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The Residents Travel Survey is a continuous survey with the main objective being to provide monthly, quarterly and annual estimations of trips made by resident population in Spain and their main characteristics such as destination, duration, purpose, accommodation, means of transport, expenditure and sociodemographic characteristics of the travellers, amongst others.
Annually, it is estimated the behaviour of travellers over 15 years old and the analisys of the alleged reasons to not to travel in that case.
It also estimates same-day visits made by residents over 15 years old.
National tourism: contains the trips made by the resident population both inside Spain and abroad
The units of analysis are trips, same-day visits and persons.
The last sampling unit is the person.
The population subject to observation is the population aged 15 years or older resident in main family dwellings all over the Spanish territory. Nevertheless, indirect information is gathered from persons under the age of 15 that allow for trips to be estimated for the whole resident population.
The sampling is spread over the whole national territory. Quarterly information is provided for autonomous communities of origin and destination.
Information available since February 2015. The information with the previous survey methodology, FAMILITUR, can be consulted at the TURESPAÑA website (http://www.iet.tourspain.es/en-EN/estadisticas/familitur/paginas/default.aspx)
2015
Units used are trips, overnight stays, thousands of euros for total expenditures and euros for average expenditures.
Month, quarter, year
Data referred to the period: Trimestral A: 2023 TRI: IV
The compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the Statistical Law No. 12/1989 "Public Statistical Function" of May 9, 1989, and Law No. 4/1990 of June 29 on “National Budget of State for the year 1990" amended by Law No. 13/1996 "Fiscal, administrative and social measures" of December 30, 1996, makes compulsory all statistics included in the National Statistics Plan. The National Statistical Plan 2009-2012 was approved by the Royal Decree 1663/2008. It contains the statistics that must be developed in the four year period by the State General Administration's services or any other entity dependent on it. All statistics included in the National Statistics Plan are statistics for state purposes and are obligatory. The National Statistics Plan 2021-2024, approved by Royal Decree 1110/2020, of 15 December, is the Plan currently implemented. This statistical operation has governmental purposes, and it is included in the National Statistics Plan 2021-2024. (Statistics of the State Administration).
This operation is subject to the Regulation (EU) nº692/2011 of the European Parliament and Council in relation with the European statistics for tourism. The English version of European Union regulations concerning this survey can be found at:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:192:0017:0032:EN:PDF
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32011R1051&from=ES
In the framework of the agreement for the transfer of this operation from TURESPAÑA to the INE, a clause is included for the exchange of information.
The Statistical Law No. 12/1989 specifies that the INE cannot publish, or make otherwise available, individual data or statistics that would enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society
Microdata files categories have been added for some variables in order to prevent the identification of the interviewees.
The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year.
The calendar is disseminated on the INEs Internet website (Publications Calendar)
The data are released simultaneously according to the advance release calendar to all interested parties by issuing the press release. At the same time, the data are posted on the INE's Internet website (www.ine.es/en) almost immediately after the press release is issued. Also some predefined tailor-made requests are sent to registered users. Some users could receive partial information under embargo as it is publicly described in the European Statistics Code of Practice
Quarterly.
The results of the statistical operations are normally disseminated by using press releases that can be accessed via both the corresponding menu and the Press Releases Section in the web
Survey results are disseminated together with a press release according to the publication calendar of INE.
Survey results are quarterly disseminated on INE website through micro-data files and tables.
INEbase is the system the INE uses to store statistical information on the Internet. It contains all the information the INE produces in electronic formats. The primary organisation of the information follows the theme-based classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration . The basic unit of INEbase is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to obtaining statistical results on a determined sector or subject based on the individually collected data. Also included in the scope of this definition are synthesis preparation.
All the survey information can be checked through the following link: https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176990&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735576863
On the website https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176990&menu=resultados&secc=1254736195369&idp=1254735576863 the monthly anonymous micro-data trip files can be downloaded for free. Micro-data files categories have been added for some variables in order to prevent the identification of the interviewees.
Micro-data files for persons, stages of the trips and same-day visits are available for free under request through of this link: https://www.ine.es/infoine/?L=1
It is possible to request customised information through the INE Customer Service Area. Limitations to confidentiality or accuracy are borne in mind at the time of processing said requests.
Survey methodology can be consulted on the INE website, as well as a transcription copy of the electronic survey questionnaire. It is also available for users a guide for the use of the micro-data files.
https://www.ine.es/en/daco/daco42/etr/etr_metodologia_en.pdf
https://www.ine.es/en/daco/daco42/etr/etr_cuestionario_en.pdf
Based on European Parliament and Council Regulation 692/2001, the European Commission (Eurostat) assesses the quality of the transferred data and publishes reports on the quality of European statistics. To this end, each country provides a quality report within the 9 months following the end of the year.
The quality report for the reference year 2017 can be found in this link:https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/EN/tour_dem_esmsdm_es.htm
Fields 10.6 to 17 of this document are the quality report intended for users for this operation.
Quality assurance framework for the INE statistics is based on the ESSCoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice made by EUROSTAT. The ESSCoP is made up of 16 principles, gathered in three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with some indicators which make possible to measure it. In order to evaluate quality, EUROSTAT provides different tools: the indicators mentioned above, Self-assessment based on the DESAP model, peer review, user satisfaction surveys and other proceedings for evaluation.
The concepts used in the survey are consistent with the International Recommendations of the World Tourism Organisation from 2008 and what is established in the Regulation nº692/2011 in relation with European statistics for tourism. Internationally recognised good practices have been implemented in the production process as the use of another survey as the framework to select the sample, in such a way that the information available allow for improved efficiency in the sampling design, directly interviewing a person or thoroughly investigating a limited number of trips. The electronic survey includes a series of controls in order to guarantee a certain level of coherence in the information collected which, subsequently, is subject to a micro-editing process. Furthermore, throughout the collection of information, inspections are carried out on behalf of the supervisors of each collection unit. In the process for the processing of information outliers are detected and dealt with and an imputation of some of the variables that are not thoroughly investigated indicating these records in the micro-data files. In the calculation of the raising factors correction procedures are applied for the non response and calibration techniques are applied with the aim to guarantee the coherence of the different statistical sources of information as well as to reduce possible bias.
The Residents Travel Survey is the result of the revision of FAMILITUR methodology. In this revision process a work group was formed to carry out a diagnosis of the operation proposing a series of improvement actions which, on the whole, have been applied to the theoretical design of the new project.
The main users are the administration organisms with tourist expertise both nationally and on an autonomous or municipal scale, as well as the statistical institutes or offices of the autonomous communities. The Bank of Spain, the Spanish National Accounts Department and international organisms like Eurostat or the UNWTO are also notable users. Among the main operators of the private sector there is also a big interest in the national tourist behaviour.
The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other fields such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications...
On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date.(Click next link)
The opinion of the main users have been taken into account throughout the methodological revision process of the survey.
This operation allows a response to be given to all of the information required in Annex II of the EU Regulation nº692/2011 in relation with national tourism. In this sense, the completeness is R1=100%.
The application of calibration techniques corrects, to a great extent, the biases that can be presented when interviewing persons belonging to groups that are easier to locate and, therefore, less prone to travel. The survey design is also aimed at reducing these biases and at improving the variance when it is sampled, with a higher probability, people with a certain profile, correlating with the tendency to travel.
INE provides estimates for the sampling errors that allow the user to assess the accuracy of the published information.
Sampling errors tables for the monthly information are disseminated:
https://www.ine.es/dynt3/inebase/en/index.htm?padre=2393
Computing the average of the last 12 months the coefficient of variation is A1=2,81% for trips, A1=3,57% for overnight-stays and A1=3,50% expenditure.
The survey over-coverage rate is A2=4,62%
Non-response rate for the units in the first rotation is A4=39,15%.
Item non-response rate (for expenditure variables) is A5=14,73%
Imputation rate for overnight stays is A7=0,56%, and for the expenditure is A7=14,24%
The final estimates will be published approximately TP2=86 days after the end of the reference period.
The calendar for the publication of results is complied with (TP3=0).
The same methodology is followed throughout the whole national territory.
Since the survey complies with the regulation 692/2011 in relation with European tourism statistics, estimates are comparable with data from other European Union countries.
In February 2015, there is a break in the series due to the changes in the methodology. Variation rates are provided for the main magnitudes to link with the previous series:
The number of months comparable with the new series is CC2=95.
The Occupancy in Tourist Accommodation Surveys provides information about the residents that spend a night in regulated accommodations. This information has been used, to the greatest possible extent, and after performing some adjustments, as supplementary information in the calibration of the raising factors, improving the comparability of results.
On the other hand, the basic concepts and definitions will be those of the Continual Household Survey, that are adapted to the current community regulations and other international recommendations on population statistics. These are also the references for tourism statistics, together with the Balance of Payments Manual, also essentially consistent with these definitions. The INE standards have likewise been respected in relation with the variables for the household composition, gender, nationality and country of birth.
The estimates have complete internal coherence.
The estimated budget necessary to finance this operation in the annual Programme 2024 is 4,086.8 thousand Euros.
The INE of Spain has a policy which regulates the basic aspects of statistical data revision, seeking to ensure process transparency and product quality. This policy is laid out in the document approved by the INE board of directors on 13 March of 2015, which is available on the INE website, in the section "Methods and projects/Quality and Code of Practice/INE’s Quality management/INE’s Revision policy" (link).
This general policy sets the criteria that the different type of revisions should follow: routine revision- it is the case of statistics whose production process includes regular revisions-; more extensive revision- when methodological or basic reference source changes take place-; and exceptional revision- for instance, when an error appears in a published statistic-.
Published information is not revised, all data are set as definitive. Just for 2018, it was published data revised and definitive due to budget restrictions beyond INE control, since resources needed for data collection weren't available on time.
The information is collected by means of direct interviews of the people selected in the sample. As a framework for the survey, is used the sample of main dwellings which take part in the Georeferenced Address Framework (MDG)
This enables to:
1. Achieve an efficient sample. To reach this goal, a procedure is used to assign a tendency to travel to households and persons determined by the characteristics known based on the Municipal Register, which allows the sub-sample of the Residents Travel Survey to be stratified.
2. Have the phone numbers of the households to be able to use the interview CATI method.
3. Improve the methods of correction of non-response.
The type of sampling used for the selection of the survey sample is a random stratified three-stage random stratified sampling. The first stage units are the census sections, the second stage units are the dwellings, and a person aged 15 or over has been selected within each dwelling. In the case of dwellings with minors the trips made by them will be investigated.
The stratification criteria used is a new variable defining the tendency of the section to travel. This variable is based on a logistic regression model that estimates the tendency to travel for each person and, as an average of the persons of a section, the tendency of the section. After assigning this tendency, within each stratum, the sections are grouped into two large groups (sub-strata) according to the tendency to work in the household. These two groups are determined by the median distribution.
The theoretical sample size has been established as 15,600 persons investigated every month. With the experience of other surveys in terms of the behaviour of the sample, an effective monthly sample is expected, of around 8,200 persons, which means that the information of each month will be provided by approximately 16,400 persons.
Data is collected on a monthly basis. The interviews are conducted on the first weeks of the month, but they continue throughout the whole month.
The majority of the interviews are conducted by telephone (CATI) except for households that are taking part for the first time which, if they are not located in the established deadline, shall subsequently be interviewed in person (CAPI). From february 2018 onwards, the option of answering via web (CAWI) is offered to those informants who are not new in the panel.
The questionnaire can be consulted on the INE website.
Throughout the collection of data, the personnel responsible for this task shall carry out inspections of the interviews conducted. The electronic survey includes coherence controls for the information, which, subsequently, is subject to a centralised micro-editing process.
A series of processes are applied to the collected and edited data to obtain the final information. These processes are listed below and can be consulted in the survey methodology:
- Detection and treatment of outliers
- Allocation of uncollected variables in trips that have not been selected for their thorough investigation
- Memory effect analysis and correction
- Calculation of the raising factors
- Calculation of the coefficients that allow travel estimates to be obtained for the whole population These coefficients are calculated based on the information collected in an indirect manner for the trips made by persons under 15 years old.
- Calibration of the the raising factors
- Expenditure variables modeling
No seasonal adjustments of any kind are made
.