01, ASM02, ASM03

Whilst the Air and Sea Travel Statistics reports the overall number of passengers arriving and departing on overseas routes, the Inbound Tourism series provides the detailed characteristics of the departing passengers. The Inbound Tourism series is weighted to the number of departing passengers reported in the Air and Sea Travel Statistics .

The Inbound Tourism series is also related to the former Overseas Travel series (published monthly up to February 2020) and the former Tourism and Travel series (published quarterly to the fourth quarter of 2019), in that all three sets of series report on the characteristics of foreign resident visitors who travel on overseas routes to Ireland. However, care must be taken comparing the Inbound Tourism series to both the Overseas Travel series and Tourism and Travel series. The Inbound Tourism series is compiled using a very different sampling methodology and a very different mode of data collection. Therefore, the results of the respective series are not directly comparable. The Inbound Tourism series should be seen as a completely new and different statistical series rather than a continuation or update of the Overseas Travel and Tourism and Travel series.

Methodological Review

The Inbound Tourism series is a new statistical series based on an updated sampling methodology and data collection process. This new methodology represents a significant improvement on the previous methodology, particularly in terms of the sampling and a move to a fully digitised process, and this produces an enhanced measurement of inbound tourism in Ireland. In line with best practice, the CSO monitors the quality of its methodological processes and outputs of its statistical work.   As part of the review process for this series, a range of validation exercises have been conducted including a review of the raw passenger data by destination and the change to surveying departing passengers only (versus the previously applied process of surveying arriving and departing passengers).  The CSO will continue to review its application and outcomes over the coming months.

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Payment convenience planned to strengthen inbound tourism

China has decided to launch a series of precise measures targeting the existing problems in its inbound tourism market.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism said it will promote the facilitation of payments in places such as tourist attractions, cultural and performance venues and star-rated hotels, enrich the supply of inbound tourism products and services, and step up market promotion abroad to better satisfy the needs of travelers to the country.

"We will focus on improving the convenience of payments at key tourist destinations," said Wu Kefeng, deputy head of the ministry's department of resource development, at a news conference on Friday in Beijing.

This includes promoting the establishment of necessary software and hardware facilities for accepting mobile payments, bank cards and cash at all national 5A and 4A tourist attractions, national and provincial tourist resorts, and in national-level tourist leisure districts, Wu said.

The goal is to create an inclusive and diverse payment environment, he added.

During the January-February period, nearly 2.95 million entries and exits of foreign nationals were recorded by the National Immigration Administration, according to statistics from the administration cited by the ministry at the news conference. The number is 41.5 percent of the prepandemic total.

In September, the State Council, China's Cabinet, released a State-level guideline to focus on the growth of tourism-related consumption and higher-quality development of the industry.

Earlier this month, the State Council released another guideline to continue optimizing payment services in the country. This guideline is aimed at providing higher-quality, more effective and more convenient payment services for senior citizens and foreign visitors.

On Friday, the ministry said it will actively cooperate with relevant departments to promote the establishment of foreign currency exchange service points at tourist resorts and in national-level tourist leisure districts with a high influx of inbound visitors, or encourage nearby bank branches to provide foreign currency exchange services, thereby better meeting the cash payment needs of inbound tourists.

All tourist attractions will offer offline ticketing services for inbound travelers, while online reservation services in English will also be available, Wu said.

"For reservations requiring realname authentication, foreign passports, permanent residence identity cards of foreigners and travel permits to the Chinese mainland for residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will be included on the recognized list of identification documents," he said.

In addition, key tourist attractions will be urged to improve multilingual signage and guiding facilities, and continuously enhance their foreign language service capabilities.

With China's visa-free "circle of friends" expanding, foreigners are showing more willingness to travel to China.

On March 14, a visa-free policy was launched on trial basis for visitors from Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg.

According to the Foreign Ministry, ordinary passport holders from these nations can enter China without a visa for business, tourism, family visit and transit purposes till Nov 30, and stay up to 15 days at a stretch.

In November, a similar visa-free policy was implemented for travelers holding ordinary passports of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia.

During the Spring Festival holiday period, the effects of China's visa-free policy became apparent, with a significant increase in visitors from countries newly added to the visa-free list, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia as well as Singapore.

The total volume of inbound tourism orders on some online travel agency platforms doubled compared with the same period in 2019, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism noted.

Since the beginning of the year, inbound tourism orders have increased more than threefold compared with the same period last year and 50 percent compared with 2019, said Qin Jing, vice-president of Shanghai-based online travel agency Trip.com Group.

Inbound hotel bookings have increased more than threefold year-on-year, up over 70 percent compared with 2019, while inbound flight bookings have also seen a more than threefold increase year-on-year, up over 60 percent compared with 2019, Qin said.

"Countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, France, Germany and Italy, which have reached varying degrees of simplification in their visa application procedures with China, have been particularly active in the inbound and outbound market," she added.

Trip.com tracked destinations contributing to the maximum number of inbound travelers from the beginning of the year and the list includes Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States, Australia and Malaysia.

Xu Xiaolei, chief brand officer of CYTS Tours Holding Co in Beijing, said that tour operators from abroad have spoken highly of China's visa-free policy and have indicated that they will focus on promoting the Chinese market in their future plans.

Cheng Chaogong, a senior researcher with the research institute of Jiangsu province-based online agency Tongcheng Travel, said the country's proactive measures to optimize entry policies are expected to have a positive demonstration effect on facilitating international personnel exchanges.

More countries and regions are expected to introduce further visa facilitation policies for Chinese citizens, which will lead to a bidirectional movement of inbound and outbound tourism in the next stage, Cheng said.

China’s Outbound Tourism Rebounds with Visa-Free Boom and Surge in Middle East Travel

Peden Doma Bhutia , Skift

March 26th, 2024 at 10:57 AM EDT

2024 may be the first “back to normal" year for China's outbound travel since the pandemic, and Chinese tourists are leaning towards destinations with simpler visa processes.

Peden Doma Bhutia

Chinese outbound tourism is steadily rebounding from the effects of the pandemic, with projections indicating a return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2025.

Research conducted by Dragon Trail International suggests that China’s outbound tourism is expected to reach approximately 80% of pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year.

According to China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, there were 3.6 million outbound trips taken during the Chinese new year period, which is just 57% of 2019’s 6.3 million trips.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is emerging as a key destination for Chinese travelers, alongside traditionally popular outbound markets like Thailand and Malaysia, according to data from online travel agencies Ctrip, Tongcheng, Tuniu, Mafengwo, and Zuzuche.

“The UAE’s visa-free policy for Chinese visitors, coupled with robust flight connections, contributes to its appeal,” said Sienna Parulis-Cook, director of marketing and communications of Dragon Trail.

Chinese actress Liu Yifei was appointed as the tourism ambassador for UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, last year. The Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism showcased a promotional video featuring Liu on China’s equivalent of Twitter, Weibo. In a week, the video garnered 7.9 million views and was shared 32,000 times.

Mafengwo’s list of top 20 outbound destinations with increasing demand for Chinese New Year compared to one year earlier includes the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, and Morocco. All of these five countries offer visa-free entry or visas on arrival to Chinese citizens.

Qunar reported that outbound orders for the UAE, Egypt, and Morocco were three times higher than the year before, with a 10-fold increase for Dubai.

Fliggy reported that travel orders for Egypt increased by 15 times year on year. And Zuzuche’s top 10 outbound destinations with the highest growth rates for car rentals included Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.

Research by Oxford Economics suggests that outbound travel from China will nearly double in 2024 compared to the previous year, with the Middle East expected to lead the global recovery in Chinese inbound tourism.

ForwardKeys’ data indicates that Chinese arrivals to the Middle East have already surpassed 2019 levels, with Cairo experiencing a notable increase in arrivals.

The Arabian Travel Market in Dubai taking place from May 6 anticipates twice the number of Chinese exhibitors and travel professionals, compared to its 2019 show.

Visa Relaxation

Furthermore, the relaxation of visa requirements in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand has also contributed to increased Chinese tourist arrivals during the Chinese New Year break, as noted by Dragon Trail.

“While 2023 was the year when China reopened following the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, it was only in 2024 that the country celebrated its first Chinese New Year with no pandemic-related restrictions on outbound travel,” Cook said.

During the recent Chinese New Year period, data from Tourism Authority of Thailand showed that over 1 million international tourists visited Thailand, of which more than 200,000 were from China.

Average spending by Chinese tourists increased by 15% from 2019 and the top visited cities in Thailand were Bangkok, Phuket, Chonburi, Chiangmai and Krabi.

Similarly, Singapore and Malaysia saw a surge in travel bookings following the implementation of visa-free policies.

Online travel agency Qunar reported that bookings for travel to Singapore were 29 times greater than in 2023, with bookings to Malaysia up by 20 times.

Flight data reported by ForwardKeys showed a 24% year-on-year growth for Chinese arrivals to Kuala Lumpur.

The Next Big Holiday Season

While outbound trips taken during the new year period were just 57% of 2019 numbers, the domestic trips this year, surpassed pre-pandemic levels by 19%.

Looking ahead, the upcoming five-day Labor Day holiday that begins from May 1 and the summer travel season are expected to further drive Chinese outbound tourism, with summer being the most popular time for international travel, according to Tongcheng.

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Tags: asia monthly , chinese tourism , Chinese tourists , ctrip , fliggy , thailand , tongcheng travel , tourism authority of thailand , visa waiver

Photo credit: The United Arab Emirates emerges as a popular destination for Chinese travelers. Unsplash

• Foreigners make nearly 3M inbound, outbound trips to China in Jan-Feb

Border police officers check documents of travelers at a border checkpoint of the Shanghai Pudong International Airport in east China's Shanghai, March 14, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

In the first two months of 2024, China recorded 2.95 million inbound and outbound trips made by foreigners, said an official on Friday quoting data from the National Immigration Administration.

The figure marks a notable increase of 2.3 times compared to the previous period and a recovery reaching 41.5 percent of the level prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Shi Zeyi, an official with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, at a press conference.

The official attributed the changes in part to the visa-free entry policy China recently extended for countries including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia and Singapore, highlighting a significant increase in tourists from these countries during the Spring Festival period.

Looking ahead, China will take steps to remove obstacles and address issues in culture and tourism, in particular, making the payment process more convenient at tourism sites, cultural performance venues, and hotels, said the official.

The country will also provide more tourism products and services and ramp up international advertising and market promotion efforts, added the official.

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• ​In the first two months of 2024, China recorded 2.95 million inbound and outbound trips made by foreigners, said an official on Friday quoting data from the National Immigration Administration.

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Foreigners make nearly 3 million inbound, outbound trips to China in Jan-Feb

Xinhua | Updated: 2024-03-29 14:06

BEIJING -- In the first two months of 2024, China recorded 2.95 million inbound and outbound trips made by foreigners, said an official on Friday quoting data from the National Immigration Administration.

The figure marks a notable increase of 2.3 times compared to the previous period and a recovery reaching 41.5 percent of the level prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Shi Zeyi, an official with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, at a press conference.

The official attributed the changes in part to the visa-free entry policy China recently extended for countries including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia and Singapore, highlighting a significant increase in tourists from these countries during the Spring Festival period.

Looking ahead, China will take steps to remove obstacles and address issues in culture and tourism, in particular, making the payment process more convenient at tourism sites, cultural performance venues, and hotels, said the official.

The country will also provide more tourism products and services and ramp up international advertising and market promotion efforts, added the official.

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Mar. 26, 2024

Chase or Attract: How To Choose Between Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing

With a new digital era comes a better way to do marketing. Still, marketers face a lot of confusion regarding inbound and outbound marketing strategies. The critical question for many remains: “Are inbound strategies more effective than outbound strategies in getting potential customers to the top of the sales funnel?”

More and more brands are opting out of outbound tactics, like cold calling and TV ads, and getting into more natural inbound strategies—think blog posts, infographics, and explainer videos.

Is this the right marketing strategy in today’s competitive business landscape? Read on as we explore inbound and outbound strategies to help you answer this question. 

In this article:

– What is inbound marketing? – What is outbound marketing? – Inbound vs. outbound marketing: A detailed comparison – Choosing the right approach for your business

What is inbound marketing ?

Inbound marketing focuses on attracting customers—or drawing them in—to your brand. You primarily do this with valuable and relevant content that answers their most immediate, pressing problem.

Content marketing is one of the core subsets of inbound marketing. Think of how you usually find the answer to a question or problem. More often than not, you use an online search engine. Generally, you find a helpful article that gives you great insights or points you to a solution. Then, you begin trusting the brand that wrote the article. Pretty soon, you trust them enough to buy something from them.

This is inbound marketing in action. As you can see, it’s customer-centric and banks wholly on providing valuable content and interactions. It relies on non-intrusive forms of marketing that offer value upfront. This helps build more trust and is far more effective at getting qualified leads without annoying the prospect. Examples of inbound marketing tactics include:

• Content marketing (like blogging)
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Social media posts 
• Website lead capture forms
• Email marketing (when customers give consent to receiving emails)

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What is outbound marketing ?

In contrast to inbound, outbound marketing consists of “traditional” strategies and tactics that we’re all used to. Outbound marketing focuses more on pushing messages to a broad audience and selling products or services than helping target audiences. 

Marketers typically need to spend money to relay the marketing message to their prospects when they adopt the outbound approach. Hence, it’s often costlier to do outbound marketing vs. inbound marketing. Common examples of outbound marketing tactics include:

• Direct mail 
• Telemarketing
• Door-to-door sales
• Radio and TV commercials  
• Cold calling

Inbound vs. outbound marketing : A detailed comparison

Now that we’ve discussed the definitions of inbound and outbound marketing, let’s take a closer look at their differences:

Customer journey

The two marketing strategies focus on different stages of the customer journey. Inbound marketing is more of an early-stage strategy, primarily focusing on attracting customers during their initial research and consideration phases—think blogs (they focus on providing customers with information to help solve their problems). 

Outbound marketing is often a late-stage marketing strategy. It targets potential customers who have already done their research and are closer to making purchasing decisions—think cold emails (they are more likely to persuade someone actively looking for a product or service than someone who has not yet identified a need). 

Audience targeting

Since the two strategies focus on different stages of the customer journey, their target audiences are also different. Inbound marketing targets a defined audience actively seeking information or solutions related to the product or service. It suits industries like education, technology, healthcare, and consulting. 

The target audiences in these industries often search for valuable information to stay up-to-date with trends or get insights into their pain points. As inbound marketing primarily focuses on providing helpful content, it’s the best solution. 

On the other hand, outbound marketing targets a broad audience or specific demographics that may or may not be actively searching for a product/service. It can be ideal for industries that benefit from direct outreach, like hospitality and retail. It can also be suitable for B2B lead generation thanks to its focus on broad audiences. 

You can tell whether a campaign uses inbound or outbound marketing by assessing its messaging. Inbound marketing focuses on valuable content, thought leadership, and educating an audience about a product or service’s benefits. It’s genuine and authentic, aiming to solve problems without asking for anything.

Outbound marketing is often more direct—it highlights product or service features and directs potential customers to a call to action. Some customers are cautious about outbound marketing campaigns as they tend to be in your face and carry sensational claims or sugar-coating, sometimes at the expense of the truth.

Engagement approach

Inbound is permission-based marketing. That means people who consume content do it because they want to. They seek out a brand of their own volition and not because they’re forced. Further, inbound marketing relies on pull marketing strategies, attracting audiences through valuable content. Businesses create content that addresses customer pain points and use branded links to boost recognizability and build trust. As a result, people have a high chance of converting with inbound marketing.

Outbound marketing primarily employs push marketing strategies, actively reaching out to potential customers through various channels—think TV or radio ads while watching or listening to your favorite show. This marketing strategy is essentially a numbers game. The goal is to blast a big enough group of prospects, hoping a few will notice.

Inbound marketing’s strategy primarily revolves around high-quality content creation, website SEO, and lead nurturing through email marketing automation. Additionally, it uses a more holistic strategy. Each aspect of your marketing—website, blog, social media channels, content strategy—is one component that contributes to the whole. To succeed, everything needs to work together.

Conversely, outbound marketing focuses on tactics like cold calling, email marketing (purchased lists), attending trade shows, and leveraging paid advertising campaigns. It uses a traditional linear strategy. That means each campaign and marketing initiative is standalone. Marketers typically pick a channel, run a campaign, and see how it goes. They then choose the best-performing medium and run an even bigger campaign. Rinse and repeat.

Measurement of success

What’s a campaign without success measurement? A liability that only consumes resources without giving anything back. As such, an assessment of the return on investment is critical for both types of marketing campaigns. However, they have different metrics. 

The key performance indicators (KPIs) to track for inbound marketing include website traffic, keyword ranking, lead generation, and customer engagement with content. These metrics tell you whether to continue your current strategy or change things up. 

In contrast, key metrics to track regularly for outbound marketing include cost-per-acquisition (CPA), conversion rates, and response rates to outreach efforts. 

Attribution

The last difference between inbound vs. outbound sales is undoubtedly one of the most critical—attribution. Attributing conversions to specific marketing efforts can be challenging regardless of your chosen type of marketing approach. But just because something is difficult doesn’t mean it’s impossible. With reliable digital marketing tools like Bitly, you can make it easier for your team to keep track of each marketing method’s returns. 

How exactly do you attribute returns for inbound and outbound marketing techniques? Well, if you’re running an inbound campaign, you can analyze content performance by reviewing how many people read your content and assess website visitor behavior by tracking their actions on your site. 

For outbound marketing, attribution is trickier, but it’s possible if you play your cards right and choose the right platforms. For example, say you want to run a cold email marketing campaign and keep track of its success. You can use Bitly for digital marketing , create branded and trackable Bitly links, and email them to your target audience. This way, you can track the number of link clicks from cold emails. 

Choosing the right approach for your business

What would be your answer if you were asked to choose between outbound and inbound marketing tactics? Let us guess—you’d go for inbound marketing, as almost all businesses are headed in that direction. 

But is following the crowd a smart idea? We think not—at least not before you’re completely sure the marketing strategy is ideal for your business.

Here are some tips to help you choose between the two:

Assess your goals

You can only plan your route if you have a destination in mind. So, start by defining your short-term and long-term business goals. This is one of the best ways to determine if an inbound, outbound, or combined strategy is ideal for your business. 

Do you want to increase brand awareness and engagement, build thought leadership, and generate high-quality leads? If you answer yes, an inbound strategy is the best choice for you. If you’re more focused on making immediate sales and promoting special offers, an outbound marketing strategy is ideal. For diverse goals, it’d be best to combine both approaches. 

Think about the target audience

Assess your target audience’s preferences and behaviors. If your audience values informative content like blog posts and video tutorials, inbound marketing is the best option. For audiences that value direct marketing techniques and outreach programs, outbound marketing is suitable. 

Also, consider where your audience spends its time online. If your market mainly comprises Gen Z, inbound marketing strategies like social media marketing are suitable— Gen Z makes up roughly 80% of TikTok and Instagram users , proving that social media is one of the best ways to reach them. Outbound techniques may be sufficient if your audience is still traditional and regularly reads print media and watches TV. 

The customer journey also needs to play a role in your decision-making process. As mentioned earlier, inbound marketing techniques are suitable for buyers in the early phases of purchase, while outbound options are ideal for potential customers ready to purchase products or services. 

Understand your budget and resources

Inbound and outbound marketing efforts have varying budget requirements. Typically, inbound generated leads are 60% cheaper than outbound leads , making inbound marketing a suitable option for small businesses with financial constraints. 

However, resource considerations shouldn’t end with a budget analysis. Also, consider aspects like team skills, technological tools, and content creation capacity, as the success of inbound marketing relies heavily on these factors. 

Consider combining approaches for maximum impact

Are you on the fence about which marketing strategy to choose? Why not leverage both?

When you integrate inbound and outbound strategies, you can amplify your marketing results and reach potential buyers at different stages of the customer journey. Blending the two approaches also allows you to optimize your marketing campaigns—you can experiment with both and continuously refine your strategies based on customer or prospect feedback as well as lead and sales reports. 

Make an informed decision on marketing strategies

Your choice of inbound or outbound marketing can determine the success of your marketing campaign. So, be careful when choosing your preferred strategies. If you’re unsure which option to implement, integrate both marketing approaches and monitor your return on investment to determine the most appropriate option for your business. 

Regardless of your choice, rest assured you have the perfect partner in Bitly. With our platform, you can easily create custom trackable links to support your branding and marketing optimization efforts, boosting your chances of running successful campaigns. 

Whether you’re leaning toward a modern approach like social media marketing or a more traditional option like cold emailing, create a Bitly account today for actionable, real-time insights that’ll help you choose the right marketing strategies.

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