Conflict between Commercial and Recreational Activities on Irish Rivers: Estimating the Economic Value of Whitewater Kayaking in Ireland using Mixed Data Sources

This paper?s contribution to the understanding of outdoor recreational pursuits in Ireland comes from the estimation of the first whitewater kayaking demand function. This paper is also unique in that it combines data collected from two different sources; the internet and an on-site survey, thus alleviating the problem of endogenenous stratification that is found when carrying out on-site surveys alone. The Travel Cost Model (TCM) method of estimation is used to put a value on the demand for whitewater recreation on the Roughty river, Co. Kerry, Ireland. Whitewater kayaking is well suited for the use of TCM to estimate recreational values as it is conducted at distinct, identifiable sites, and most paddling trips are single purpose, taken for the sole purpose of recreation at the site (English and Bowker, 1996). With regard to the estimation of our travel cost model, the study found that the mean willingness to pay (i.e. the consumer surplus + travel cost) of the average kayaker using the Roughty river in Co. Kerry was ?194 per trip. This result is conditional on the survey sample but still indicates the high value of the Roughty river as a whitewater recreational resource.