-To Strengthen International Standing
MONROVIA — The Liberia National Tourism Authority (LNTA) has formally adopted the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) as the country’s official framework for measuring and reporting the economic impact of tourism, aligning Liberia with internationally recognized statistical standards. The decision, approved through Board Resolution No. LNTA_01048-26, integrates Liberia into the global tourism data system used by UN Tourism, the United Nations Statistics Division, the OECD, and Eurostat.
The Tourism Satellite Account is the international benchmark for assessing tourism’s economic contribution. It applies standardized methodologies to capture data on visitor expenditure, sectoral output, employment generation, and tourism’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product.With its adoption, Liberia will be able to produce structured and comparable tourism statistics consistent with global reporting practices, an important shift for a sector long constrained by fragmented data systems.According to the LNTA, the reform is intended to strengthen Liberia’s presence in global tourism reporting frameworks.
The country is expected to be integrated into international datasets and analytical publications, improving its visibility among investors, development partners, and multilateral institutions. Moreover, the alignment enables expanded technical cooperation with UN Tourism, particularly in areas such as statistical capacity building, tourism intelligence systems, and sustainable destination planning.
Domestically, the TSA framework is expected to significantly improve evidence-based decision-making. By providing reliable data on tourism flows and economic performance, policymakers will be better positioned to design targeted interventions, monitor sector growth, and assess economic impact with greater precision.
The implementation will be led by the LNTA in collaboration with key national institutions, including the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS), the Central Bank of Liberia, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, the Liberia Revenue Authority, and the Liberia Immigration Service.
Tourism operators across the country will be progressively integrated into the reporting system to ensure comprehensive coverage of the sector’s economic activity.The adoption of the Tourism Satellite Account represents a significant modernization of Liberia’s tourism governance framework.
It establishes a unified, internationally aligned system for understanding the sector’s real economic value.Officials describe the move as a foundational step in repositioning Liberia within the global tourism economy—one that emphasizes credibility, comparability, and data-driven development.
