Valuation of the Benefits of Out-Door Recreation using the Travel Cost Method: The Case of Wabi-Shebele Langano Recreation Site
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Date
2003-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Out door recreation is a human activity that increases visitors’ utility. The demand for outdoor recreation
has been increasing with the increase in population, income and mobility. There is, however, limited
natural and financial resource for the provision of outdoor recreation. Thus, there is a need to have a
quantitative estimate of economic benefit of outdoor recreation site so as to properly and efficiently
allocate scarce resources. It is also important to estimate how much value people attach to the site in
order to demonstrate how the Wabi Shebele Langano recreation site managers can extract revenue out of
the excess benefit and improve the qualities of the recreation experience and expand the types and
varieties of the services.
Individual Travel Cost Method (ITCM) is employed to measure the recreational economic benefits from
Wabi Shebele Langano recreaton site. ITCM is preferred to Zonal TCM because almost all visitors of
Wabi Shebele Langano recreation area come from one area, i.e. Addis Ababa, though there are some
foreigners who come from abroad as well as few visitors who visit the site as they pass-by. In the selection
of a model we have taken into account the fact that number of visits, which is the dependent variable, is
truncated.
In this study, travel costs, visitors’ income, age, level of education, family size, acquaintance with the site,
experience on other similar sites and being the head of the family were found to be major determinants of
visits to the site.
Using truncated Poisson model, the annual recreational benefit of the site was estimated to be Birr8,
685,774(USD 1,009,974) implying that the site authorities collected 20.87% of this sum.Therefore, this quantitative valuation may help policy makers make policy-oriented decisions on the area
for better planning and management of the environmental resources. Furthermore, the study could
inspire other researchers to do rigorous research work on the area.
Key words: Recreational benefit; Travel cost method; Truncated model
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Keywords
Recreational benefit, Travel cost method;, Truncated model