Tourism Economics

What Tourism Economics does

Tourism Economics is a privately held, wholly-owned subsidiary of Oxford Economics that provides economic forecasting, impact analysis, and consulting services focused exclusively on the global travel and tourism sector. Founded in 2005 by current President Adam Sacks, the firm operates from Wayne, Pennsylvania (US headquarters) and Oxford, United Kingdom (European headquarters), with approximately 70 employees serving a worldwide client base of more than 300 leading companies, associations, and destinations. Its core offering is built around the Symphony Intelligence Platform, a Tableau-based interactive hub that consolidates travel, economic, and demographic data and underpins subscription modules including the Website Impact Calculator and Media Impact Calculator (attribution solutions used by 185+ destination clients), CivitasPRO (destination policy/funding analysis), Global Travel Service (international arrival and spending data), Air Passenger Forecasts (produced with IATA on a 20-year horizon), the Cruise Intelligence Platform (covering 3,000 ports and destinations), and the Market Allocation Platform (financial-portfolio-based DMO marketing investment optimizer).

The firm monetizes through four reinforcing streams: recurring subscriptions to data and forecast products, custom consulting and economic impact studies, commissioned proprietary research from large platforms and associations (Google, Airbnb, CLIA, US Travel Association, CEIR, ASAE, ITB China/Fliggy), and licensing/embedded distribution (e.g., the Destinations International Event Impact Calculator used by 200+ destinations and an exclusive Connect/Informa PLC MICE attribution partnership). Pricing is quote-based enterprise, sold via direct senior-staff-led sales supported by 'Contact Us / Request Demo' and 'Book a Symphony Demo' funnels, with no public rate cards. Customers span destination marketing organizations, trade associations (US Travel Association, Destinations International, WTTC, CLIA, FCCA), major hospitality companies (Hilton, Marriott, IHG, MGM, Sandals), professional sports franchises and venues (Tennessee Titans, Camping World Stadium), national tourism authorities (Brand USA, Destination Canada, Dubai DTCM), and large technology platforms (Google, Airbnb, TripAdvisor). Forecast credibility is a recurring asset — most visibly the 2020 joint STR/TE hotel recovery forecast that matched 2023 actuals exactly — and the firm leverages Oxford Economics' broader macroeconomic models covering 200+ countries, 100+ industries, and 3,000+ cities to tie travel forecasts directly to economic and demographic outlooks.

Name

Tourism Economics

Legal name

Tourism Economics

Website

https://tourismeconomics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Tourism Economics is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oxford Economics providing travel and tourism forecasting, economic impact analysis, and the Symphony data platform to destination marketing organizations, hospitality companies, trade associations, governments, and major venues worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Travel & Tourism Economic Research

NAICS

Tour Operators (561520), Tour Operators (56152), Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable Supply Chain & Procurement Platforms (Local Sourcing, Ethical Purchasing) (THAAANAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Impact Monitoring, Verification & Reporting (MRV) Tools (Impact KPIs, Compliance Reporting) (THAAANAN), Demand Forecasting & Predictive Analytics (THALAIAD), Hotel Pricing & Rate Shopping Intelligence (THALAIAB), Customer Feedback, Reviews & Experience Management (VoC, NPS, Surveys) (THALAKAM)

Keywords

• Travel economic forecasting
• Tourism impact analysis
• Destination marketing analytics
• Travel data subscriptions
• Hospitality economic consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Subscription Data & Forecast Services: Recurring subscriptions to Global Travel Service, Symphony platform, Air Passenger Forecasts, Cruise Intelligence Platform, and Custom Forecasts — providing clients direct access to the most comprehensive set of historic and forecast travel data available.
2. Custom Consulting & Economic Impact Studies: Project-based professional services including custom economic impact analyses, feasibility studies, policy analysis, budget analyses, marketing ROI, and project feasibility engagements for destinations, associations, and corporations. Senior staff remain involved through each stage of project fulfillment.
3. Data Monetization via Commissioned Research: Commissioned proprietary research from large platforms and associations (e.g., Google, Airbnb, CLIA, CEIR, Destinations International, ITB China with Fliggy/Ant International, US Travel Association) producing branded reports and dashboards.
4. Licensing of Models & Managed Analytics: Licensed access to Tourism Economics' analytical tools and datasets embedded within partner platforms (e.g., MICE attribution delivered via Connect/Informa PLC), plus managed forecasting and consulting engagements on a retainer basis.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Tourism Economics provides subscription-based travel data and forecasts (Global Travel Service, Global City & International State Travel, Air Passenger Forecasts, Cruise Intelligence Platform, Custom Forecasts), custom economic impact studies and consulting for destinations and hospitality companies, the Symphony Intelligence Platform with attribution tools (Website Impact Calculator, Media Impact Calculator, CivitasPRO), and policy and market analysis services including the Marketing Allocation Platform. Offerings are delivered to destination marketing organizations, hospitality companies, tourism associations, governments, and sports venues.

Product overview

Tourism Economics operates a platform-plus-modules architecture rather than a single unified SaaS product. The core is the Symphony Intelligence Platform, a comprehensive interactive hub backed by Tourism Economics' industry expertise that consolidates client data sources and powers add-on modules including the Website Impact Calculator (WIC), Media Impact Calculator (MIC) and CivitasPRO. Layered on top are four solution lines: Travel Data & Forecasts (Global City & International State Travel, Global Travel Service, Air Passenger Forecasts, Custom Forecasts, and Cruise Forecasts via the Cruise Intelligence Platform); Economic Impact services (Visitor Economy, Travel Industries, Marketing Investment/ROI, and Events & Projects including the Destinations International Event Impact Calculator); Policy & Market Analysis (Budget Analysis, Policy Analysis, the Marketing Allocation Platform, and Project Feasibility); and the newly launched Cruise Port Development & Investment Advisory practice. Senior economists and analysts staff every engagement, and the offering is supported by research, case studies and a US newsletter.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Symphony Intelligence Platform: Comprehensive, interactive hub for client data sources, backed by Tourism Economics' industry expertise; includes Website Impact Calculator, Media Impact Calculator, and CivitasPRO modules.
• Global Travel Service
• Cruise Intelligence Platform
• Market Allocation Platform (MAP)
• Website Impact Calculator (WIC)
• Media Impact Calculator (MIC)
• CivitasPRO

Products and services

• Symphony Intelligence Platform
• Website Impact Calculator (WIC)
• Media Impact Calculator (MIC)
• CivitasPRO
• Global Travel Service
• Global City & International State Travel
• Air Passenger Forecasts
• Cruise Intelligence Platform
• Custom Forecasts
• Marketing Allocation Platform (MAP)
• Economic Impact Studies (Custom)
• Event Impact Calculator
• Budget Analysis
• Policy Analysis
• Project Feasibility
• Cruise Port Development & Investment Advisory
• MICE Marketing Attribution Solution (with Connect / Informa PLC)
• Cruise Impact Study Series for the Caribbean and Latin America

Quantifiable outcome

• Helped Tennessee Titans secure $1.2 billion in public stadium funding — the largest public stadium subsidy in U.S. history
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers35 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability7 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• ITB China / Fliggy (Alibaba Group) / Ant InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 May 2026Collaboration to produce the ITB China Travel Trends Report 2026/27 ahead of ITB China 2026 (May 26-28, Shanghai). Report draws on input from 1,700+ ITB Buyers Circle members and examines AI adoption in travel, Chinese outbound tourism shifts, MICE and themed travel patterns, and evolving consumer priorities.
• Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 April 2026FCCA impartially supports a new series of cruise tourism economic impact studies covering 30+ destinations across the Caribbean and Latin America, announced April 14, 2026 ahead of Seatrade Cruise Global 2026 in Miami. First series of studies will be released during the 2027 FCCA Cruise Conference and Trade Show, with repeats every three years.
• US Travel AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 January 2026Ongoing research partnership: Tourism Economics partnered with the US Travel Association to produce the 2026 analysis quantifying the record 43-day U.S. government shutdown's $6.1B in economic losses across the travel sector, and previously produced weekly COVID-19 US Travel Impacts research.
• Connect (a division of Informa PLC)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 January 2026Exclusive multi-year partnership announced January 6, 2026, combining Connect's reach into the event planner community with Tourism Economics' Symphony data platform and economic modeling to provide Destination Marketing Organizations with attribution modeling that ties MICE marketing campaigns to confirmed group business and economic outcomes. A Tier 1 destination has already received insights confirming the program's effectiveness.
• AirbnbcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 December 2024Airbnb commissioned Oxford Economics (with Tourism Economics) to produce the December 2024 report 'Harnessing the Short-Term Rental Advantage in Europe', which found short-term rentals generated €149B in economic impact and 2.1M jobs across the EU in 2023.
• American Bus Association (ABA)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 18 November 2024Tourism Economics / Oxford Economics supports the ABA Foundation with the quarterly Motorcoach Builders Survey — Q3 2024 results showed new motorcoach sales up 15.1% YoY.
• California Hotel & Lodging Association (CHLA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 July 2024Oxford Economics (with Tourism Economics) partnered with CHLA to launch the Hotel Caring initiative in July 2024, quantifying California hotels' community impact. Final statewide results released November 12, 2024 showed $68M in donations, 328,000 volunteer hours, $12.9B in job earnings, and $78.4B in hotel guest spending in California.
• Oxford EconomicsflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerTourism Economics operates as 'an Oxford Economics company'. Oxford Economics (founded 1981) is the parent organization, headquartered in Oxford, with 600 employees (400 economists/analysts) across 20+ offices globally covering 200+ countries, 100+ industries and 3,000+ cities. Tourism Economics leverages Oxford Economics' best-in-class global economic and industry models for travel forecasting and economic impact analysis.
• Destinations InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-producer (with MMGY NextFactor, Clarity of Place, Longwoods International) of the 'Destination Promotion: A Catalyst for Community Vitality' study (2024), and ongoing partner for the Destinations International Event Impact Calculator used by 200+ destinations worldwide. Tourism Economics is also a featured client/partner of Destinations International.
• Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing research partnership: Tourism Economics produced CLIA's 2022 global, USA, Canada and Europe cruise economic impact studies and provides ongoing insights via the Cruise Intelligence Platform.
• GooglecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerGoogle commissioned Tourism Economics to produce the multi-country 'Data and Digital Platforms Driving the Tourism Recovery' study covering 21 countries across Eastern Europe/CIS, Latin America, MENA, Sub-Saharan Africa and Turkey, plus separate 'Impact of Online Content on European/Portuguese Tourism' reports.
• Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTourism Economics is CEIR's consulting partner for exhibition industry performance research, producing the quarterly CEIR Total Index (Q4 2023 Index = 92.0). CEIR Total Index Report 2023 was published in late April including a forecast outlook through 2026.
• American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerTourism Economics (with Oxford Economics) partnered with ASAE to produce the August 2024 study on the economic contributions of 20,000 associations across the United States — quantifying $71.4B in wages, 1M direct jobs, and $42B in event-related spending.
• Sports Events and Tourism Association (Sports ETA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTourism Economics partnered with Sports ETA and Northstar Meetings Group to produce the biennial State of the Industry Report; the 2023 report (released May 2024) documented $128B total economic impact and 757,600 jobs.
• World Travel Market (WTM)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerTourism Economics partnered with WTM to produce the WTM Global Travel Report 2024, uncovering insights on bleisure travel trends (business travel forecast to grow nearly 19% in 2024).
• STR (CoStar Group)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerTourism Economics and STR have partnered on hotel industry forecasts since 2011, consistently ranking among the most accurate industry prognosticators. Joint U.S. hotel forecasts are released regularly (e.g., 2025-2026 downgrade at NYU Hospitality Investment Forum in June 2025; 2026-2027 upgrade in June 2026).
• CoStar GroupflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerTourism Economics jointly publishes U.S. hotel industry forecasts with CoStar and STR (a CoStar Group company) multiple times per year, addressing demand, ADR, occupancy, and RevPAR projections across hotel segments.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• MMGY NextFactor: MMGY NextFactor is a travel, tourism, and hospitality research and strategy firm serving DMOs, hotels, and tourism boards — a co-producer of TE's Destinations International research and a direct competitor for the same client engagements and budget allocation work.
• Phocuswright: Phocuswright is a travel industry research and forecasting firm serving similar DMOs, OTAs, hospitality firms, and technology platforms with market sizing, consumer research, and distribution forecasts — directly overlapping with TE's Global Travel Service and travel forecasts offerings.
• HVS Global Hospitality Services: HVS provides hotel feasibility, valuation, and consulting services — overlapping with TE's Project Feasibility and Travel Industries practices for resorts, hotels, and convention centers across the U.S., Caribbean, and Middle East.
• Longwoods International: Longwoods International is a travel research and marketing firm specializing in visitor research, advertising ROI, and DMO benchmarking — directly comparable to TE's Visitor Economy and Marketing ROI practices, and an existing co-producer of TE's Destinations International studies.
• STR (CoStar Group): STR is TE's most direct peer in hotel benchmarking and travel data, with whom TE has co-published U.S. hotel forecasts since 2011. Both serve the same hospitality, DMO, and lodging clients with overlapping demand, occupancy, and RevPAR datasets, making STR TE's closest substitute and co-publisher.

Emerging players

• Sojern: Sojern provides digital marketing and audience targeting for the travel industry, including DMO clients — an emerging platform player intersecting with TE's marketing ROI and attribution offerings from a more performance-media-driven angle.
• Skift Research: Skift Research produces subscription travel research and forecasts for OTAs, airlines, hotels, and destinations — an emerging content-and-data player competing with TE's Global Travel Service for travel industry intelligence budgets, though narrower in scope.
• Arrivalist: Arrivalist provides location-based attribution and visitation analytics to DMOs and tourism boards — a direct emerging competitor to TE's Website Impact Calculator and Media Impact Calculator attribution offerings.

Broad incumbents

• CBRE Hotels Advisory: CBRE's Hotels practice provides feasibility, valuation, and consulting for lodging and convention projects — overlapping with TE's Project Feasibility work and serving shared clients including major hotel brands and stadium/venue developers.
• Deloitte (Travel, Hospitality & Leisure practice): Deloitte's THL practice provides economic impact, market sizing, and strategy consulting to large travel, hospitality, and tourism clients — a broader incumbent offering many of TE's services as part of a wider portfolio rather than as a travel-only specialist.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tourism-economics
• Xx.com/teglobaltravel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tourism Economics