Willingness to pay toward the conservation of ecotourism resources at Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to determine the visitors’ willingness to pay for conservation of the resources at Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park (TNGP), and to determine the satisfaction of visitors towards the use of the ecotourism resources of the park. The dichotomous choice CVM method is used to determine the willingness to pay (WTP). A total of 423 respondents were interviewed face-to-face to collect the data. The results show that most visitors are satisfied with the ecotourism resources in TNGP, many of the visitors have come to TNGP more than once. In order to sustain the benefits derived from the case of the resources at the park, the visitors agree that various organization involved most cooperate to conserve and protect the ecotourism resources. The factor analysis identified seven factors that may be related to visitors’ satisfaction towards the ecotourism resources at TNGP. These factors are grouped into three general aspects, which are the environmental exploration, satisfaction of public amenities and outdoor recreation. The economic benefit of conservation of the ecotourism resources at TNGP was measured using the visitors’ willingness to pay (WTP) for higher entrance fee to the park. A logit regression model was used to determine visitors’ willingness to pay. The results indicate that income, gender (male) and residential (urban) were the significant factors that influencing the visitors’ willingness to pay for the entrance fee to TNGP. The mean willingness to pay (WTP) is found to be RP 7629.77 per visit. It is estimated that in 2004 the benefits of conservation of the ecotourism resources in TNGP amounts to RP 452 million.