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REVISIONS IN THIS ISSUE

This issue includes revisions to tourism aggregates for the years subsequent to the 2009-10 benchmark reference period. These result from the incorporation of revisions to a range of input data series (see below) which together have resulted in revisions to much of the TSA series post 2009-10:

• National accounts source data used in the compilation of estimates of tourism demand. These have been revised back to and including 2010-11.

• Estimates of domestic tourism consumption have been revised following adjustments to Tourism Research Australia's (TRA) National Visitor Survey (NVS). These resulted from the inclusion of a 'mobile phone only' sample, adding to the current 'landline' sample, for the first time from 2 January 2014. The transition of the NVS to a dual frame sample methodology has led to a small break in series at the national level. At the same time a number of small changes to population counts (due to changes to the ABS's Estimated Resident Population) and statistical boundaries used in the ERP have occurred. These changes result in a break in series for the NVS and therefore the TSA's domestic tourism consumption estimates from 2013-14. These changes however have minimal net result on the aggregate levels of the TSA and therefore the ABS has made a decision not to backcast the estimates.

• Estimates of international tourism consumption for the years subsequent to the 2009-10 benchmark were revised due to adjustments to TRA's International Visitor Survey (IVS). These adjustments to the IVS, dating back to 2005, were first published in the IVS March Quarter 2014. The revisions were the result of a change in methodology in the ABS's Overseas Arrivals and Departures (OAD) publication (ABS cat no. 3401.0) and TRA re-benchmarking the IVS results in line with the OAD changes to preserve the time series. Estimates of international tourism consumption were not revised in the TSA between 2005 and 2009-10 to maintain the Tourism benchmark ratios and for consistency with key ABS input series, ie the National Accounts and the Survey of International Trade In Services (which publishes travel related credits). Revisions to international tourism consumption as a result of the TRA re-benchmarking of the IVS back to 2005 will be incorporated in the 2014-15 TSA benchmark publication.

• Estimates of Tourism employment and hours worked have also been revised as a consequence of revisions to the ABS labour force series (which extend the length of the whole TSA time series) and revisions to tourism value added subsequent to the 2009-10 benchmark.

• Data on the number of short-term arrivals and departures (tables 18 and 19), have been revised in this publication over the complete time series and are consistent with data published in ABS's Overseas Arrivals and Departures (OAD) publication (ABS cat no. 3401.0). Similarly, data on the number of tourism trips (table 17) have also been revised to be consistent with estimates published in Tourism Research Australia's (TRA) IVS. Similarly, estimates of average tourism consumption per trip (table 8 and table 9) are revised over the TSA time series due to revisions in the number of tourism trips and revisions to tourism consumption estimates from 2010-11 onwards. However adjustments to international tourism consumption to estimate consumption by short-term international visitors under 15 years of age, are not revised prior to 2010-11 in accordance with the practise of no revisions to consumption data prior to 2010-11.