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Tourism and wetland conservation: application of travel cost and willingness to pay an entry fee at Ghodaghodi Lake Complex, Nepal
Author(s) -
Lamsal Pramod,
Atreya Kishor,
Pant Krishna Prasad,
Kumar Lalit
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
natural resources forum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.646
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1477-8947
pISSN - 0165-0203
DOI - 10.1111/1477-8947.12089
Subject(s) - willingness to pay , contingent valuation , tourism , visitor pattern , recreation , business , per capita , wetland , payment card , nature conservation , resource (disambiguation) , payment , natural resource economics , public economics , economics , finance , geography , ecology , population , computer network , demography , archaeology , sociology , computer science , programming language , biology , microeconomics
This study investigated the need and applicability of wetland tourism for resource conservation, using the case of G hodaghodi L ake C omplex, a R amsar S ite in western N epal. The travel cost method ( TCM ) was used to determine the recreation potential of the lake complex, while the contingent valuation method ( CVM ) was used to calculate willingness of visitors to pay an entry fee as a payment vehicle for conservation. The per capita travel cost was found to be NPR 540 ( US $7.71), while the mean willingness to pay an entry fee was NPR 34 ( US $0.48) per visitor per entry. In addition, factors affecting wetland visitation rates and maximum willingness to pay were identified. Policy implications include the establishment of an entry fee system to offset conservation budgetary constraints, government investment in social benefits equating to at least per capita travel cost identified, and public‐private partnerships, with community participation in tourism promotion and wetland conservation.