Economic and Financial Benefits of Tourism in Major Protected Areas

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Abstract
Tourism has emerged as an important economic activity in Australia. Australia's protected natural environment areas are amongst the nation's major tourist attractions. This article presents new estimates of the considerable financial value of tourism in five of Australia's World Heritage Areas (WHAs). An economic interpretation of the management objectives for protected areas has been developed to illustrate the nature of the problem of maximising the combined benefits of all uses, including conservation, over time. The role of tourism and the proper measures of economic benefits are defined within this model. The model also incorporates expenditure on management to prevent reductions in environmental quality. The financial value estimates for the five WHAs are compared with management budgets and revenue collected from users and this leads to questions about the adequacy of funding for management and the potential for raising more revenue for management from users. It is argued that these questions can only be properly answered using the economic measures of surpluses and information on demand functions.

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