Impact of user fees for visitors to national parks in the presence of alternative sites

• Published in: Annals of tourism research empirical insights 2023-11, Vol.4 (2), p.100104, Article 100104
• Main Authors: Shoji, Yasushi, Kim, Hyerin, Tsuge, Takahiro, Kuriyama, Koichi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Kuhn–Tucker model; National park; Recreation site; User fee
• ISSN: 2666-9579; 2666-9579
• DOI: 10.1016/j.annale.2023.100104

This study proposes an approach using the Kuhn–Tucker model to determine the extent to which the number of visitors to a recreational site would decrease if a user fee were introduced. This approach is promising in terms of consistency with economic theory and computational feasibility, assuming alternative recreational sites exist. An empirical analysis of national parks in Japan shows that a 1000 JPY fee would hardly decrease the number of visitors to a national park, whereas it would decrease the number of visitors to another national park over 45%. The results show that recreational sites with relatively high price elasticities experience a significant decrease in the number of visitors even with low user fees. [Display omitted] •We proposed a new approach to assess the impact of user fees in recreation sites.•We assumed a situation in the presence of alternative recreation sites.•A Kuhn–Tucker model was applied to consider alternatives.•This approach was applied to user fees in Japanese national parks.