Effective Use and Management of Kunisaki Peninsula Usa GIAHS Long Trail—A Sustainable Tourism Model leading to Regional Development

Despite increasing recognition of the importance of maintaining environmental public goods such as rural landscapes and their ecological systems, it remains challenging to implement a management system where the value of maintaining such public goods is reflected by a means of a support payment. We proposed a tourism model for the regional promotion of footpaths as the main axis in the “Agri-culture System” designated as part of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). Applying a Contingent Valuation Method, we asked walkers how much they were willing to contribute to various GIAHS-related activities through volunteering in addition to the participation fee for the walk. We hypothesized that the diverse means and activities to support conservation would contribute to sustainable management of GIAHS. The research findings showed that walkers had options to choose which activity to support. For track maintenance, WTC L in volunteering is 4.23 days a year. In the case of walkers who had no options, their Willingness to Contribute in Labor ( WTC L ) by volunteering is 3.34 days a year. To link the regional resources used for tourism with GIAHS require their effective management and conservation. Thus, it is desirable to formulate a combined approach such as payments by users of the trails and contributions through volunteer activities.