Tourism is a commercial industry as well as an aspect of human beha-vior. The core of the tourism industry consists of individual businesses which must remain profi table in order to con􀀁 nue opera􀀁 ng. The pro-fi tability of any business depends on its produc􀀁 on costs as well as its sales revenues. Data on produc􀀁 on costs thus form one key component in analyzing compe􀀁 􀀁 ve commercial enterprises in tourism, as in other in-dustry sectors. The ways in which the tourism industry responds to chan-ges in markets or government policies, depend on the rela􀀁 ve produc􀀁 on costs of individual compe􀀁 ng tourism enterprises.