title: Financing marine protected areas through visitor fees: insights from tourists willingness to pay in Chile.
abstract: Tourism is a financing mechanism considered by many donor-funded marine conservation initiatives. Here we assess the potential role of visitor entry fees, in generating the necessary revenue to manage a marine protected area (MPA), established through a Global Environmental Facility Grant, in a temperate region of Chile. We assess tourists' willingness to pay (WTP) for an entry fee associated to management and protection of the MPA. Results show 97 % of respondents were willing to pay an entrance fee. WTP predictors included the type of tourist, tourists' sensitivity to crowding, education, and understanding of ecological benefits of the MPA. Nature-based tourists state median WTP values of US$ 4.38 and Sun-sea-sand tourists US$ 3.77. Overall, entry fees could account for 10-13 % of MPA running costs. In Chile, where funding for conservation runs among the weakest in the world, visitor entry fees are no panacea in the short term and other mechanisms, including direct state/government support, should be considered.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Santiago, Chile, sgelcich@bio.puc.cl.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gelcich
authors.forename: Francisca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Amar
authors.forename: Abel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valdebenito
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Castilla
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Godoy
authors.forename: Duan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Biggs
mesh_terms: D002677:Chile; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics*; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000191:economics; D058735:Environmental Policy; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D019368:Nature; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D014195:Travel