Visitor’s Willingness to Pay for National Park Entrance Fees in China: Evidence from a Contingent Valuation Method

Lin Song, Yi Xue, Yaqiong Jing and Jincan Zhang
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Lin Song: School of Economics and Finance, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China
Yi Xue: School of Economics and Finance, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China
Yaqiong Jing: Qinghai Vocational and Technical Institute of Animal Husbandry and Vet, Xining 812100, China
Jincan Zhang: School of Management Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-14

Abstract: China has been making efforts in nature conservation by developing a new national park system. Setting a fee-based entrance policy for the newly established national parks can be challenging without information on visitors’ willingness to pay (WTP). Thus, this study aims to evaluate visitors’ WTP entrance fees with a dataset of 1215 visitors collected in China’s planned Qinling National Park (QNP). Using the double bounded dichotomous choice format of the contingent valuation method, we obtained the mean WTP for the entrance fee of QNP of 200 yuan. Visitors’ demand becomes relatively inelastic at the recommended entrance fee of 160 yuan when the expected ticket revenue will reach its maximum of 13.8 billion yuan. Our study also indicates that visitors’ WTP is significantly influenced by their gender difference, education level, income, number of trips to natural attractions, duration of stay, the intention of a future visit, and concern about commercial exploitation. Our empirical study provides insights into developing effective pricing policies and appropriate marketing strategies for China’s new national park system.

Keywords: national park; willingness to pay; contingent valuation; Qinling Mountains; entrance fee (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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