Impact of National Park Visitation on Rural Economies and Government Revenue in Queensland Examples of Girraween, Eungella, Daintree and Carnarvon
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IMPACT OF NATIONAL PARK VISITATION ON RURAL ECONOMIES AND GOVERNMENT REVENUE IN QUEENSLAND EXAMPLES OF GIRRAWEEN, EUNGELLA, DAINTREE AND CARNARVON By Kreg Lindberg and Jon M. Denstadli IMPACT OF NATIONAL PARK VISITATION ON RURAL ECONOMIES & GOVT REVENUE TECHNICAL REPORTS The technical report series present data and its analysis, meta-studies and conceptual studies, and are considered to be of value to industry, government and researchers. Unlike the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre’s Monograph series, these reports have not been subjected to an external peer review process. As such, the scientific accuracy and merit of the research reported here is the responsibility of the authors, who should be contacted for clarification of any content. Author contact details are at the back of this report. EDITORS Prof Chris Cooper University of Queensland Editor-in-Chief Prof Terry De Lacy Sustainable Tourism CRC Chief Executive Prof Leo Jago Sustainable Tourism CRC Director of Research National Library of Australia Cataloguing in Publication Data Lindberg, Kreg. The impact of national park visitation on rural economies and government revenue in Queensland : examples of Girraween, Eungella, Daintree and Carnarvon. Bibliography. ISBN 1 920704 13 2. 1. National parks and reserves - Economic aspects - Queensland. 2. National parks and reserves - Fees. I. Denstadli, Jon M. II. Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism. III. Title. 333.7830994 Copyright © CRC for Sustainable Tourism Pty Ltd 2004 All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. Any enquiries should be directed to Brad Cox, Communications Manager (brad@crctourism.com.au) or Trish O’Connor, Publishing Manager (trish@crctourism.com.au). Acknowledgements The Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, an Australian Government initiative, funded this research. Funding was also provided by Tourism Queensland and QPWS. The authors would like to thank Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) staff in each of the parks, the visitors who completed the survey, and the project staff who conducted the interviews and entered the data. In particular, Kate Lawrance was involved in interviews and coordination throughout the project. Several individuals from government and academia provided input and comments during the development of the project and survey, and we thank them for their feedback. Guy West and Barbara Bayne provided the input- output tables, under a project sub-contract. Lastly, we thank Tourism Queensland and QPWS for co-funding the project with the Sustainable Tourism CRC and (alphabetically) Sally Driml, Ralph Henderson, David Morgans, and Emma Smith from these agencies for their guidance. ii examples of Girraween, Eungella, Daintree and Carnarvon CONTENTS SUMMARY ____________________________________________________________________________ VI CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION _____________________________________________________________1 VISITOR EXPENDITURE AND MULTIPLIER EFFECTS ______________________________________________ 1 PREVIOUS STUDIES: OVERSEAS _____________________________________________________________ 2 PREVIOUS STUDIES: AUSTRALIA ____________________________________________________________ 2 CHAPTER 2 ISSUES AND METHODS ______________________________________________________6 ESTIMATES OF VISITOR NUMBERS ___________________________________________________________ 6 HOW MUCH EXPENDITURE TO INCLUDE? ROLE OF PARK IN ITINERARY ______________________________ 6 WHO’S EXPENDITURE TO INCLUDE? TREATMENT OF LOCAL RESIDENTS _____________________________ 7 INCLUSION AND ALLOCATION OF EXPENDITURE ________________________________________________ 7 MEASUREMENT OF EXPENDITURE: POTENTIAL SOURCES OF ERROR _________________________________ 8 Sampling Error ______________________________________________________________________ 8 Coverage Error ______________________________________________________________________ 8 Non-response Error___________________________________________________________________ 8 Measurement Error ___________________________________________________________________ 8 EXTRAPOLATION, PARK SELECTION, AND SURVEY ADMINISTRATION________________________________ 9 Girraween National Park_______________________________________________________________ 9 Eungella National Park _______________________________________________________________ 10 Daintree National Park _______________________________________________________________ 11 Carnarvon National Park______________________________________________________________ 11 CHAPTER 3 VISITOR CHARACTERISTICS AND PARK EXPERIENCE _______________________13 PLACE OF RESIDENCE ___________________________________________________________________ 13 SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS ____________________________________________________ 13 EXPERIENCE WITH THE PARK______________________________________________________________ 14 CHAPTER 4 USE OF PARK SERVICES AND FACILITIES ___________________________________16 GIRRAWEEN___________________________________________________________________________ 16 Park Facilities ______________________________________________________________________ 16 Improving the Experience_____________________________________________________________ 17 Willingness to Pay __________________________________________________________________ 17 EUNGELLA ____________________________________________________________________________ 19 Park Facilities ______________________________________________________________________ 19 Improving the Experience_____________________________________________________________ 20 Willingness to Pay __________________________________________________________________ 20 Walking Tracks and Places Visited______________________________________________________ 22 DAINTREE ____________________________________________________________________________ 22 Tracks and Facilities _________________________________________________________________ 22 Willingness to Pay __________________________________________________________________ 24 Additional Information _______________________________________________________________ 25 CARNARVON __________________________________________________________________________ 26 Park Facilities ______________________________________________________________________ 26 Improving the Experience_____________________________________________________________ 26 Willingness to Pay __________________________________________________________________ 26 Walking Tracks and Places Visited______________________________________________________ 28 CHAPTER 5 RESPONDENT CURRENT AND SCENARIO ITINERARIES: THE ROLE OF PARKS IN TRAVEL DECISIONS __________________________________________________________29 LOCATION OF NIGHTS SPENT BEFORE AND AFTER PARK VISIT ____________________________________ 29 ACTIONS IF PARKS DID NOT EXIST _________________________________________________________ 30 GIRRAWEEN: CURRENT AND SCENARIO ITINERARY_____________________________________________ 30 EUNGELLA: CURRENT AND SCENARIO ITINERARY______________________________________________ 31 DAINTREE: CURRENT AND SCENARIO ITINERARY ______________________________________________ 32 CARNARVON: CURRENT AND SCENARIO ITINERARY ____________________________________________ 34 CHAPTER 6 EXPENDITURE AND ECONOMIC IMPACT ____________________________________35 CONTEXT: THE IMPACT OF TOURISM GENERALLY______________________________________________ 35 GIRRAWEEN: EXPENDITURE_______________________________________________________________ 35 EUNGELLA: EXPENDITURE________________________________________________________________ 37 DAINTREE: EXPENDITURE ________________________________________________________________ 37 CARNARVON: EXPENDITURE ______________________________________________________________ 38 iii IMPACT OF NATIONAL PARK VISITATION ON RURAL ECONOMIES & GOVT REVENUE IMPACT ANALYSIS: LOCAL, STATE-WIDE, AND TAX REVENUE ____________________________________ 39 SUMMARY: EXPENDITURE AND IMPACT______________________________________________________ 41 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION ______________________________________________________________45 APPENDIX A: COPIES OF THE VISITOR SURVEYS ________________________________________46 APPENDIX B: BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE INPUT-OUTPUT MODELS____________65 APPENDIX C: OPEN ENDED RESPONSES _________________________________________________67 REFERENCES __________________________________________________________________________81 AUTHORS______________________________________________________________________________83 List of Tables Table 1: Visitor expenditure associated with Australian natural areas (millions of dollars)__________________3 Table 2: Expenditure and impact at Daintree / Cape Tribulation (millions of dollars, ______________________3 Table 3: Economic impact of Great Barrier Reef marine park tourism (millions of dollars, _________________3 Table 4: Park-related expenditure in Tasmania 1998 / 1999, by visitor region____________________________4 Table 5: Breakdown of park-related average expenditure in Tasmania 1998 / 1999, by origin _______________4 Table 6: Park visitor expenditure in local region & resulting impacts in NSW ___________________________4 Table 7: Visitation across study parks, 2001______________________________________________________6 Table 8: Survey administration (all