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Sara Frankl, Statistics Sweden Marketing Manager
at the unit Travellers and Tourism tfn 46 8
506 948 04, e-mail sara.frankl_at_scb.se
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The Swedish Accommodation Statistics

• Collection
• Approximately 2 700 establishments,
• 1 700 hotels, 300 holiday villages and 700 youth
  hostels
• 5 rooms or more rooms
• Monthly collection
• Some data per day (occupied rooms and beds)
• 4 full time employees
• Today
• Paper form or print-outs from booking system
• All forms and print-outs are manually registered
• No fine for non-respondents

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The Swedish Accommodation Statistics

• Dissemination
• Regional level data on the Statistics Swedens
  homepage
• Feedback on paper to those who send in data, on
  time, on a number of variables (capacity,
  occupied room and beds, RevPar and overnight
  stays)
• Subscriptions and single orders of statistics on
  regional and local level or by sets of minimum 5
  units
• Data is disseminated 5 weeks after the measured
  month

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Background the challenge

• Demands and requirements from the Tourist
  industry
• Shorten the time between collection and
  dissemination of data
• Increase user value for the Accommodation
  industry as well as for the Tourist industry in
  general
• Minimize response burden

Kept or increased quality!

• Market situation
• Competition on the market from the private
  sector, private companies offers instant
  dissemination of data via the Internet
• What to do?
• Project group autumn 2002 Statistics Sweden, The
  Swedish Tourist Authority, Swedish Hotel and
  Restaurant Association
• Reference group Hotel Chains

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Proposals from the reference group

• .

• Collection of data
• Function in the establishments booking system for
  automatized transfer of data to Statistics
  Swedens database
• Form on the Internet

• .

• Dissemination of accommodation statistics
• Function that gives access till last months
  statistics then you have sent in this months data
• Relevant feedback to establishments that send in
  data on time (prises and RevPar)
• Better looking feedback with better graphics and
  more manageable diagrams
• Quick feedback based on a selection of larger
  establishments and/or hotel chains

• .

• .

• .

• Marketing
• Inform about and actively market processed data
• Actively form opinion through The Swedish Hotel
  and Restaurants Association, The Swedish Tourist
  Authority, Statistics Sweden and hotel chains

• .

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Objectives

• Increase the value of the information to the
  users
• Increase the usability and relevance of the
  feedback to our users.
• Shorten the time between the collection and
  dissemination of data with 50
• Minimize the response burden
• Make it easier for the respondents to distribute
  data to Statistics Sweden
• Integrate the quality check of data with the
  respondents distribution of data for fewer
  correction calls.
• Motivate our respondents with better feedback
• Increase the flexibility of the system
• To a greater extent adapting the collection and
  feedback of data to the different requirements,
  needs and prerequisites of different kinds of
  respondents and statistics users

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Spin-off effects

• Increased credibility A consequence of the users
  getting more involved in the process of
  continuous quality work
• A mutual understanding of needs and requirements
  An effect of the communication between the
  producers, users and respondents a prerequisite
  of successful development and quality work
• Statistics Swedens understanding of the users
  priorities has increased as a result of the
  project whit a few simple changes and
  improvements the usability of the data has
  improved - Quality improvements
• The users insight in the production process
  increased their understanding of the problems
  involved in shortening the time between
  collection and dissemination of data
• International cooperation Many countries face
  the same problems and we now have a great
  opportunity to share experiences of similar
  projects

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Strategies

• Step By Step
• Splitting up the project into smaller projects
  with separate mission statements, objectives and
  strategies, minimizing the risk of developing
  huge, expensive solutions, not in line with the
  users demands, needs and prerequisites

• Cooperation and involvement
• An important condition the respondents, users,
  software companies etc. must be involved in the
  process from the beginning

• Research
• Qualitative and quantitative market research

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Vision of tomorrow
Interactive web based solutions
Lightly interactive feedback to respondents
Statistics packages
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Supplying data by text file

• An application in the hotels booking system
  creates a text file (ASCII)
• The text file is sent to Statistics Sweden by FTP
  or by e-mail
• The process can be totally automatized or involve
  a few manual elements

Hotel booking system
Accommodation Statistics database

• The data is imported into the Accommodation
  Statistics database
• Quality checks are performed as the data is
  imported (logical checks)
• Its possible (and desirable) to build in some
  quality tests in the application in the booking
  system

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Text file - The working process
Prototype

• To avoid the most obvious traps and to learn
  where we are likely to encounter problems
• In collaboration with one of the major hotel
  chains

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Text file - The working process
Involving the interested parties

• Meeting with the major suppliers of hotel
  software information and marketing
• Statistics Swedens proposal for file design
  circulated for comments
• Contact with the hotel software suppliers by
  telephone and e-mail

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Text file - The working process
Implementation

• Circulation of the final file design to all
  interested parties
• Information about the possibility of supplying
  data by text file to the respondents, requesting
  them to inquire for the new application at their
  software supplier
• Support and testing of the applications

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Text file - The working process
Present situation

• Two software suppliers have developed the
  application two more will start working with
  it during the summer or fall

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Text file - The working process
Experiences

• Smaller suppliers of software seems more
  interested in developing the application
  competitive advantage?
• The major software suppliers have a list of
  development work and a new way of supplying data
  to the accommodation statistics does not have the
  highest priority

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Text file - The working process
Strategies for the continuing process

• Work on the major suppliers while working with
  the minor ones
• The hotels DEMAND is essential marketing!
• Once a certain volume is reached, even the major
  suppliers will have to develop the application

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The next step

• Form on the Internet
• Interactive Web based dissemination of data