Annual Survey of Traveller Accommodation

Detailed information for 2003

Status:

Active

Frequency:

Annual

Record number:

2418

This survey collects business operating information for statistical and economic analysis for traveller accommodation services.

Data release - December 15, 2004

Description

This survey collects business operating information for statistical and economic analysis of establishments classified to sub-sector 7211 (Traveller Accommodation) according to the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) (e.g, hotels, motels, resorts, bed and breakfasts, outfitters, camping grounds, and other establishments providing accommodation for travellers). The data are used by business operators and associations for market analysis and assessment of industry performance, operating characteristics and trends; by governments to develop national and regional economic policies; by agencies such as the Canadian Tourism Commission for analysis and policy making and for providing valuable statistics and information feedback to the industries; and by Statistics Canada for maintaining important data input to the preparation of the Canadian System of National Accounts.

Statistical activity

This survey is part of the Service Industries Program. The survey data gathered are used to compile aggregate statistics for over thirty service industry groupings. Financial data, including revenue, expense and profit statistics are available for all of the surveys in the program. In addition, many compile and disseminate industry-specific information.

Reference period: Calendar year

Collection period: February to September

Subjects

  • Accommodation and food
  • Business, consumer and property services
  • Business performance and ownership
  • Financial statements and performance

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population consists of all establishments classified to the Accommodation Services industry (NAICS 721) according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) during the reference year.

Instrument design

The survey questionnaires comprise financial and operating characteristics, and were developed with extensive consultations with the Canadian Tourism Commission and industry representatives.

Sampling

This is a sample survey.

Even though the basic objective of the survey is to produce estimates for the whole industry--all incorporated and unincorporated businesses--not all businesses are surveyed. Rather, a sample is surveyed and the portion eligible for sampling is defined as all statistical establishments with revenue above a certain threshold. (Note: the threshold varies between surveys and sometimes between provinces in the same survey). The excluded portion represents a substantial proportion of the industry in terms of number of establishments (60%), but its contribution to the overall industry revenue is only about 10%. These excluded establishments are accounted for in the final estimates through the use of administrative data. However, only basic information is obtained from administrative sources; i.e., total revenue, expenses, depreciation and salaries, wages and benefits. Detailed characteristics such as client base, revenue by type of service, and detailed expense items are collected only for surveyed establishments.

The frame is the list of establishments from which the portion eligible for sampling is determined and the sample is taken. The frame provides basic information about each firm, including: address, industry classification, and information from administrative data sources (as discussed above). The frame is maintained by Statistics Canada's Business Register, and is updated using administrative data.

Prior to the selection of a random sample, establishments are classified into homogeneous groups (i.e., groups with the same NAICS codes, and same geography (province/territory)).Quality requirements are targeted, and then each group is divided into sub-groups called strata: take-all, must-take, and take-some.

The take-all stratum includes the largest firms in terms of performance (based on revenue) in an industry. Every firm is sampled, which means each firm represents itself and is given a weight of one. The must-take stratum is also comprised of self-representing units, but these are selected on the basis of complex structure characteristics (multi-establishment, multi-legal, multi-NAICS, or multi-province enterprises). Units in the take-some strata are subjected to simple random sampling.

Finally, the sample size is increased, mostly to compensate for firms that no longer belong in the industry; i.e., they have gone out of business, changed their primary business activity, they are inactive, or are duplicates on the frame. After removing such firms, the sample size for this survey was 2,805 collection entities.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

Data are collected through a mail-out/mail-back process, while providing respondents with the option of telephone or other electronic filing methods.

Follow-up procedures are applied when a questionnaire has not been received after a pre-specified period.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s).

Error detection

Data are examined for inconsistencies and errors using automated edits coupled with analytical review. Every effort is made to minimize the non-sampling errors of omission, duplication, reporting and processing. Several checks are performed on the collected data. These checks look for internal consistency such as: section totals must be equal to the components; if employees are reported, personnel costs must be greater than zero; the main source of income must be consistent with the assigned NAICS code; identification of extreme values; etc.

Imputation

Where information is missing, imputation is performed using a "nearest neighbor" procedure (donor imputation), using historical data when available, using averages based on responses from a set of similar establishments, or using administrative data as a proxy for reported data.

Estimation

As part of the estimation process, survey data are weighted and combined with administrative data to produce final industry estimates.

Quality evaluation

Prior to dissemination, combined survey results are analyzed for overall quality; in general, this includes a detailed review of individual responses (especially for the largest companies), an assessment of the general economic conditions portrayed by the data, historic trends, and comparisons with other data sources.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

Data accuracy

For the Annual Survey of Traveller Accommodation, CVs were calculated for each estimate. Generally, the more commonly reported variables obtained very good CVs (10% or less), while the less commonly reported variables were associated with higher but still acceptable CVs (under 25%). The CVs are available upon request.

The response rate for this survey was 65% in reference year 2003, after taking into account the factors discussed in this statement.

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