Assessing the Recreational Value of Deosai National Park through Travel Cost Method.

Abstract

The current situation of tourism in Deosai Nationa l park(DNP) has posed seri ous threats to conservation of biodiversity in the parle The underl y ing study aims to explore environmental va lues and identify criti ca ll y economics of park tourism pricing in the mind of park actors and policy makers of the Deosai National Parle This study is designed to establish a systemati c review of key concepts and themes through a conceptual framework to find th e recreational va lue of Deosai Nationa l park. Recreational value of Deosai National Park is meas ured using Travel cost method. Negative binomial method is used primarily to account for count data model of recreational park trips and recreational v isit demand as suggested by recreation trip valuation literature. The economi c va lue of recreational trip in terms of consumer surplus is derived using negative binomial technique. The study estimates the annual consumer surplus va lue of Rs.6 .1 million resulting in the total annual recreational va lue 133 .02 million. The results revea l that the visitor's willingness to pay is Rs.SO per visit to save biodiversity conservation and introducing improvements in the park. On the eco nomi c front the underl ying study also demonstrates that relati ve ly hi gh va lue of cost of trip is one of the foremost reason in res ulting lower number of visits to the Deosai Nati onal Park. The results of this study would be important for authoriti es ofDeosai National Park as a reference in va luing the future resource management decision and development of green tourism in the park. Keywords: Deosai National Park, Travel cost method, Consumer surpluss, Count data, Recreational Va lue