Estimating recreational use value of Amboni conservation area: a travel cost approach

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Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Dar es Salaam
Abstract
The Amboni Caves Conservation Area authority lacks a more appropriate way of making informed decisions towards the improvement of the quality of environmental goods and services it provides to the visitors. The main objective of the study was to estimate the recreational use value of the Amboni Caves Conservation Area. To achieve this objective the study has focused on using individual travel cost method (ITCM). The ITCM was preferred to other methods because almost all the visitors came from Tanzania, though there were some few visitors from other parts of the world, including Kenya, Germany, UK and USA. Given the nature of the study it was inevitable to collect primary data direct from the area. A structured questionnaire was designed to elicit information about the travel cost by the individual visitor, and the socioeconomic characteristics such as age, monthly income, gender, marital status, household size, education level and the type of employment. The data used based on sample140 visitors to the Amboni caves. The count data collected from the survey was modelled with zero inflated negative binomial model (ZINB). Using this model, the consumer surplus per visit was estimated to be USD 20.69 and the annual economic use value for the site was USD 464, 439.59. This value is bigger than what is actually collected by the Amboni caves managing authority from the visitors. For that case the authority should reset the entry fee (by increasing it), so that the revenue collected can reflect the benefits that visitors derive from the site
Description
Available in print form, East Africana Collection, Dr. Wilbert Chagula Library
Keywords
Amboni caves conservation, Tanga region, Tanzania
Citation
Benedict, N. G (2014) Estimating recreational use value of Amboni conservation area: a travel cost approach, Master dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam.