The spatial distribution of primary overnight destination camping benefits derived from the provincial parks of British Columbia

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dc.contributor.authorRichards, Robert Jamesen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-15T17:39:41Z
dc.date.available2024-08-15T17:39:41Z
dc.date.copyright1977en_US
dc.date.issued1977
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Economics
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en
dc.description.abstractThe relatively recent growth in the demand for outdoor recreation has been widely met by the provision of publicly funded facilities . This is especially true with respect to overnight camping parks. As with any governmentally provided good, means other than the private market place must be sought in order to determine the socially optimum supply. One aspect of the optimum public supply of overnight camping facilities is the "spatial", or regional distribution of primary camping benefits emanating from these facilities. Distributional equity, being one of the many objectives of public investment, is an aspect of outdoor recreation investment which has received little attention. In response, the thesis was directed towards determining for the summer (May through September) of 1975 the spatial distribution of primary camping benefits accruing to the residents of British Columbia from the in system of overnight camping facilities, the provincial parks. At the outset, the meaning of economic benefit was explored and then used in examining the commonly used methods to value outdoor recreation facilities. The travel-cost method, which uses travel expenses as a proxy for willingness to pay, was deemed to be the most theoretically valid approach in determining primary camping benefit. Previous attempts at estimating camping demand and benefit, both for day-use and overnight facilities, were then examined with the conclusion that many are theoretically weak or inaccurate. In light of this, two overnight camping demand functions were formulated for destination (sole purpose of trip) camping groups. Both of these demand models, group camping days overnight demand, (a unique and complete formulation of overnight camping) and overnight group visit demand (only approximated in the outdoor recreation literature) were utilized in econometrically estimating provincial park overnight destination camping demand for as many parks as was statistically possible. For data related and statistical reasons, only the later demand model was used in the calculation of primary overnight destination camping benefit. By aligning the primary overnight destination camping benefit results, per thousand regional population, in terms of the provincial regional districts, the spatial distribution of primary overnight camping benefit was derived. This revealed that the whole south-east corner of British Columbia received below the provincial average amount of benefit from the publicly funded provincial park system. A band of regional districts running up from the Okanagan and across the centre of the province received above the provincial average in primary camping benefit, while the middle of the province received an average amount. The results were less consistent for Vancouver Island and the lower mainland, although it is noteworthy that both Victoria and Greater Vancouver were among the chief recipients of per capita primary overnight destination camping benefit. The empirical analysis of the status quo distribution of primary overnight destination camping benefit revealed information which is requisite to investigation of the regional equity of future provincial park investment: and is another step in further rationalizing the public investment process.en_US
dc.format.extent317 pages
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/19449
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.titleThe spatial distribution of primary overnight destination camping benefits derived from the provincial parks of British Columbiaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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