IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/toueco/v13y2007i2p241-260.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Estimating the Economic Value and Impacts of Recreational Trails: A Case Study of the Virginia Creeper Rail Trail

Author

Listed:
  • J.M. Bowker

    (Southern Forest Research Station, Forest Science Lab, Athens, GA, USA)

  • John C. Bergstrom

    (Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 208 Conner Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA)

  • Joshua Gill

    (Formerly with the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA)

Abstract

Many communities are interested in developing and maintaining recreational trails to benefit trail users and as tourist attractions to stimulate economic growth. In this paper, a study is described which estimates the net economic value to trail users and the local economic impacts of the Virginia Creeper Rail Trail in south-western Virginia, USA. The monetary valuation results suggest that the trail is a highly valuable asset to the people who enjoy using it and to local businesses who benefit from trail-related tourist expenditures. The integrated valuation methodology and results can facilitate quantification of recreational trail economic benefits in other locations.

Suggested Citation

  • J.M. Bowker & John C. Bergstrom & Joshua Gill, 2007. "Estimating the Economic Value and Impacts of Recreational Trails: A Case Study of the Virginia Creeper Rail Trail," Tourism Economics, , vol. 13(2), pages 241-260, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:toueco:v:13:y:2007:i:2:p:241-260
    DOI: 10.5367/000000007780823203
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5367/000000007780823203
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5367/000000007780823203?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bergstrom, John C. & Cordell, H. Ken & Watson, Alan E. & Ashley, Gregory A., 1990. "Economic Impacts of State Parks on State Economies in the South," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(2), pages 69-77, December.
    2. Timothy C. Haab & Kenneth E. McConnell, 2002. "Valuing Environmental and Natural Resources," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2427.
    3. Englin, Jeffrey & Shonkwiler, J S, 1995. "Estimating Social Welfare Using Count Data Models: An Application to Long-Run Recreation Demand under Conditions of Endogenous Stratification and Truncation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 77(1), pages 104-112, February.
    4. R. M. Bennett & R. B. Tranter & R. J. P. Blaney, 2003. "The Value of Countryside Access: A Contingent Valuation Survey of Visitors to the Ridgeway National Trail in the United Kingdom," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(5), pages 659-671.
    5. John Loomis & Lynne Caughlan, 2006. "The Importance of Adjusting for Trip Purpose in Regional Economic Analyses of Tourist Destinations," Tourism Economics, , vol. 12(1), pages 33-43, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Panayiotis Drakakis & Athanasios Papadaskalopoulos & Dimitrios Lagos, 2021. "Multipliers and impacts of active sport tourism in the Greek region of Messinia," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(3), pages 527-547, May.
    2. Pavluković Vanja & Kovačić Sanja & Stankov Uglješa, 2020. "Cycling Tourism on the Danube Cycle Route in Serbia: Residents’ Perspective," Eastern European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 26(1), pages 259-285, December.
    3. Xu, Shuangyu & Barbieri, Carla & Anderson, Dorothy & Leung, Yu-Fai & Rozier-Rich, Samantha, 2016. "Residents' perceptions of wine tourism development," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 276-286.
    4. Rovelli, Roberto & Senes, Giulio & Fumagalli, Natalia & Sacco, Jessica & De Montis, Andrea, 2020. "From railways to greenways: a complex index for supporting policymaking and planning. A case study in Piedmont (Italy)," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    5. Rosny Jean & Kozma Naka & Colmore S. Christian & Buddhi Raj Gyawali & Troy Bowman & Sampson Hopkinson, 2023. "Outdoor Recreation in Southeastern United States National Forests: An Investigation of the Influence of Ethnicity and Gasoline Price on Individual Participation," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 4(2), pages 1-25, April.
    6. Prayaga, Prabha, 2017. "Estimating the value of beach recreation for locals in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 9-18.
    7. Gore, Madison & Joshi, Omkar & Chapagain, Binod & Poudyal, Neelam C. & York, Betsey, 2023. "An analysis of economic benefits from wildlife management areas in Oklahoma," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    8. Giovanni Peira & Agata Lo Giudice & Stefania Miraglia, 2022. "Railway and Tourism: A Systematic Literature Review," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-11, January.
    9. Ziye Shang & Jian Ming Luo, 2022. "Topic Modeling for Hiking Trail Online Reviews: Analysis of the Mutianyu Great Wall," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-16, March.
    10. Kevin McCoy & Vitaliy Krasko & Paul Santi & Daniel Kaffine & Steffen Rebennack, 2016. "Minimizing economic impacts from post-fire debris flows in the western United States," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 83(1), pages 149-176, August.
    11. John C. Whitehead & John Lehman & Melissa Weddell, 2016. "A Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Middle Fork Greenway Trail," Working Papers 16-01, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University, revised 2016.
    12. Khuda Bakhsh & Iqra Meshaal & Hudda Riaz, 2020. "Evaluating visitors’ travel demand and recreational values in Kallar Kahar Lake, Pakistan," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(8), pages 7951-7967, December.
    13. Spencer, Daniel M. & Nsiah, Christian, 2013. "The economic consequences of community support for tourism: A case study of a heritage fish hatchery," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 221-230.
    14. Eric Beckman & Mark Traynor, 2019. "Utilizing trade market analysis to identify the economic impact of a multiday special event in Miami Beach, Florida," Tourism Economics, , vol. 25(2), pages 253-273, March.
    15. Zachary Darby & Neelam Chandra Poudyal & Adam Frakes & Omkar Joshi, 2021. "Economic Analysis of Recreation Access at a Lake Facing Water Crisis due to Municipal Water Demand," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 35(9), pages 2909-2920, July.
    16. Kelley, Hugh & van Rensburg, Thomas M. & Jeserich, Nadine, 2016. "Determinants of demand for recreational walking trails in Ireland," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 173-186.
    17. Shattuck, Clara & Poudyal, Neelam C. & Bowker, J.M. & Joshi, Omkar, 2022. "Differential values associated with outdoor recreational access among the wildlife management area permit holders," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).

    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. Bowker, James Michael & Starbuck, C. Meghan & English, Donald B.K. & Bergstrom, John C. & Rosenberger, Randall S. & McCollum, Daniel W., 2009. "Estimating the Net Economic Value of National Forest Recreation: An Application of the National Visitor Use Monitoring Database," Faculty Series 59603, University of Georgia, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    2. John A. Curtis, 2002. "Estimating the Demand for Salmon Angling in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 319-332.
    3. Ojumu, Oluwagbemiga & Hite, Diane & Fields, Deacue, 2009. "Estimating Demand For Recreational Fishing In Alabama Using Travel Cost Model," 2009 Annual Meeting, January 31-February 3, 2009, Atlanta, Georgia 46858, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    4. Curtis, John & Stanley, Brian, 2015. "Water Quality and Recreational Angling Demand in Ireland," Papers WP521, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    5. Saúl Torres-Ortega & Rubén Pérez-Álvarez & Pedro Díaz-Simal & Julio Manuel De Luis-Ruiz & Felipe Piña-García, 2018. "Economic Valuation of Cultural Heritage: Application of Travel Cost Method to the National Museum and Research Center of Altamira," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-13, July.
    6. Isabel Mendes & Isabel Proença, 2009. "Measuring the Social Recreation Per-Day Net Benefit of Wildlife Amenities of a National Park: A Count-Data Travel Cost Approach," Working Papers Department of Economics 2009/35, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    7. Mahadev Bhat & Ramachandra Bhatta & Mohamed Shumais, 2014. "Sustainable funding policies for environmental protection: the case of Maldivian atolls," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 16(1), pages 45-67, January.
    8. John Cullinan & Stephen Hynes & Cathal O’Donoghue, 2008. "Aggregating Consumer Surplus Values in Travel Cost Modelling Using Spatial Microsimulation and GIS Techniques," Working Papers 0807, Rural Economy and Development Programme,Teagasc.
    9. Pattiz, Brian David, 2009. "Count regression models for recreation demand: an application to Clear Lake," ISU General Staff Papers 200901010800002092, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    10. A. J. Hekman & D. B. Deisenroth, 2013. "An empirical approach for directly accounting for expectations in behavioural models," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(14), pages 1318-1321, September.
    11. R. Martínez-Espiñeira, 2007. "‘Adopt a Hypothetical Pup’: A Count Data Approach to the Valuation of Wildlife," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 37(2), pages 335-360, June.
    12. Rolfe, John & Dyack, Brenda, 2010. "Testing for convergent validity between travel cost and contingent valuation estimates of recreation values in the Coorong, Australia," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 54(4), pages 1-17.
    13. Voltaire, Louinord & Koutchade, Obafèmi Philippe, 2020. "Public acceptance of and heterogeneity in behavioral beach trip responses to offshore wind farm development in Catalonia (Spain)," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    14. Anthony Amoah & Peter G. Moffatt, 2017. "Estimating demand for reliable piped-water services in urban Ghana: An application of competing valuation approaches," University of East Anglia School of Economics Working Paper Series 2017-01, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    15. Paul Mwebaze & Jeff Bennett, 2012. "Valuing Australian botanic collections: a combined travel-cost and contingent valuation study," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 56(4), pages 498-520, October.
    16. Cetin, Nuket Ipek & Bourget, Gulhan & Tezer, Azime, 2021. "Travel-cost method for assessing the monetary value of recreational services in the Ömerli Catchment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    17. Mohammad Younus Bhat & Mohammad Sultan Bhatt, 2019. "Economic valuation of biodiversity in South Asia: The case of Dachigam National Park in Jammu and Kashmir (India)," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(1), pages 59-72, January.
    18. Chin†Huang Huang, 2017. "Estimating the environmental effects and recreational benefits of cultivated flower land for environmental quality improvement in Taiwan," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 48(1), pages 29-39, January.
    19. Katsuhito Nohara, 2014. "Economic Valuation of the Damage to Tourism Benefits by Eastern Japan Great Earthquake Disaster," ERSA conference papers ersa14p1017, European Regional Science Association.
    20. Bowker, James Michael & English, Donald B.K. & Bergstrom, John C. & Starbuck, C. Meghan, 2005. "Valuing National Forest Recreation Access: Using a Stratified On-Site Sample to Generate Values Across Activities for a Nationally Pooled Sample," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19506, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).

    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:sae:toueco:v:13:y:2007:i:2:p:241-260. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.