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This paper presents the UE‐Eurostat methodology to design and implement a system of surveys of inbound tourism. It has been thought for the homogeneisation of the information systems of the EU countries and for the development of the cooperation in the field of tourism statistics between the European Union and other relevant extra‐Europe regions. Furthermore, the methodology wants to give a common framework of analysis for the collection and processing of comparable statistics at each territorial level. The general research process has been split up into nine fundamental steps which represent the stages a researcher has to follow in order to obtain reliable data on visitor flows, visitors' and trip characteristics, consumption behaviour and opinions and impressions on the trip and the visit. It has been implemented for closed areas (areas with political borders, e.g. a country, geographical borders, e.g. a island, artificial borders, e.g. a museum, a theme park, an archaeological area) and open areas (a macro‐region, a region, a single tourist destination, e.g. a city, or tourist site, e.g. a square).

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamic competitive profile of Istanbul and to compare it to ten other European cities by using a multidimensional approach.

Starting from a review of existing competitiveness models, the paper develops a methodology that takes into account the complex shifting nature of the network of “mobilities” interacting within and around the destination.

The proposed approach proves to be effective in designing a dynamic competitive profile of every city and in identifying the factors that drive competitiveness within and between different competitive clusters of cities.

The new approach presents several original elements, since it embeds the evolution of the system of diverse intersecting tourism and non tourism “mobilities” that characterize an urban destination, and integrates different dimensions and disciplinary points of view.

The purpose of this paper is to provide some empirical evidence of the current trends regarding cost structures in the hospitality industry and to help reveal the present practices on cost structures and management adopted by the Indian hospitality sector.

The methodology employed was mainly survey based with the use of structured questions. Online surveys and interviews were carried out during 2012 with management accountants, chief accountants and finance directors of hotel companies.

The results of the study suggest that hotels are increasingly challenged to find ways to reduce costs without sacrificing quality. Most of the respondents believe that good management and cost accounting practices are associated with the financial success of hotels.

A study on cost structures will help to identify and focus on the innovative practices that the sector needs to adopt in order to manage costs in the coming years. The findings from this study suggest companies need to modernize their cost accounting systems by implementing activity based costing. Most of the managers surveyed were of the opinion that the traditional costing system does not accurately reflect customer profitability analysis.

The inspiration for this paper arises from the fact that there is little empirical work on cost structures and design in the hospitality industry. Intense competition is now affecting the industry and efforts need to be made to create a sustainable model for hotels that can be adapted to an evolving market scenario.