Multi-destination and multi-purpose trip effects in the analysis of the demand for trips to a remote recreational site

• Main Authors: Martinez-Espineira, Roberto, Amoako-Tuffour, Joe
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Brussels: Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI) 2008
• Subjects: ddc:330; Q26; C24; Travel cost method; multi-purpose trips; multi-destination trips; count data; consumer surplus; endogenous stratification; Gros Morne National Park
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/142530

One of the basic assumptions of the travel cost method for recreational demand analysis is that the travel cost is always incurred for a single purpose recreational trip. Several studies have skirted around the issue with simplifying assumptions and dropping observations considered as non-conventional holiday-makers or as non-traditional visitors from the sample. The effectof such simplifications on the benefit estimates remains conjectural. Given the remoteness of notable recreational parks, multi-destination or multi-purpose trips are not uncommon. This paper examines the consequences of allocating travel costs to a recreational site when some trips were taken for purposes other than recreation and/or included visits to other recreational sites. Using a multi-purpose weighting approach on data from Gros Morne National Park, Canada, we conclude that a proper correction for multi-destination or multi-purpose trip is more of what is needed to avoid potential biases in the estimated effects of the price (travel-cost) variable and of the income variable in the trip generation equation.