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Valuing Recreational and Conservational Benefits of a Natural Tourist Site: Case of Cherrapunjee

Author

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  • Utpal Kumar De

    (Department of Economics, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong,)

  • Amrita Devi

    (Department of Economics, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong,)

Abstract

Nature based tourism has been a very important source of income and employment in Meghalaya as the state is endowed with diverse scenic natural beauty that attracts a large number of domestic and foreign tourists every year. This paper attempts to examine the impact of various social, economic and locational factors on the visiting decision of the tourists to Cherrapunjee, the wettest place on the earth. The recreation benefit enjoyed by the visitors, from the natural beauty of the site is estimated by using both the revealed and stated willingness to pay i.e., Travel Cost method (TCM) and people's willingness to pay for the preservation and improvement of the area through Contingent Valuation technique (CVM). Distance travelled and travel cost incurred by the visitors is found to have significantly negative impacts on the frequency of visit while income, education has significantly positive impact on the same. The estimated recreation benefits obtained from revealed and expressed WTP for the preservation and improvement of the site is in favour of policy induced increase of recreation charges in the site.

Suggested Citation

  • Utpal Kumar De & Amrita Devi, 2011. "Valuing Recreational and Conservational Benefits of a Natural Tourist Site: Case of Cherrapunjee," Journal of Quantitative Economics, The Indian Econometric Society, vol. 9(2), pages 154-172, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:jqe:jqenew:v:9:y:2011:i:2:p:154-172
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Non market valuation; Travel cost; WTP; Recreation benefit; Wettest Place on the earth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • Q20 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - General
    • Q31 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • B21 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Microeconomics
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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