Estimating the Willingness to Pay of Visitors of Shahre Sukhte Historical Collection, Using Conditional Valuation Method (CVM)

Abstract

In this study, willingness to pay (WTP) of the visitors of "shahresukhte" has been determined with the use of conditional valuationmethod (CVM) and dichotomous choice questionnaire. Willingness topay is calculated with Logit model, and the parameters of the modelare estimated by maximum likelihood method. Results revealed that58% of the research sample were willing to pay for their visit to"shahre sukhte". The average willingness to pay for each visit to theplace equaled to 6563 Rials and the total recreational value wasestimated to be more than 1292 Million Rials per year. Additionally, itwas indicated that variables of age, income, Antiquities-relatedoccupations or fields of study, and the perceived importance ofprotection of historical collections, had significant effects onwillingness to pay. The influencing factors on willingness to pay wererelated to the importance of historical collections protection,occupation or field of study associated with the Antiquities, familysize, age and income, respectively.

Keywords

• willingness to pay
• valuation - logit model
• historical collection
• shahre sukhte