Comparison of Contingent Valuation and Travel Cost Methods for Estimating the Recreational Value of Yazd Mountain Park

The economic valuation of natural resources is an effective management tool for managers while making decisions in the field of planning of development projects. The economic valuation of environmental and natural resources provides a framework for environmental protection and a response to changes in environmental conditions while balancing economic and social needs of society. The present study estimates the recreational value of Yazd Mountain Park, through comparison of contingent valuation method (CVM) and travel cost method (TCM). The local tourism demand function was estimated by a Logit model in CVM and by Maximum Likelihood model in TCM. The results indicate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) about 2400 Iranian Rials (IRR) per visitor and recreational value of the park near 7680 IRR per household. The annual recreational value of the park was estimated about 3360 billion IRR in CVM and nearly 10000 billion IRR in TCM. Accordingly, the recreational value of park is overestimated, since visitors regard the park services as pure public good, and do not express their WTP properly, so that the cost of visit per household is far higher than the willingness stated. Therefore, the estimated values can be used in determining the appropriate entrance fees. As well as high levels of estimated values reveal the need for protection, development and improvement of the quality and features of this park