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Abstract
This paper focuses on an empirical application of the travel cost method, to estimate the
recreational use value of Bellenden Ker National Park, part of the Wet tropics World
Heritage Area Queensland, Australia. Walking appears to be one of the main activities
associated with recreational experiences in the region. Substantial socio-economic as well
as environmental benefits are expected to be gained if the areas was to be developed
further, with regard to walking tracks, provided that this would be done in an
environmentally sustainable way.
Two overnight tracks within the park have been selected to obtain information about
visitors’ experiences with the tracks in the past, to address specific needs for possible
future developments.
A standard assumption for interpreting travel costs as a valid proxy for the price of a trip
is that the travel cost be incurred exclusively to visit that particular site. However, this
assumption often proves to be invalid as people tend to combine destinations. We
propose a method commonly used in multi-criteria decision-making to correct for
multiple trip bias.
A value of $AUS 15.2 mln has been estimated as the net present value of recreational use
in 2001 values at about six percent real rate of interest in perpetuity. This value appears
to be rather small compared to other TCM studies undertaken in the area, for national
parks that were similar in size and visitor numbers.