Farr, Marina, Stoeckl, Natalie, Esparon, Michelle, Larson, Silva, and Jarvis, Diane (2016) The importance of water clarity to tourists in the Great Barrier Reef and their willingness to pay to improve it. Tourism Economics, 22 (2). pp. 331-352.

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Abstract

Using the Great Barrier Reef as a case study area, the authors investigate visitors' willingness to pay (WTP) to improve water clarity (WC). They also explore the extent to which people's objective and subjective measures of WC influenced WTP. The results suggest that people's stated perceptions (importance and satisfaction) and the interaction between them have a significant influence on WTP. Those for whom WC was very important and who were very satisfied with WC were willing to pay more to preserve it. The importance variable interacts with subjective perceptions that drive behaviour. Thus one needs to consider not only satisfaction, but also the importance of the environment rather than using only subjective (or objective) measures when trying to explain behaviour. Further deterioration in WC could adversely affect the tourism industry and the average visitor would be willing to pay up to Aus$14.5 per visit to help improve it (although this amount is different for different visitors).

Item ID:	35929
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2044-0375
Keywords:	contingent valuation; Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area; hurdle model; payment card; visitors' willingness to pay; water clarity
Related URLs:	Publisher
Funders:	Tropical Ecosystems Hub, Australian Government’s Commonwealth National Environmental Research Program, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), Australian Government's Caring for Our Country , Australian Institute of Marine Science
Date Deposited:	30 Oct 2014 06:11
FoR Codes:	38 ECONOMICS > 3801 Applied economics > 380105 Environment and resource economics @ 50% 38 ECONOMICS > 3801 Applied economics > 380116 Tourism economics @ 50%
SEO Codes:	90 COMMERCIAL SERVICES AND TOURISM > 9003 Tourism > 900301 Economic Issues in Tourism @ 50% 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9606 Environmental and Natural Resource Evaluation > 960601 Economic Incentives for Environmental Protection @ 50%
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