Tourism is a powerful force in modern economies—fueling job creation, entrepreneurship, and regional development. But the real impact of visitor spending is often hard to measure. Too frequently, analysis focuses on headline arrivals or hotel occupancy, missing the broader ripple effects across restaurants, transport, entertainment, and retail. To address this gap, economists have turned to the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) system, which provides a robust framework for quantifying the economic footprint of tourism.
The heart of this approach lies in”ISIC’s detailed service codes, especially those relating to accommodation (ISIC 55), food and beverage services (ISIC 56), and supporting activities such as travel agencies (ISIC 7911), recreation (ISIC 9329), and transport (ISIC 4922, for example, for bus operations). By aggregating data across all ISIC-coded establishments in a given region, analysts can estimate not just direct spending—hotel stays, meals out—but also the indirect and induced effects that tourism generates throughout the local economy.
The process typically begins with comprehensive business surveys and administrative records. National statistics offices, working in partnership with regional tourism boards, map businesses to ISIC codes and track revenues, employment, and supply chain expenditures. Visitor surveys—often conducted at airports, attractions, or hotels—collect information on travel patterns, spending, and length of stay, which are then matched to ISIC-coded sectors. This segmentation enables economists to draw a clear line from tourist arrivals to the revenues of restaurants, tour operators, event venues, and more.
Consider the example of a coastal region preparing a strategic tourism plan. ISIC data reveals that, over the past five years, revenue in accommodation services (ISIC 5510) and food services (ISIC 5610) has grown steadily, outpacing other sectors. However, the same data shows a lag in cultural and recreational services (ISIC 9329), suggesting missed opportunities for visitor engagement and local value capture. Policymakers, seeing these patterns, can design targeted investments—new attractions, event programming, or support for local artisans—aimed at spreading the economic benefits of tourism more broadly and evenly.
The strength of the ISIC approach is its ability to move beyond anecdote and assumption. Rather than relying on industry associations or informal estimates, tourism’s economic impact is grounded in systematically collected, internationally comparable data. This is especially important as communities grapple with questions of sustainability. For every region eager to attract more visitors, there is another facing pressure on infrastructure, housing, and natural resources. ISIC-coded analysis allows for careful tracking of tourism’s growth, highlighting where benefits and burdens are distributed—and where intervention may be needed to avoid over-tourism.
Moreover, ISIC-based measurement supports smarter planning at multiple levels. Municipal governments use the data to calibrate infrastructure investments—expanding transport, waste management, or broadband coverage where demand is rising. Environmental agencies monitor pressure on sensitive ecosystems by cross-referencing visitor flows with ISIC-coded services in protected areas. Small business development offices can identify gaps in tourism offerings and provide training, financing, or marketing support for local entrepreneurs in under-served service codes.
The method also has advantages for crisis management. When shocks hit—such as the COVID-19 pandemic—ISIC-coded datasets allow for rapid assessment of which sectors are most exposed, how employment is shifting, and where recovery aid can be most effectively targeted. This granularity was critical for many governments as they allocated stimulus funds, wage subsidies, or business grants to keep key hospitality and tourism enterprises afloat.
Of course, the system is not without limitations. Many tourism-related businesses straddle multiple activities, sometimes reporting revenue under more than one ISIC code or failing to update their classification as offerings diversify. Informal sector activity—especially prevalent in adventure tourism, street food, or gig economy services—often goes unrecorded. Regular review, field surveys, and triangulation with payment and mobile data can help fill these gaps, but perfection remains elusive.
Another challenge is ensuring that growth is sustainable—not just economically, but socially and environmentally. ISIC analysis is a tool, not a guarantee. It provides clarity about where money flows and jobs are created, but it is up to policymakers to set priorities. Will investments favor volume—maximizing visitor numbers—or value, supporting higher-quality experiences and better integration with community needs? The data can inform, but cannot decide.
What is clear is that ISIC-based analysis elevates the conversation. It enables collaboration between ministries—tourism, transport, environment, and finance—grounded in shared metrics. It gives business owners a clearer sense of where their sector fits into the broader ecosystem. And it supports the kind of adaptive, evidence-based management that is essential in a world where travel patterns, consumer preferences, and global shocks can change quickly.
ISIC service codes have become an indispensable part of tourism economics. By mapping the impact of visitors across hospitality, food, transport, and recreation, they give policymakers, businesses, and communities the tools they need to balance growth and sustainability. As tourism continues to evolve, this approach will remain vital—guiding investments, shaping development, and ensuring that the benefits of travel are widely and wisely shared.