Valuing a high altitude mountain ecosystem and creating policy instruments for ecotourism development : a case study of Yulong mountain, China
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2015
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2558
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eng
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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Zhang, Zhuoran (2015). Valuing a high altitude mountain ecosystem and creating policy instruments for ecotourism development : a case study of Yulong mountain, China. Retrieved from: https://repository.nida.ac.th/handle/662723737/6444.
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Valuing a high altitude mountain ecosystem and creating policy instruments for ecotourism development : a case study of Yulong mountain, China
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Abstract
This dissertation consists of three connected parts:
The first part is a research paper examines the tourism demand and assesses
consumer surplus from visiting a unique tourist attraction site: glaciers in Mt. Yulong,
Yunnan, China by using the Zonal Travel Cost Method (henceforth, ZTCM). I aim to
uncover the use value of this particular site in tourism development. I divide domestic
travelers into 20 groups based on the demographical and geographical characteristics
of their place of residence. The empirical results show that the economic value of the
glaciers in the tourism industry is more than 3 billion Chinese Yuan (CNY), roughly
equivalent to 500 million dollars at the exchange rate of March 2016, which is
approximately 10% of the local GDP. The high estimated value of the glaciers
suggests that some conservation policy interventions are necessary.
The second research paper attempts to elicit the maximum willingness to pay
by the travelers for the ecotourism development, which would conserve the glaciers
and the ecosystem in Mt. Yulong. The survey was conducted in Mt. Yulong among
the travelers during June to December 2015, and the focused group talk technique was
applied. A total of 1,500 survey questionnaires were distributed and 889 returned with
completed information. The estimated willingness to pay by each traveler’s averages
around 220 CNY, which is equivalent to 35 US Dollars at the exchange rate of March
2016. This amount was almost twice higher as the entrance fee to the site and indicates that the travelers are highly concerned with the environmental quality during
their traveling experiences and are in favor for the eco-friendlier tourism.
The third part of this dissertation is a discussion paper that aims to compare
different techniques of intervention instruments based on the particular situations in
Lijiang and Mt. Yulong. This paper combines researches and recommendations from
the environmental scientists of Chinese Science Academy and the economic
attributions uncovered from the previous two parts of this dissertation into
consideration. Even though various market base instruments have their unique
advantages and might all be achieving in the case of Mt. Yulong, the Payments for
Ecosystem Service (henceforth, PES) package seems to be most effective in
addressing the environmental conservation issues as well as enhancing the economic
development.
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Thesis (Ph.D. (Economics))--National Institute of Development Administration, 2015