Preprint Article Version 1 This version is not peer-reviewed

Recreational Economic Value of Mexico’s Best Beach. A study for Balandra Protected Area

Version 1 : Received: 2 August 2024 / Approved: 3 August 2024 / Online: 6 August 2024 (04:18:03 CEST)

How to cite: Moreno-Gutíerrez, M.; Hernández-Trejo, V.; Valdivia-Álcala, R.; Juarez-Mancilla, J.; Cruz-Chávez, P. R. Recreational Economic Value of Mexico’s Best Beach. A study for Balandra Protected Area. Preprints 2024, 2024080245. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0245.v1 Moreno-Gutíerrez, M.; Hernández-Trejo, V.; Valdivia-Álcala, R.; Juarez-Mancilla, J.; Cruz-Chávez, P. R. Recreational Economic Value of Mexico’s Best Beach. A study for Balandra Protected Area. Preprints 2024, 2024080245. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0245.v1

Abstract

Balandra, one of the most popular beaches in La Paz, Baja California Sur, was declared a flora and fauna protection area in 2012 and, in 2021, was declared the best beach in Mexico. More recently, it was included among the ten most beautiful beaches in the world. Currently, this beach faces overcrowding. Formulating effective management policies depends, to a certain extent, on the knowledge of their recreational value and visitor characteristics. Recreational value allows us to know the benefits of the tradeoffs among the ecosystem services and society and exhibit the value of possible damages to marine ecosystems. Like the one caused in 2022 by the fire of a tourist boat inside Balandra. Using the individual travel cost method and applying 159 questionnaires to site visitors, four models were estimated to calculate the individual willingness to pay for accessing Balandra, which ranges between 3.86 and 10.38 US$/day/visitor. Recreational economic value (REV) for Balandra was estimated using two essential criteria. One, total of visitors registered in 2021. Two, daily maximum carrying capacity. We also calculated the REV as a proxy of the welfare loss derived from the site's closure. Finally, possible environmental and economic policy instruments that could be implemented are discussed.

Keywords

coastal tourism; marine protected area; Gulf of California; count models; truncated Poisson; negative binomial model

Subject

Social Sciences, Tourism, Leisure, Sport and Hospitality

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