Abstract:
Abstract: Estimating recreational benefits of non-market natural resources is
considered crucial for their conservation. When natural resources are degraded by
various anthropogenic reasons, it negatively affects the well-being they provide to
human society. But in most cases, such effects remain unaccounted as market failure
is synonymous with most environmental services and provisioning. Thus, valuation of
natural resources and estimation of their diverse economic benefits are important as
they can play a great role in the sustainable management of natural resources for
human welfare. This study has employed the Zonal Travel Cost Method (ZTCM), a
variation of the popularly used TCM technique, for estimating recreational benefits
of the Kuakata Sea Beach, one of the highly potential yet unexplored natural tourist
destinations in Bangladesh. It is estimated that the Beach produces an annual figure
of TK 29.55 million as recreational benefits to the visitors. The study also finds that
improvements in the overall environmental quality of the Beach, as well as better
roads and transport facilities, are more likely to increase the recreational benefits to
visitors and also their visitation rates.
