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ABSTRACT
The economic valuation of recreation services provided by ecosystems is attracting increased research attention. This is also the case in developing countries and in Benin in particular. This study focuses on beach recreation and intends to inform public policies regarding the government’s seaside tourism development strategy and coastal regeneration programme. Based on a sample of 213 local, national and international visitors of Fidjrossè beach, the study provides the first estimation of consumer surplus for beach recreation services. It applies the Individual Travel Cost Method (ITCM), tests several count models, and adopts a negative binomial regression which best fits the data. The results highlight that beach recreation is preferred over other leisure activities by a majority of respondents, reflecting its worth as a recreational setting. The number of visits to the beach per year is determined by a variety of variables, including travel costs, visitors’ education level and sex. The estimated visitor surplus (XOF 512.69; USD 0.87 USD for the total expenses per visitor per visit) is fairly low and is discussed with regard to the methodological limitations of the study, methodological issues that still need further investigation and the structural specificities of tourism in Benin.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Calculated according to the exchange rate 1 USD = 586.71 XOF from January 07, 2020.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Dewanou Jean-Luc Houngbeme
Dewanou Jean-Luc Houngbeme is a research fellow in the faculty of economics and management, in the Université d'Abomey-Calavi, Benin. His research interests primarily centre around the relationships between economic growth, well-being and tourism development in natural areas, and seaside tourism in particular.
Charlemagne Babatoundé Igue
Charlemagne Babatounde Igue's research interests focus on development economics. His work center around international trade, inclusive growth and environmental issues associated with economic growth. Professor Igue has been involved in several research and teaching programmes relating to development economics in Sub Saharan Africa.
Isabelle Cloquet
Isabelle Cloquet's research interests centre around the conceptualisation of tourism destination development. Parts of her research work focus on Africa, with a doctoral dissertation on the case of Gabon in 2015. Since then Isabelle has been involved in several research and teaching programmes relating to tourism and sustainable community development in Guinea, Uganda and Madagascar. Apart from her work on Africa, Isabelle's additional research interests include: the relationships between tourism, social inclusion and wellbeing; and, more recently, the adoption of smart technologies by tourism organisations, and its effects on employees, the labour market and the structure of the industry.