8635.0.55.001 - Tourist Accommodation, Expanded Scope Collection, Australia, 2003  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 23/06/2004   
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INTRODUCTION

This publication presents data from the quarterly Survey of Tourist Accommodation (STA). The STA is a mailout collection that enumerates all in-scope accommodation establishments within Australia.

SCOPE

On a quarterly basis the STA includes hotels, motels, guest houses and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms or units.

For 2003 the scope of the STA was expanded to include:

  • holiday flats, units and houses of letting entities with 15 or more rooms or units
  • caravan parks with 40 or more powered sites
  • visitor hostels with 25 or more bed spaces.

Short-term non-residential accommodation, which is in scope of the STA, is accommodation which is not leased, and which is provided to guests who would generally stay for periods of less than two months.

Some establishments also provide long-term residential accommodation.

DEFINITIONS OF ACCOMMODATION ESTABLISHMENTS

For 2003 the STA includes the following categories of establishments which provide predominantly short-term non-residential accommodation to the general public:
  • hotels and resorts with facilities - establishments with 15 or more rooms which are licensed to operate a public bar and which provide accommodation on a room/suite basis, with a bath/shower and toilet in most guest rooms, but which do not have full cooking facilities (i.e. hot plates and oven/microwave) in most guest rooms
  • motels, private hotels and guest houses with facilities - establishments with 15 or more rooms which are not licensed to operate a public bar, and which provide accommodation on a room/suite basis, with a bath/shower and toilet in most guest rooms, but which do not have full cooking facilities (i.e. hot plates and oven/microwave) in most guest rooms
  • serviced apartments - establishments with 15 or more units which mostly comprise self-contained units at the same location, and which are available on a unit/apartment basis to the general public for a minimum of one night. The units should have full cooking facilities (i.e. hot plates and oven/microwave), refrigerator and bath/shower and toilet facilities; all bed linen and towels should be provided, and daily servicing (i.e. cleaning and bed making) must be available through the on-site management, although this service may not necessarily be used
  • holiday flats, units and houses - (excluding establishments predominantly operated on a time-share basis) which are operated by owners, managers or real estate agents who have sole letting rights to at least 15 flats, units or houses for short-term letting. These flats, units or houses should be mainly self-contained in terms of cooking, bath (or shower) and toilet facilities and should not have breakfast available for guests. Data for holiday flats units or houses include short-term owner operators as well as paying guest occupation
  • caravan parks - establishments with 40 or more powered sites and cabins which provide either short-term or long-term accommodation to the general public and which provide powered sites for caravans and toilet, shower and laundry facilities for guests
  • visitor hostels - establishments with 25 or more bed spaces which provide accommodation to visitors on a bed basis (rather than by room). This category does not include establishments providing charity type accommodation (e.g. Salvation Army hostels) nor hotels, motels and guest houses without in-room facilities which provide accommodation on a per room basis.

COVERAGE

The ABS has collected data for holiday flats, units and houses, caravan parks and visitor hostels for all quarters in 2003.

The main source of coverage is from the Australian Automobile Association through AAA Tourism. This is supplemented by notification of new tourism developments and their likely opening dates in selected guides, major tourism journals and periodicals and newspapers. Periodic comparison with lists of accommodation establishments provided by the various tourism commissions and industry associations is also undertaken.

DATA ITEMS

Data for guest arrivals are not collected for caravan parks. As a consequence there are no data available for average length of stay in caravan parks.

DATA QUALITY

The survey does not have a sample component and the data are not subject to sampling variability. However, other inaccuracies collectively referred to as non-sampling error may affect the data. These non-sampling errors may arise from a number of sources, including:
  • errors in the reporting of data by providers
  • errors in the process of capturing data
  • estimation for missing data
  • definition and classification errors
  • incomplete coverage

Every effort has been made to reduce non-sampling error to a minimum by careful design and testing of questionnaires, and efficient operating procedures and systems used to compile statistics.

The response rates for 2003 were:
Response Rates: 2003
March quarter 2003
June quarter 2003
September quarter 2003
December quarter 2003
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
Holiday flats, units and houses
78.5
85.0
88.2
91.3
Caravan parks
81.4
85.7
91.3
94.5
Visitor hostels
70.3
76.1
85.1
91.7

BREAK IN TIME SERIES

In the June Quarter 2003 the ABS identified 74 caravan parks which were operating in the March quarter 2003 but were not on the STA population frame. These caravan parks are included in the June, September and December quarter 2003 data, but not in the March quarter 2003 data.

The inclusion of these caravan parks has resulted in a break in time series between the March and June quarters 2003. The impact of this break in time series is explained in the Appendix. Particular care needs to be taken for all calculations of percentage changes that cross the break in series.

A similar break in series occurred in the hotels, motels and guest houses and serviced apartments series. Detail of this break in series can be found in the December quarter 2003 issue of Tourist Accommodation, Australia cat. no. 8635.0.

TAKINGS FROM ACCOMMODATION

From 1 July 2000, takings from accommodation include gross revenue from the provision of accommodation, including GST. Takings from meals are excluded. Where businesses are unable to provide the data inclusive of GST, it is automatically adjusted by the ABS prior to aggregation and release in output.

STATISTICAL GEOGRAPHY

Small area statistics for 2003 are classified to the Australia Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC), 2001 Edition cat. no. 1216.0. Data are coded to the statistical local area (SLA) level.

These SLA data are aggregated to tourism regions as defined by relevant state and territory tourist commissions. Tourism regions are reviewed annually and are subject to boundary and name changes. Where changes have occurred care should be taken when making comparisons with previously published data at this level.

Details of SLAs, the composition of tourism regions, major changes to tourism regions and outline maps of tourism regions are provided on the Tourism Theme Page of the ABS web site <www.abs.gov.au>.

EFFECTS OF ROUNDING

Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between totals and the sum of the component items.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Other ABS publications and products which may be of interest are outlined below. Please note, older publications may no longer be available through ABS bookshops but are available through ABS libraries. All publications released from 1998 onwards are available on the ABS web site <www.abs.gov.au> (charges apply).
    Australian National Accounts, Tourism Satellite Account cat. no. 5249.0 (annual)
    Directory of Tourism Statistics, 2001 cat. no. 1130.0 (irregular)
    Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia cat. no. 3401.0 (issued monthly)
    Short-term Visitor Arrivals Estimates, Australia cat. no. 3401.0.55.001 (issued monthly)
    Tourist Accommodation, Australia cat. no. 8635.0 (issued quarterly)
    Electronic release Tourist Accommodation, Small Area Data cat. no. 8635.n.55.001 (data cubes for each state/territory containing Tourism Region and Statistical Local Area level data - issued quarterly)
    Tourism Indicators, Australia cat. no. 8634.0 (discontinued from September quarter 2002 - previously issued quarterly)

Current publications and other products released by the ABS are listed in the Catalogue of Publications and Products cat. no. 1101.0. The catalogue is available from any ABS office or the ABS web site <www.abs.gov.au>. The ABS also issues a daily Release Advice on the web site which details products to be released in the week ahead.

ABS DATA AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

As well as the statistics included in this publication, the ABS has other relevant data available on request. Inquiries should be made to the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.