Economic evaluation on the tourism and recreational values of Can Gio biosphere reserve by adopting the travel cost method

Abstract

The research aims at estimating the tourism and recreational values of Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve, Ho Chi Minh City, specifically, assessed the tourism potential via the willingness-to-pays of respondents (including domestic tourists and local people) for sustaining the landscape and regenerating natural resources as well as protecting the environment. The zone travel cost method was adopted in this study, to firstly plot the demand curve and then to estimate the values of recreation for visitors, eventually, come up with the total economic value of natural resources and environment of the research site. The results showed that the total recreational value of this resort is 6,542.3 billion VND while the consumer surplus values that visitors would receive from tourism activities are 1,389 billion VND. Each the tourist is willing to pay 107 thousand VND to improve the quality of tourism services, upgrading the infrastructure, sustaining the environmental quality and protecting the pristine look of the landscape.