Estimating the value of ecotourism resources: a case of Kilimanjaro national park, Tanzania

Estimation of the value of environmental resources has attracted great debates in recent years and attempts have been made to perfect methodology. Kilimanjaro National Park in Tanzania is among such resources that have attracted increasing numbers of researchers attempting to estimate its “true value”. The main objective of this study was to estimate the value of ecotourism in this Park. The CVM is used to asses Visitors willingness to pay for the value of ecotourism of the park. A logit model is also used to analyze the socio-economic factors that affect visitor’s willingness to pay. The main findings are: First, visitors average Willingness to pay above the current entrance fee is USD 19.3. Second, about 55 percent of the visitors expressed willingness to pay above the prevailing entrance fee of USD 60. Also Monthly income, age, level of education of respondent and satisfactions towards tourist attractions and services offered by the Park are the most important factors influencing the visitor/respondent WTP to visit Kilimanjaro National Park. In light of these findings we make two recommendations. The first is for the Park to sustain quality of services and tourist attractions. The second is for the Park to consider gradual increase of entrance fee to meet cost of further improvement of the Park environment.