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Tourists’ Willingness to Pay Increased Entrance Fees at Mexican Protected Areas: A Multi-Site Contingent Valuation Study

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  • Brian Witt

    (Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, Technische Universität Wien, Augasse 2-6, 1090 Vienna, Austria)

Abstract

It can be challenging to set protected area entrance fees without information on how much visitors are willing to pay. It is particularly difficult for agencies managing multiple sites to set fees without conducting surveys at each location. In order to examine how willingness to pay estimates would vary across sites with distinctive profiles, 877 visitors at five Mexican protected sites (Calakmul, Cobá, Palenque, Sian Ka’an, and Yum Balam) were interviewed through double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation surveys. The results suggest that visitors would be willing to pay higher entrance fees, with mean maximum willingness to pay estimates of 2.8–9.8 times current fees, ranging from US$15.70 to US$25.83. Visitor demand was found to be relatively inelastic, with aggregate fee rises of 26% estimated to result in a 5% decrease in visitation. These results suggest that there is room to raise revenues through moderate fee increases without a concomitant drop-off in visitation.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian Witt, 2019. "Tourists’ Willingness to Pay Increased Entrance Fees at Mexican Protected Areas: A Multi-Site Contingent Valuation Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-22, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:11:p:3041-:d:235324
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    3. Adam Zydroń & Krzysztof Szoszkiewicz & Cyprian Chwiałkowski, 2021. "Valuing Protected Areas: Socioeconomic Determinants of the Willingness to Pay for the National Park," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-11, January.
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    7. José Alberto Lara-Pulido & Ángela Mojica & Aaron Bruner & Alejandro Guevara-Sanginés & Cecilia Simon & Felipe Vásquez-Lavin & Cristopher González-Baca & María José Infanzón, 2021. "A Business Case for Marine Protected Areas: Economic Valuation of the Reef Attributes of Cozumel Island," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-18, April.
    8. Kansinee Panwanitdumrong & Chung-Ling Chen, 2022. "Are Tourists Willing to Pay for a Marine Litter-Free Coastal Attraction to Achieve Tourism Sustainability? Case Study of Libong Island, Thailand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, April.
    9. Juita Saleha Nordin & Nitanan Koshy Matthew & Chong Leong Puan, 2023. "Public Willingness to Pay for an Entrance Fee to National Elephant Conservation Center (NECC), Peninsular Malaysia," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, October.
    10. George Halkos & Aikaterini Leonti & Eleni Sardianou, 2020. "Assessing the Preservation of Parks and Natural Protected Areas: A Review of Contingent Valuation Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-24, June.
    11. José Luis Durán-Román & Pablo Juan Cárdenas-García & Juan Ignacio Pulido-Fernández, 2020. "Tourist Tax to Improve Sustainability and the Experience in Mass Tourism Destinations: The Case of Andalusia (Spain)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-20, December.

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