The value of ranch open space to tourists: Combining observed and contingent behavior data

Several empirical studies have estimated the value of agricultural land as open space to local residents. An important group of individuals that may b e affected by the loss of agricultural land are visitors to a region. The v alue of ranchland to tourists visiting a resort town in the Rocky Mountains is estimated through a travel cost model that combines information on obse rved behavior data from actual trips with contingent behavior data on inten ded current visitation if the resource were converted to urban and resort u ses. The value of ranch open space to tourists is the gain or loss in consu mer surplus derived from a visit to the study area attributable to the reso urce. A random effects Poisson regression model is estimated because of the panel nature of the data, accounting for the correlation of the multiple r esponses from heterogeneous individuals. Twenty-five percent of the sample would reduce visitation and 23 percent of the sample would increase visitat ion if ranch open space were converted to urban and resort uses. The overal l effect of converting ranch open space to resort and urban uses is no net change in average consumer surplus per trip for summer tourists in general.