Estimating the Outdoor Recreation Value of Maharloo Lake of Shiraz with the Use of Contingent Valuation Method

Maharloo Lake, located at 23 kilometers from Shiraz, has high value for local people and passengers due to its mild weather and natural interests. Studying recreational values of this place is necessary to predict needs, remove scarcities and tourism development. The aim of this research is to estimate the outdoor recreational value of Maharloo Lake with the use of contingent valuation method. To study the effective variables on willingness to pay per visit by individuals, logit model was used to estimate maximum likelihood. Requested data set were obtained by completing questionnaires and interviewing 188 individuals who visited the lake during summer 2007. Results revealed that 74.5 percents of individuals agreed to pay for each visit. Also results showed that education, lake absorption, gender and revenue had a positive significant effect and bid, number of yearly visits and family size had negative significant effect on probability of willingness to pay. Mean willingness to pay for each visitor per year was 3392 RLs and annual outdoor recreation value of Maharloo Lake was estimated 1187200000 RLs.