<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The main attractions of national parks include their scenic beauty, security, wildlife and trees. For preserving and maintaining national parks, an appropriate pricing policy can be used. The current study focuses on using the travel cost method (TCM) and contingent valuation method (CVM) as a non-market valuation technique to value the National Botanical Garden in Bangladesh, a developing country where little or no previous works of this kind has been conducted before. The main objective of the paper was to suggest an appropriate entrance fee for the park by assessing the willingness to pay (WTP) from the TCM and CVM; by determining a revenue maximizing entrance fee from the CVM; and by considering socio-demographics, the characteristics of visits and the motivation of the visitors to preserve the National Botanical Garden. The study sampled 100 visitors. These visitors participated in a survey which consisted of closed questions followed by a semi structured in-depth interview. For data processing, SPSS and Microsoft Excel were used. Based on the travel cost demand function using the TCM, the study found that the amount respondents were willing to pay for entrance was 0.955 US dollars and yearly consumer surplus was 593634.5 USD. From the CVM, it was estimated that the WTP was 0.225 USD for the entrance and revenue maximizing entrance fee was 0.376 USD. Finally, the entrance fee suggested for National Botanical Garden was around 0.225 USD.</p></abstract>

The main attractions of national parks include their scenic beauty, security, wildlife and trees. For preserving and maintaining national parks, an appropriate pricing policy can be used. The current study focuses on using the travel cost method (TCM) and contingent valuation method (CVM) as a non-market valuation technique to value the National Botanical Garden in Bangladesh, a developing country where little or no previous works of this kind has been conducted before. The main objective of the paper was to suggest an appropriate entrance fee for the park by assessing the willingness to pay (WTP) from the TCM and CVM; by determining a revenue maximizing entrance fee from the CVM; and by considering socio-demographics, the characteristics of visits and the motivation of the visitors to preserve the National Botanical Garden. The study sampled 100 visitors. These visitors participated in a survey which consisted of closed questions followed by a semi structured in-depth interview. For data processing, SPSS and Microsoft Excel were used. Based on the travel cost demand function using the TCM, the study found that the amount respondents were willing to pay for entrance was 0.955 US dollars and yearly consumer surplus was 593634.5 USD. From the CVM, it was estimated that the WTP was 0.225 USD for the entrance and revenue maximizing entrance fee was 0.376 USD. Finally, the entrance fee suggested for National Botanical Garden was around 0.225 USD.

Valuation approaches to ecosystem goods and services for the National Botanical Garden, Bangladesh

Department of Environmental Science and Management

Environmental & Socio-economic Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The main attractions of national parks include their scenic beauty, security, wildlife and trees. For preserving and maintaining national parks, an appropriate...

Valuation approaches to ecosystem goods and services for the National Botanical Garden, Bangladesh

Published Online: Mar 23, 2018

Page range: 1 - 9

Received: Nov 06, 2017

Accepted: Mar 13, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/environ-2018-0001

Keywords
consumer surplus, contingent valuation method (CVM), revenue maximizing entrance fee, travel cost method (TCM), willingness to pay (WTP)

© 2018 Jasia Tahzeeda et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Valuation approaches to ecosystem goods and services for the National Botanical Garden, Bangladesh

Published Online: Mar 23, 2018

Page range: 1 - 9

Received: Nov 06, 2017

Accepted: Mar 13, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/environ-2018-0001

Keywordsconsumer surplus, contingent valuation method (CVM), revenue maximizing entrance fee, travel cost method (TCM), willingness to pay (WTP)

© 2018 Jasia Tahzeeda et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
consumer surplus, contingent valuation method (CVM), revenue maximizing entrance fee, travel cost method (TCM), willingness to pay (WTP)