Assessing the Economic Value of the Ecosystem Recreational Services in the Coastal Zone of Noor County Provides Using the Travel Cost Method (TCM)

Subject Areas : Environmental Economics

Samereh Fayyazi ¹ , Ali Reza Mikaeili Tabrizi ² , Hassan Daliri ³ , Solmaz Amoushahi ⁴

1 - Msc, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Golestan, Iran.
2 - Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Golestan, Iran. *(Corresponding Author)
3 - Associate Professor, Department of management and economics, Faculty of humanities and social sciences, Golestan university, Gorgan, Golestan, Iran.
4 - - Ph.D, Planning and Budget Office, Planning and Economic affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2024-05-30 Accepted : 2024-10-30 Published : 2025-06-22

Keywords: Economic Value, Recreational Services, Travel Cost Method, Noor County.,

Abstract :

Background and Objective: Recently, coastal zones are the case of many studies due to their great sensitivity and high ecological, sociocultural, and economic values. This study assessed the economic value of the recreational services in the coastal zone of Noor County that has always been a suitable destination for tourists given its unique geographical position and natural attractions.

Material and Methodology: The research used the zonal travel cost method to estimate the individual demand function and calculate the added consumption of the tourists visiting the coastal zone. It also compared the Izadshahr, Noor, and Royan coastal zones using the individual travel cost method. Therefore, 320 questionnaires were distributed and then the effects of the descriptive variables on the number of visits to the region were studied using R software. The number of tourists in the study area, which belongs to each part of the country, was estimated by the latest population and housing census and per 10,000 population.

Findings: The daily recreational value of the coastal zone in Noor was then calculated for the August 2022 to February 2023. The results showed that the daily recreational value of the total coastal zone in Noor was 1,882,525,200 Iranian Rial (IRR). Moreover, the added consumption per visitor and the total value of the recreational services in Izadshahr were 468.75 and 21, 062, 146, 688 IRR, respectively. The added consumption per visitor and the total value of the recreational services in Noor were 39.01 and 807,572, 368.4 IRR, respectively. The added consumption per visitor and the total value of the recreational services in Royan were 42.43 and 1,748,522,887 IRR, respectively.

Discussion and Conclusion: The TCM recognized a suitable method for calculating the economic value of the recreational services in coastal ecosystems.

References:



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