Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Artist Statement
Shared with Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites and is Zambia’s major tourist attraction. Owing to its unique features, this natural wonder of the world has great potential to contribute significantly to Zambia’s tourism vision of being a major tourist destination that contributes to sustainable economic growth and poverty alleviation by the year 2030. With its inimitable attributes, the Victoria Falls receives enormous amounts of visitors. The continued demand for environmental quality as demonstrated by an increase in outdoor recreation increases the need for public resource mangers to obtain defensible measures of the relative economic value of outdoor recreation. Additionally, information on the economic value of recreational resources is fundamental for advancing the efficient allocation of resources. More so, such information is essential for spearheading natural resources management techniques that are geared towards boosting local economic development. Despite its popularity among local and international visitors, however, the economic value of Victoria Falls’ recreation benefits is still poorly understood. Lack of such information limits our understanding of the benefits that can be derived from the utilization of this natural resource. Therefore, as a contribution to the existing body of knowledge, this paper estimates the economic value of Victoria Falls’ recreation benefits using the Travel Cost Method. The Travel Cost Method is employed through an on-site survey distributed to 403 visitors. The visitors were comprised of local Zambia residents and international visitors. The econometric model used in this study is estimated using negative binomial regression with endogenous stratification. This regression model accounts for the truncated and overdispersed nature of the data including the oversampling of avid users since an on-site sampling method was executed in this study. Considering the multi-destination nature of visitors’ trips to Victoria Falls, this study includes a dummy variable in the econometric model to account for multi-destination trips. Data analysis for this study is still on-going. Besides estimating the economic value of Victoria Falls’ recreation benefits, the findings of this study shall be fundamental for resource management decisions regarding Victoria Falls.
Estimating Recreation Benefits from Zambia's Side of Victoria Falls
UC 330
Shared with Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites and is Zambia’s major tourist attraction. Owing to its unique features, this natural wonder of the world has great potential to contribute significantly to Zambia’s tourism vision of being a major tourist destination that contributes to sustainable economic growth and poverty alleviation by the year 2030. With its inimitable attributes, the Victoria Falls receives enormous amounts of visitors. The continued demand for environmental quality as demonstrated by an increase in outdoor recreation increases the need for public resource mangers to obtain defensible measures of the relative economic value of outdoor recreation. Additionally, information on the economic value of recreational resources is fundamental for advancing the efficient allocation of resources. More so, such information is essential for spearheading natural resources management techniques that are geared towards boosting local economic development. Despite its popularity among local and international visitors, however, the economic value of Victoria Falls’ recreation benefits is still poorly understood. Lack of such information limits our understanding of the benefits that can be derived from the utilization of this natural resource. Therefore, as a contribution to the existing body of knowledge, this paper estimates the economic value of Victoria Falls’ recreation benefits using the Travel Cost Method. The Travel Cost Method is employed through an on-site survey distributed to 403 visitors. The visitors were comprised of local Zambia residents and international visitors. The econometric model used in this study is estimated using negative binomial regression with endogenous stratification. This regression model accounts for the truncated and overdispersed nature of the data including the oversampling of avid users since an on-site sampling method was executed in this study. Considering the multi-destination nature of visitors’ trips to Victoria Falls, this study includes a dummy variable in the econometric model to account for multi-destination trips. Data analysis for this study is still on-going. Besides estimating the economic value of Victoria Falls’ recreation benefits, the findings of this study shall be fundamental for resource management decisions regarding Victoria Falls.