MODUL University Vienna will host two international events on September 15-16, 2011.

MODUL University Vienna will host two international events on September 15-16, 2011.

We are approaching a new year at high speed. Now is therefore a good time to take a look in the rear-view mirror and give an overview of the year that will come to an end in a few days’ time. However, it is of course also time to take a look through the windshield and see what 2011 has to offer, both with regards to tourism in Europe as well as what the Research & Statistics Knowledge Group will focus on in its work.

According to the results of the 7th European City Tourism Monitor, city tourism professionals participating in the survey expect bed nights in the 4th quarter of 2010 to grow, compared to the same period in 2009.

Best practice example of Amsterdam

Best practice example of Vienna

Research shows that annual European tourist bednights can be accurately predicted by using monthly data. A recent study performed by ECM’s academic advisers, Prof. Karl Wöber and Dr. Irem Arsal (MODUL University Vienna), shows that monthly data is a good indicator for forecasting annual tourist bednights. In addition, annual forecasts are more accurate for the near rather than the distant future.

The tourism barometer is an online system developed by the Amsterdam Tourism & Convention Board (ATCB) to collect, process and present automatically figures about the tourism situation in a destination. The barometer also makes it possible to do some benchmarking at the level of a destination and between various destinations using the same tool.

Sharing our experiences and increasing our knowledge of developments in city tourism are especially important in times of crisis or unstable economic conditions. Once again, several projects and surveys that have been carried out by the Research & Statistics Working Group support this idea. This newsletter gives an overview of our latest research interests.