What are tourists willing to pay for securing the survival of a flagship species? The case of protection of the Ethiopian wolf

Tafesse Estifanos ^[1] ^[2] ; Maksym Polyakov ^[1] ; Ram Pandit ^[1] ^[3] ; Atakelty Hailu ^[1] ; Michael Burton ^[1]
1. [1] University of Western Australia
  
  University of Western Australia
  
  Australia
2. [2] Hawassa University
  
  Hawassa University
  
  Etiopía
3. [3] Hokkaido University
  
  Hokkaido University
  
  Chūō-ku, Japón
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Localización: Tourism economics: the business and finance of tourism and recreation, ISSN 1354-8166, Vol. 27, Nº. 1, 2021, págs. 45-69
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- Ecotourism can be an important tool for protecting biodiversity in developing countries. Touristshave preferences for viewing charismatic species and for their conservation, but our understandingof these preferences remains limited. Using choice experiment surveys, we investigate tourists’preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for the protection of the Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis)in Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains National Park. Results from a random parameter logit model showthat tourists were willing to pay up to US$5.82/day/trip for increasing the wolf population from 200to a more viable number of 250 but very little for a more substantial increase. Tourists also valuedincreases in the size of the protected area (PA) and access to the wolf habitat. The WTP is found tobe dependent on tourists’ prior experience to Ethiopian PAs and whether they had viewed otherunique species in the park. The findings suggest opportunities for ecotourism to support the Ethiopian wolf, which is in a critical state, and that the primary motivation for tourists’ supportmight be due to the wolf’s existence value.