Estimating Health Tourists’ Willingness to Pay (Case of Sarein Springs’ Visitors)

Abstract

Sarein is one the touristic cities of Ardabil province, known for its hot springs and hydrotherapy spots. In light of this, investigating the tourists’ views and demands for this place can be useful in predicting needs, removing scarcities and developing tourism industry in this city. Taking advantage of the two-stage Heckman approach, this study estimates the tourists’ WTP for visiting Jamish Goli, Sabalan and Besh Bajilar – three of Sarein hot springs. Also it deals with assessing the causes of tourists’ visits to Sarein, and the state of the city’s amenities in the tourists’ eyes. Requested data sets were obtained through the questionnaires and interviews of 646 individuals who visited the mentioned hot springs. Results revealed that the mean WTP for each visit to Jamish Goli, Sabalan and Besh Bajilar equals

Keywords

• health tourism
• sarein
• hydrotherapy
• willingness to pay
• two- stage heckman approach