ECONOMIC VALUES OF TOURISM IN THE WET TROPICS WORLD HERITAGE AREA Bruce Prideaux and Fay Falco-Mammone Established and supported under the Australian Cooperative Research Centres Program © Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management. ISBN: 0 86443 780 3 This work is copyright. The Copyright Act 1968 permits fair dealing for study, research, news reporting, criticism or review. Selected passages, tables or diagrams may be reproduced for such purposes provided acknowledgment of the source is included. Major extracts of the entire document may not be reproduced by any process without written permission of the Chief Executive Officer, Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management. Published by the Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management. Further copies may be requested from the Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management, James Cook University, PO Box 6811 Cairns, QLD, Australia 4870. This publication should be cited as: Prideaux, B. and Falco-Mammone, F. (2007). Economic Values of Tourism in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management, James Cook University, Cairns. Cover Images © 2007 Fay Falco-Mammone Duncan Watts (Top Left) Date: April 2007 For copies of this report, visit: www.rainforest-crc.jcu.edu.au ii CONTENTS CONTENTS………..................................................................................................................iii TABLES……… ........................................................................................................................v FIGURES………......................................................................................................................vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................................................................................vii ACRONYMS and ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................viii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ix 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................1 1.1 Background...................................................................................................................1 1.2 The Problem of Measuring Economic Values of Protected Areas...........................1 1.3 The Location: Wet Tropics World Heritage Area .......................................................2 1.3.1 The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area .....................................................................2 1.3.2 Tourism in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.....................................................4 1.4 Objectives......................................................................................................................5 1.5 Measuring the Economic Value of Tourism in Protected Areas ..............................5 1.5.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................5 1.5.2 Valuing Australia’s World Heritage Areas: The Total Economic Value Method .......6 1.5.3 Valuing the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park: The Tourism Satellite Model..............7 1.5.4 Valuing Tourism in National Parks: A Case Study Approach...................................8 1.5.5 Limitations of Reviewed Studies ..............................................................................9 1.5.6 Summary of Reviewed Studies ................................................................................9 2.0 METHODOLOGY.............................................................................................................12 2.1 Overview......................................................................................................................12 2.2 Methodology Adopted in this Research ...................................................................12 2.2 Rainforest Evaluation Survey....................................................................................13 2.3 Procedures ..................................................................................................................14 2.4 Limitations...................................................................................................................14 2.5 Locations.....................................................................................................................17 3.0 RESULTS 22 3.1 Rainforest Visitation and Expenditure......................................................................22 3.1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................22 3.1.2 Respondents by Location.......................................................................................22 3.2 Rainforest Visitor Profiles..........................................................................................23 3.2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................23 3.2.2 Age Groups............................................................................................................23 3.2.3 Visitor Origin...........................................................................................................24 iii 3.2.4 Occupation and Income .........................................................................................25 3.2.5 Travel Party and Transportation.............................................................................27 3.2.6 Accommodation .....................................................................................................29 3.2.7 Satisfaction and Recommendations.......................................................................30 3.2.8 Information Sources ...............................................................................................30 3.2.9 Trip Planning..........................................................................................................31 3.2.10 Holiday Decision-Making......................................................................................32 3.2.11 WTWHA Locations Visited...................................................................................35 3.2.12 Time Spent at WTWHA Locations .......................................................................35 3.2.13 Importance of Visiting National Parks ..................................................................37 3.2.14 Holiday Scenarios ................................................................................................39 3.2.15 Rainforest Scenarios............................................................................................42 3.3 Expenditure Factors ...................................................................................................43 3.3.1 Visitor Nights..........................................................................................................43 3.3.2 Nights Away from Home ........................................................................................45 3.3.3 Holiday Budget and Expenditure............................................................................48 4.0 VALUE OF TOURISM......................................................................................................54 4.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................54 4.2 Calculations and Data Treatment..............................................................................54 4.2.1 Total Annual Visitor Expenditure............................................................................54 4.2.2 Economic Contribution of Tourism .........................................................................56 4.2.3 Substitution Factor .................................................................................................58 5.0 DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................59 5.1 Estimates of the Economic Value of Tourism..........................................................59 5.2 Substitution Value ......................................................................................................59 5.3 WTWHA Visitor Profile ...............................................................................................60 6.0 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................61 REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................62 APPENDIX A: RAINFOREST VISITOR SURVEY...................................................................1 APPENDIX B: LIMITATIONS IN THE REGIONAL TOURISM DATA FROM TOURISM QUEENSLAND (2006) .....................................................................................8 iv TABLES Table 1: Overview of Previous Methods, Calculations and Data Sources .............................10 Table 2: Locations and Sample..............................................................................................22 Table 3: Age Groups and Age Groups by Locations..............................................................23 Table 4: Visitor Origin.............................................................................................................24