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Valuing access to protected areas in Nepal: The case of Chitwan National Park

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  • Pandit, Ram
  • Dhakal, Maheshwar
  • Polyakov, Maksym

Abstract

This paper investigates the international and domestic visitors' willingness to pay (WTP) an entry fee at Chitwan National Park (CNP) in Nepal, the factors affecting their WTP, and the trade-offs among entry fees, visitation demand and park revenue. Based on the contingent valuation surveys of 222 non-South Asian, 48 South Asian, and 40 domestic visitors, the logit regression results suggest that the visitors have a substantially higher WTP than the current entry fees. Depending on visitor categories, the estimated mean WTP per visitor per day was at least 2.5 times higher than the existing entry fee. The WTP is positively affected by the visitor's CNP experience. The current fees capture only about 21% of consumer surplus derived from CNP access. Doubling the current entry fees would modestly decrease the number of CNP visitors (<19%) but substantially increase the park revenue (>61%).

Suggested Citation

  • Pandit, Ram & Dhakal, Maheshwar & Polyakov, Maksym, 2015. "Valuing access to protected areas in Nepal: The case of Chitwan National Park," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1-12.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:touman:v:50:y:2015:i:c:p:1-12
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2014.12.017
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    6. Eugene Ezebilo, 2016. "Willingness to Pay for Maintenance of a Nature Conservation Area: A Case of Mount Wilhelm, Papua New Guinea," Asian Social Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(9), pages 149-149, September.
    7. Rai, Rajesh Kumar & Dhakal, Arun & Khadayat, Madan S. & Ranabhat, Sunita, 2017. "Is collaborative forest management in Nepal able to provide benefits to distantly located users?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 156-161.
    8. Edwin Muchapondwa & Eyoual Demeke & Samson Mukanjari, 2018. "Recreation Demand and Optimal Pricing for International Visitors to Kruger National Park," Working Papers 743, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    9. Min-Seong Kim & Brijesh Thapa & Hany Kim, 2017. "International Tourists’ Perceived Sustainability of Jeju Island, South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    10. Johane Dikgang & Edwin Muchapondwa & Jesper Stage, 2017. "Securing benefits for local communities from international visitors to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park," Tourism Economics, , vol. 23(8), pages 1553-1567, December.
    11. Acharya, Ram Prasad & Maraseni, Tek & Cockfield, Geoff, 2019. "Global trend of forest ecosystem services valuation – An analysis of publications," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    12. Tafesse Estifanos & Maksym Polyakov & Ram Pandit & Atakelty Hailu & Michael Burton, 2021. "What are tourists willing to pay for securing the survival of a flagship species? The case of protection of the Ethiopian wolf," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(1), pages 45-69, February.
    13. 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.

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