The Recreation Value of Piatra Craiului National Park: A Combined Travel Cost and Contingent Valuation Survey.

This paper describes the steps of estimating the recreation value of a national park by combining two non-market valuation methods: the Travel Cost Method and the Contingent Valuation Method. The questionnaire was designed according to both methods by formulating specific questions. The survey was implemented in Piatra Craiului National Park during the summer of 2011, one of the most visited national parks from Romania. The recreation value in terms of consumer surplus per trip is derived from the Poisson model and in terms of willingness to pay per trip from the random effects probit model. It was found that tourists gain significant benefits from recreating in the park. The estimated recreation values are expressed in monetary units and provide justification for attracting funds for developing tourism opportunities in a sustainable way. Moreover, the findings show that tourists are aware of the value of the park and do appreciate the opportunities offered by the park administrations. However, the process of revealing the benefits people gain after visiting the park should receive more attention from the decision makers when developing the management plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]