A Comparison of Tourist Evaluation of Beaches in Malta, Romania and Turkey

Abstract

OZLEM UNAL Dokuz £yJul University, TurkeyThe characteristics, perceptions, attitudes and behaviour of beach users at three locations: St George's Bay, Malta, Mamaia, Romania and Olu Deniz, Turkey, were determined from questionnaire surveys. Respondents comprised locals, domestic ond foreign tourists. Results far these parameters had substantial agreement both across the three beaches and with previous studies. The amounts beach users were willing to pay (WTP), via the contingent valuation method and their consumer surpluses (C5), via the travel cost method were determined. The average amount beach users were willing to pay per visit, was £0.64 on 5t George's bay, £0.32 on Mamaia and £0.94 on Olu Deniz. The willingness to pay varied with social closs, earnings, amount of beach use and between local, domestic and foreign user groups. The consumer surplus also varied for these groups as British tourists had a C5 of £0.62 per visit, with domestic Turkish and Romanian users having values of £0.46 and £0.69, respectively. Diminishing marginal utility, as measured by Wfp, with beach use was found in all three surveys. Charging far actual use would be acceptable for the majority of beach users. Coastal zone managers could realise significant revenues from beach users if they charge adults on a per visit basis (the favaured mode of payment) and spend the revenue on the maintenance and improvements identified by the users. Only one of the beaches (Olu Deniz, Turkey) currently has restricted access, which would facilitate such a payment method.

British Tourists' Valuation of a Turkish Beach Using Contingent Valuation and Travel Cost Methods

“…Respondents' preference for paying a fee per visit is also in line with findings of previous beach surveys ( BLAKEMORE and WILLIAMS 1998;BLAKEMORE et al, 2002). Respondents may not have selected taxation because they may perceive that the tax would not realistically apply to them.…”

Beach users’ aesthetic and economic evaluation of a “minor change” to the hard engineering coastal defences at Wiseman’s Bridge, Pembrokeshire, Wales

“…In conformity with other work, i.e. Morgan 5 and Blakemore and Williams [31,32], aesthetic quality has also proved to be important to beach users as 'enjoying the surroundings' was the second most popular reason for visiting Wiseman's Bridge. Coastal planners must be aware that recreation can be an emotion rather than an action performed and that the building of coastal defences can affect passive beach use of this kind.…”

Willingness to Pay for More Sustainable Tourism Destinations in World Heritage Cities: The Case of Caceres, Spain

“…There have been many studies in which the willingness to pay for environmental issues has been quantified, some of which include the following: improvement in the quality of bathing water [31][32][33][34][35][36]; beach maintenance and improvement [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45]; the protection of marine species [46][47][48]; the restoration of environmentally deteriorated beaches [49][50][51]; the development of additional tourist services on beaches [44,[52][53][54]; the maintenance of beach ecosystem services [55]; etc.…”