Estimating the recreation demand and economic value of the beach along the eastern coast of Xiamen island in china: an application of travel cost method

摘要

Xiamen City is located in the southeast of People's Republic of China and in the South Fujian Province, as well as in the western side of the Taiwan Straits. It includes Xiamen Island, Gulangyu Island and some areas of mainland. The eastern coast of Xiamen Island, opposite Jinmen Island of Taiwan, has a long and wide sandy beach. The sea area between Xiamen and Jinmen separates the two islands. The unique semitropical scenery and excellent natural conditions of the eastern coast of Xiamen Island have attracted a lot of tourists all over the country, even some foreign travelers. That's no doubt that the beach plays a significant role in local tourism-based economy, because beaches are the essence of the "the sand, the sea, and the sun" tourism, still are the foundation of a quality tourism product. In recent years, the development of the southeastern area of Xiamen Island has been proceeding at a rapid pace. Although the local government has determined "tourism-recreation" as the dominant function of the area some developers and decision-makers usually pay more attention to the direct economic benefits of a short-run and neglect the potential huge benefits of a long-term derived from the natural scenery and environmental resources. One of the most important reasons is that these resources are non-market public goods and it is difficult to evaluate their economic value. In this paper we try to apply the travel cost method (TCM) to estimate the recreation demand and economic value of the beach along the eastern coast of Xiamen Island which is public with free access, using a semi-interview questionnaire on-site. A series of socioeconomic information collected from the tourist, and the relative statistical data were processed by means of SPSS software, on the basis of which, the empirical demand function for recreation was found and the typical demand curve as well as the total consumer surplus were further estimated. Some other questions such as the protection of the significant tourism resource-the beach in the area, and the suitable fee that is charged for entrance to the beach are also discussed. The work can provide the valuable economic information to the local government and be used for the possible implementation of a user fee, which will e useful to the management and protection of the coastal environment and natural resources, especially the beach, in the area.