Abstract:
Taman Negara is Malaysia’s premier national park and the largest in the country
covering over 4343 square kilometers (434,300 hectares) of primary forest, spans
across three states Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang - and is situated in the center of
the Peninsula Malaysia. It is home to much wildlife and is a popular tourist attraction
to both local and foreign tourists. This study attempts to determine the economic value
of Taman Negara National Park by eliciting visitors’ willingness to pay (WTP) using
contingent valuation method followed by single bounded dichotomous choices. A
stepwise backward binary multivariate logistic regression model was used to measure
WTP and to determine the factors that influence the variation in WTP. Primary data
were obtained from 368 local and foreign visitors who have been interviewed in TN
Park. Thestudy found that both local and foreign visitors were willing to pay more
than the current charges for entrance permit and nature based activities provided by
TN Park. On average visitors are willing to pay for entrance permit RM 16.71 ($ 5.4)
perperson. The existing rate is RM 1 ($ 0.32) per person. Beside, WTP for all other
activities such as fishing license, camera license, camping fee, canopy walkway and
hide fee is much higher than the existing rates. The optimum pricing strategy should
be a combination of policy objectives and information gathered from local and foreign
visitors on WTP. In conclusion, this study
