Nature Tourism and Its Development in Guatemala: Assessing Current Trends and Future Potential ABSTRACT Interest in nature tourism and in the protected areas of developing countries has grown dramatically. Understanding more about the tourists themselves, the industry, its impacts, and its potential to generate revenue is important for countries to consider when crafting sound tourism policies. This report examines nature tourism's conservation and development objectives, its role in a conservation and development project in Guatemala, and presents the findings of a nature tourism study at Guatemala's Tikal National Park. A survey was designed and administered examining the socioeconomic characteristics of tourists, their impressions of the protected areas in Guatemala, their willingness to pay higher park entrance fees, and whether they would be more willing to pay higher entrance fees if they understood that a portion of the park's revenue was to be earmarked specifically for park management. The study revealed that most respondents are Americans about 30 years old who are well educated but earn low incomes. Most are only somewhat aware of the Guatemalan protected areas and are willing to pay approximately US $20 to visit the park. Willingness-to-pay bids were unaffected by policies designed to earmark a portion of the park revenue, and a large percentage of respondents were interested in purchasing multiple-day passes. 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am greatly indebted to the Institute of Latin American Studies for giving me the financial opportunity to carry out the field research segment of this project. I would like to thank as well those individuals in Guatemala whose efforts contributed significantly to the study. They include Dr. Norman Schwartz and Robert Heinzman of Conservation International and Sr. Rogel Chi of the Tikal National Park administration. I am also appreciative of the guidance and advice provided to me by Dr. Dale Whittington, Dr. Richard Andrews, and Dr. Jan Laarman, the statistical assistance given by Dr. Gary Gaddy, and comments offered by Rachel Austin. Lastly, I am most thankful for the support, assistance, patience, and language skills brought to this project by Alison. Without her efforts, a large portion of this project would not have been possible. Ill TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES............................................V LIST OF TABLES............................................vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS....................................vii INTRODUCTION...............................................1 CHAPTER 1..................................................3 Sustainable Development and Tourism....................3 Defining Nature Tourism................................4 Nature Tourism as a Tool for Conservation..............6 Nature Tourism as a Tool for Development..............11 Sector Roles in Nature Tourism Development............13 Impacts of Nature Tourism Development.................15 A. Environmental Impacts.........................16 B. Social Impacts................................17 C. Mitigating Environmental and Social Impacts...18 D. Economic Impacts..............................19 Obstacles to Nature Tourism...........................20 A. Inadequate Information........................21 B. Inadequate Revenues...........................21 CHAPTER II................................................24 Tourism Growth in Guatemala...........................24 Conservation and Protected Area Development in Guatemala..................................27 Nature Tourism and the Maya Biosphere Reserve.........31 CHAPTER III...............................................38 A Case Study of Nature Tourism at the Tikal National Park....................38 Introduction......................................38 Survey Objectives.................................42 Survey Design.....................................43 Survey Participants...............................49 Survey Sampling Procedure.........................49 Survey Implementation.............................50 Results...........................................52 A. Socioeconomic Profiles....................52 B. Tourist Motivations and Park Impressions..54 C. WTP Entrance Fee Assessments..............66 Conclusions...........................................77 REFERENCES................................................85 APPENDIX A: SURVEY QUESTIONS.............................90 APPENDIX B: CROSS-TABULATIONS........................... 101 IV LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Tourist Arrivals and Revenue in Guatemala......25 Figure 2: Tourist Arrival Fluctuations in Guatemala......2 6 Figure 3: Guatemala's System of Protected Areas..........30 Figure 4: Tourist Arrivals at the Tikal National Park....40 Figure 5: International Tourism Fluctuations.............41 Figure 6: Contingent Valuation Question Design...........48 Figure 7: WTP Responses across Entrance Fee Levels.......68 Figure 8 : Average Maximum WTP Values.....................70 Figure 9: Distribution of Maximum WTP Values Across Fees.72 V LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Benefits of Protected Areas.....................10 Table 2: Nature Tourism Study Objectives.................39 Table 3: Summary Statistics for Survey Completion........50 Table 4: Geographical Identity of Visitors...............52 Table 5: Visitor Occupations.............................53 Table 6: Income Level of Visitors........................54 Table 7: Prior Trips to Tikal National Park & Guatemala..54 Table 8: Traveling Companions............................55 Table 9: Experience Rating within Tikal & Guatemala......55 Table 10: Sources of Travel Information about Tikal......56 Table 11: Importance of Park System in Influencing Travel Decision....................57 Table 12: List of Familiar Parks and Reserves............58 Table 13: Reasons for Traveling to Guatemala.............59 Table 14: Alternative Destinations Considered............60 Table 15: Reasons for Choosing Guatemala over Other Destinations.............................61 Table 16: Favorable Aspects of Park Visit................61 Table 17: Unfavorable Aspects of Park Visit..............63 Table 18: Suggested Changes for Park.....................65 Table 19: WTP Responses: Scenario 100% and 50%.........67 Table 20: Ordinary Least Squares Regression Analysis.....74 Table 21: Probit Regression Analysis.....................75 Table 22: User Fee Effects on International Visitation and Revenue...........82 VI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CECON Centro de Estudios Conservacionistas (Conservation Studies Center of the National University) CONAMA Comision Nacional del Medio Ambiente (National Environmental Commission) CONAP Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas (National Council for Protected Areas) DIGEBOS Direccion General de Bosgues y Vida Silvestre (Forestry and Wildlife Directorate) GOG Government of Guatemala IDAEH Institute de Antropologia e Historia (Institute of Anthropology and History) INGUAT Institute Guatemalteco de Turismo (National Tourism Institute) lUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources MBR Maya Biosphere Reserve NGO Non-governmental organization SEGEPLAN Secretaria General de Planificacion Economica (General Secretarial for Economic Planning) UNEP United Nations Environmental Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization USAID United States Agency for International Development WRI World Resources Institute WTO World Tourism Organization WTP Willingness-to-pay WWF World Wildlife Fund Vll IHrrRODUOTZON Over the past 10 years, nature tourism has grown in popularity and established itself as more than just a passing tourism fad. Those interested in nature tourism include not only the tourists themselves but policy makers concerned with biodiversity conservation and economic development. Linking tourism revenue to protected area management in a sustainable fashion is one of the most formidable challenges facing nature tourism development. Policy makers will have to find ways to reconcile nature tourism's often conflicting objectives of conservation, hximan enjoyment of the environment, and economic prosperity. This thesis will begin by exploring the nature tourism phenomenon and its potential to conserve biodiversity and promote economic development. It will end by examining nature tourism in the north of Guatemala and suggestions for policy reform. Chapter I will describe international trends in nature tourism, its objectives, the different roles of the public and private sectors in its development, and the impacts of and obstacles to its development. Chapter II will describe the Guatemalan tourism industry and highlight a conservation and development project using nature tourism in the northern region of Guatemala, the Peten. Chapter III will present the results of a survey of tourism in the Peten's Tikal National Park and will explore tourists' interests, backgrounds, awareness of Guatemala's system of protected areas, and willingness-to-pay values for park entrance fees. Specifically, the survey will examine whether tourists' willingness-to-pay higher entrance fees is affected by funding policies that earmark park revenue for park management. In addition, the survey will assess tourists' interest in having a multiple-day pass made available at the park. The survey data will be summarized and analysed using basic descriptive statistics and multivariate statistical techniques, and recommendations for policy change will be discussed. CHAPTER I SustaineQ>le Development and Tourism