IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i5p1768-d1595161.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

COVID-19 Effects on Tourist Fees: Bolivia’s National Parks Case Study

Author

Listed:
  • Stefanie Rakela

    (Conservation Strategy Fund, Washington, DC 20036, USA)

  • Thais Vilela

    (Consultant, Los Angeles, CA 90034, USA)

  • Sophia Espinoza

    (Conservation Strategy Fund, Washington, DC 20036, USA)

  • Alfonso Malky Harb

    (Conservation Strategy Fund, Washington, DC 20036, USA)

Abstract

Bolivia’s national parks, with their rich biodiversity and natural landscapes, have great potential to contribute to their own financial sustainability, and tourism is one of the most promising sustainable activities that can make this possible. Entrance fees to national parks are a vital source of income for the National Service of Protected Areas, yet a significant financial gap remains. This study estimates tourists’ willingness to pay (WTP) for increased entrance fees in two protected areas, comparing data from 2019 and 2023 to assess the effect of COVID-19 on WTP. Using the contingent valuation approach, we found that tourists’ profiles and their WTP have shifted between 2019 and 2023. However, there was no consistent trend across the protected areas, highlighting the challenges and specific impacts of the pandemic on tourists WTP. Nevertheless, the findings can help inform pricing strategies aimed at enhancing the financial sustainability of Bolivia’s protected areas, supporting broader conservation goals both nationally and globally.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefanie Rakela & Thais Vilela & Sophia Espinoza & Alfonso Malky Harb, 2025. "COVID-19 Effects on Tourist Fees: Bolivia’s National Parks Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:5:p:1768-:d:1595161
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/5/1768/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/5/1768/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chang-Young Jeon & Hee-Won Yang, 2021. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Tourists’ WTP: Using the Contingent Valuation Method," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-14, August.
    2. Lin Song & Yi Xue & Yaqiong Jing & Jincan Zhang, 2021. "Visitor’s Willingness to Pay for National Park Entrance Fees in China: Evidence from a Contingent Valuation Method," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Stefanie Rakela & Thais Vilela & Sophia Espinoza & Alfonso Malky Harb & Carla Mendizábal Vergara, 2024. "Exploring Public Support for Bolivia’s Protected Areas: A Contingent Valuation Approach," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-17, June.
    4. Precious Chikezie Ezeh & Kaitano Dube, 2024. "Willingness to Pay in Tourism and Its Influence on Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-16, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maria Carmela Aprile & Gennaro Punzo, 2023. "Young People and Nature: What Drives Underlying Behavioural Intentions towards Protected Areas Conservation?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-27, August.
    2. Precious Chikezie Ezeh & Kaitano Dube, 2024. "Willingness to Pay in Tourism and Its Influence on Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Halkos, George & Leonti, Aikaterini & Petropoulos, Constantinos & Sardianou, Eleni, 2022. "Determinants of willingness to pay for urban parks: An empirical analysis in Greece," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    4. Xaysompheng Sengkhamyong & Helmut Yabar & Takeshi Mizunoya, 2022. "Assessing Household Willingness to Pay for the Conservation of the Phou Chom Voy Protected Area in Lao PDR," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-20, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:5:p:1768-:d:1595161. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.