|
on Tourism Economics |
| By: | Rainer Andergassen (Department of Economics, University of Bologna, Italy; RCEA, Italy); Guido Candela (Department of Economics, University of Bologna, Italy; RCEA, Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effectiveness of development strategies for tourism destinations. We show that resource investments unambiguously increase tourism revenues and that increasing the degree of tourism sophistication, that is increasing the variety of tourism related goods and services, increases tourism activity and decreases the perceived quality of the destination’s resource endowment, leading to an ambiguous effect on tourism revenues. We disentangle these two effects and characterize situations where increasing the degree of tourism sophistication is a viable development strategy and where it is impracticable without resource investment. |
| Keywords: | Tourism destination; tourism sophistication; resource investments; tourism demand; development strategy |
| JEL: | L83 O1 D11 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:35_10&r=tur |
| By: | Östberg, Katarina (CERE); Hasselström, Linus (Enveco); Håkansson, Cecilia (KTH) |
| Abstract: | The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires coastal water quality to be classified according to ecological indicators. In this paper, contingent valuation is used to estimate the value of improving the water quality status according to this classification, investigating if this type of holistic political-ecological measure can be related to and valued in monetary terms by the general public. A web-based survey was conducted in two study areas on the Swedish East and West coast. The paper focuses on eutrophication effects, such as bad water clarity, a decrease of bladder wrack stands and algae mats. These water quality elements affect recreational use of coastal areas. Relating to recreational use, two other environmental attributes are addressed – algae blooms and protection of marine areas in terms of e.g. restrictions for boat traffic. The restrictions scenario is also holistic in terms of several imposed restrictions, as well as tightly linked with existing policy. Conducting valuation studies based on a policy-determined measure is beneficial for decisionmakers but also for research e.g. in terms of data availability. It is concluded that these politically defined measures seem to work well as a basis for economic valuation. The respondents are in general both able to understand and to put a monetary value to the measures. This is an important first step, paving the ground for further studies. The monthly mean household WTP between the years 2010 – 2029 ranges from 61 to 108 SEK for improved water quality, from 54 to 84 SEK for less algae blooms and from 32 to 50 SEK for less noise and littering. Regarding noise and littering in archipelago areas in Northern Europe, this is to our knowledge the first WTP estimate that has been presented. The respondents from the East coast region express relatively high mean WTP values compared to the respondents on the West coast for all scenarios. The differences in mean WTP values between the study areas, which are reflected in the transfer errors, indicate that even though the coasts are similar in terms of use and environmental problems, and the respondents have many similar characteristics, a point estimate benefit transfer between the two coasts is not recommended unless high transfer errors are acceptable. WTP is affected by gender, membership of an NGO, whether or not the respondent has children, whether or not the respondent has a foreign background, frequency of visiting the area and whether or not the respondent uses a boat with an engine effect of more than 10 hp while visiting the area. |
| Keywords: | non-market valuation; choice experiments; water framework directive |
| JEL: | Q25 Q51 |
| Date: | 2010–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2010_010&r=tur |
| By: | Clemens, Michael A.; Demombynes, Gabriel |
| Abstract: | When is the rigorous impact evaluation of development projects a luxury, and when a necessity? This Paper studies one high-profile case: the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), an experimental and intensive package intervention to spark sustained local economic development in rural Africa. it illustrates the benefits of rigorous impact evaluation in this setting by showing that estimates of the project's effects depend heavily on the evaluation method. Comparing trends at the MVP intervention sites in Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria to trends in the surrounding areas yields much more modest estimates of the project's effects than the before-versus-after comparisons published thus far by the MVP. Neither approach constitutes a rigorous impact evaluation of the MVP, which is impossible to perform due to weaknesses in the evaluation design of the project's initial phase. These weaknesses include the subjective choice of intervention sites, the subjective choice of comparison sites, the lack of baseline data on comparison sites, the small sample size, and the short time horizon. The authors describe how the next wave of the intervention could be designed to allow proper evaluation of the MVP's impact at little additional cost. |
| Keywords: | Housing&Human Habitats,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Science Education,Scientific Research&Science Parks,Population Policies |
| Date: | 2010–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5477&r=tur |
| By: | Bridget Daldy (University of Waikato); Matthew Saunders |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the direct and subsequent flow-on expenditure resulting from the week-long National Masters Hockey Tournament held in Hamilton, New Zealand in March 2009. During the tournament, information was collected on the expenditure from a sample of participating players and officials and from the host association, Waikato Hockey. The information was averaged over all participants and used in a regional economic model. The economic impact of the 2009 tournament was also compared to the outcome for the Hamilton tournament held previously in 2003. Total direct expenditure in the Waikato region from the 2009 tournament was approximately $2.5 million compared to $1.2 million in 2003. The 2009 expenditure led subsequently to an extra $1.13 million of value-added to the regional economy mainly in the hospitality and accommodation sectors. |
| Keywords: | input-output; regional economic impact; masters sport; hockey; New Zealand |
| JEL: | C67 R11 |
| Date: | 2010–11–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:10/09&r=tur |