The visitor economy runs through accommodation, food, transport, retail, culture, and construction. Living Lab shows what it contributes in GVA, jobs, and tax across all of them, and where the value stays, on the same numbers.
One model of the whole visitor economy. It covers every route and its seat capacity, every hotel market, every venue and event, every sector the spend flows through, and the origin markets it comes from. Signal137 measures the contribution on OECD-aligned input-output methodology, net of displacement and leakage, by sector, region, and season. Demand137 shows what the next season, route, or policy will add. The account of the year is one document, produced in minutes, comparable with any other country on the same method.
GVA, employment, and tax from the visitor economy across every sector it touches, direct, indirect, and induced, on one reverse-Leontief model. Where the spend stayed and where the supply chain let it leave. Rolled up monthly, seasonally, and annually into one account that a statistics office can reconcile to its own. Every number marked observed, derived, or inferred.
What the next season, route, event, or policy would add to the contribution, on the same model. Where the supply chain could retain more, and what a procurement or licensing change would do to retention. The access ceiling by region, so growth is planned against what the routes and rooms can carry. Comparable with any of 218 countries on the same method.
| Product | Your question | You get | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal137 | How do we report the visitor economy's contribution to GVA, employment, and tax? | A footprint figure with a defined scope, geography, and period, not a rounded headline | A figure that survives comparison with the national accounts or a rival estimate |
| Signal137 | Where does the value stay, and where does it leak? | A segment-level breakdown of the supply chain, with retention by segment | Procurement, licensing, or investment targeted where retention is weakest |
| Signal137 | Is this the same as economic impact? | No. Footprint is total ongoing scale; impact is the incremental change one decision caused | The public-value case is not challenged for double-counting |
| Signal137 | How much of the hotel revenue actually stays here? | Ownership structure and booking channel traced, per segment | The accommodation figure stated gross or net |
| Signal137 | What about informal, cash, or short-term rental activity the official data misses? | Proxy signals included and flagged as modelled; gaps stated, not filled | The number states what it covers and what it does not |
| Signal137 | How often is the figure updated, and what moved it? | On each source's documented schedule, with year-to-year change attributed to named drivers | The trend comes with its drivers |
| Signal137 | How does this sit with the tourism satellite account? | A segment-level, supply-chain view of the same activity, at local geography | The figure supports local action as well as national reporting |
| Demand137 | What would a local procurement rule do to retention? | Retention modelled under each policy option, with the counterfactual stated | The rule tested before it is signed |
| Demand137 | Which sectors should we grow so more of the value stays? | The sectors where retention gains are largest, ranked | Industrial policy and tourism policy point the same way |
| Both | Who holds this, and where? | Model, data, and a trained team inside your jurisdiction | The capability survives the change of official or consultant |
GVA, employment, and tax traced through every sector the spend reaches. The footprint covers sectors beyond tourism itself.
Retention and leakage by sector and supply chain stage. The region sees where interventions would keep more of what it already earns.
Footprint tracked over time on the same method. Because the method stays fixed, a change in the trend is a change in the economy.
OECD-aligned methodology, displacement accounted for, multiplier assumptions documented. The number is auditable and reproducible.
Contribution by sector stated separately. The model identifies the sectors where visitor demand drives the most employment and GVA, and the sectors where capacity constraints limit the return.
None of the three states what it includes, what period it covers, or whether the money stayed. A footprint figure is only useful when it carries its own definitions, and it is only defensible when it is kept separate from impact.
A major event is a rallying point for civic pride, and just as easily a rallying point for protest. The difference is usually whether residents can see what the event does for their street, in terms they recognise, before the road closures start.
During the 2026 World Cup, host-city hotel rates rose 13% on average. Miami rose 30.3%. New York fell 4.5%. The average was true and useless: it would have told all 16 cities the same thing, and been wrong for most of them.
We turn messy event and tourism data into decisions that help communities grow. Bring curiosity and rigour. We will hand you questions nobody has answered yet.
