Title: Contingent valuation approach to maximising park finances: a study of Kaziranga National Park

Authors: Ashifuddin Ahmed Saikia; Chandan Goswami

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, Tezpur University, Assam, India ' Department of Business Administration, Tezpur University, Assam, India

Abstract: Contingent valuation (CV) studies in India, especially in the north eastern states, are very few. Considering the importance of higher tourism revenue for better conservation and sustainable financing, this study is an attempt to understand visitors' willingness to pay (WTP) and the significant factors affecting it by applying the CVM technique to 766 visitors in Kaziranga National Park (KNP), a World Heritage Site and a popular tourist destination in Assam, India. The study demonstrated high WTP of the visitors which can have important managerial implications. The overall findings suggest that the park entry fee can be carefully increased to maximise revenue. The binary logistic regression analysis identified income, domicile, expenditure, satisfaction, perceived image, revisit intention and environmental disposition as significant factors affecting WTP. The study provides valuable insights which can guide future pricing policies to become more self-sustainable.

Keywords: willingness to pay; national park management; protected-area tourism; tourism revenue; sustainable financing; conservation; optimum entry fee.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2023.130073

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2023 Vol.30 No.4, pp.521 - 541

Received: 28 Jul 2020
Accepted: 14 Feb 2021
Published online: 05 Apr 2023 *

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