Willingness to pay in Taman Negara: a contingent valuation method

The main attractions of national parks include its scenic beauty, rainforest and wildlife. An appropriate pricing policy in national parks can be used as a tool to not only achieve successful and sustainable management of national parks, but also provide quality products and services at fair prices to visitors. The central question is how to establish an appropriate pricing policy for national parks? Park resources such as scenic beauty and conservation of endangered species are not traded in the market place like many other commodities so they require the use of non-market valuation techniques. One of the methods commonly used for non-market valuation is the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). With Willingness to Pay (WTP) as the elicitation method, CVM was used to determine the appropriate pricing policy for the sustainable management of Taman Negara National Park (TNNP). Respondents were asked the maximum amount they were willing to pay for the nonmarket goods available at TNNP. This provided an estimate of the mean values for setting the price for licenses and permits. In addition to estimating the mean values, the study also identifies socio-demography, visit and paying characteristics of visitors. The study employs 180 visitors to TNNP, who participated in closed-ended questionnaires through interviews. Findings of the study reveal that visitors were willing to pay more for entrance fees. This study presents implications to policy makers to guide future management of TNNP. Results of this study facilitate in establishing an efficient and realistic pricing policy for TNNP.

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