Valuing the benefits of international ecotourism: The case of Ecuador

n recent years "ecotourism" has become an important phenomenon in the tourism industry. The demand for ecotourism sites is in part determined by the uniqueness of the natural resources and cultural environments associated with the sites. Because there are many alternative uses for Ecuador's natural resources and cultural environments, determining the compensating variation ecotourists have for the loss of access to the various sites is valuable from a policy perspective.;The purpose of this dissertation is to develop international applications of existing travel cost methods to determine the recreation benefits of the sites and qualities of natural and cultural ecotourism destinations. This study uses Random Utility Models to analyze the site decisions of international ecotourists visiting a small country. A combinations approach is employed to disaggregate the total costs across all the sites visited. A framework that explicitly incorporates the single-trip multiple-destination character of international ecotourism is developed. This involves adapting the random utility model (RUM) to incorporate choices from among several combinations of sites.;Through the cooperation of Clemson University and The Ecotourism Society, primary data was collected from ecotourists visiting Ecuador in 1995 and 1996. Data collection was completed in August 1996. The data is used in an application of the international ecotourism recreational benefit valuation model.;Compensating Variations (CV's) are obtained for the loss of ecotourism sites and changes in ecotourism quality. Travel costs are found to have significantly negative affects on the probabilities of visiting particular combinations of sites. The Galapagos Islands are found to have an average CV of...