Economic Valuation of Cultural Heritage: Application of Travel Cost Method to the National Museum and Research Center of Altamira

The economic assessment of non-marketed resources (i.e., cultural heritage) can be developed with stated or revealed preference methods. Travel cost method (TCM) is based on the demand theory and assumes that the demand for a recreational site is inversely related to the travel costs that a certain...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Torres Ortega, Saúl|||0000-0003-0619-2608, Pérez Álvarez, Rubén|||0000-0003-0529-0652, Díaz Simal, Pedro|||0000-0002-8645-952X, Luis Ruiz, Julio Manuel de|||0000-0001-6633-3690, Piña García, Felipe|||0000-0001-7216-239X
Format: article
Publication Date:2018
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
Repository:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/15790
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10902/15790
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Economic valuation
Travel cost method
Altamira
Neocave
UNESCO
Description
Summary:The economic assessment of non-marketed resources (i.e., cultural heritage) can be developed with stated or revealed preference methods. Travel cost method (TCM) is based on the demand theory and assumes that the demand for a recreational site is inversely related to the travel costs that a certain visitor must face to enjoy it. Its application requires data about the tourist?s origin. This work aims to analyze the economic value of the National Museum and Research Center of Altamira, which was created to research, conserve, and broadcast the Cave of Altamira (UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985). It includes an accurate replica known as the ?Neocave?. Two different TCM approaches have been applied to obtain the demand curve of the museum, which is a powerful tool that helps to assess past and future investments. It has also provided the annual economic value estimate of the National Museum and Research Center of Altamira, which varies between 4.75 and 8.00 million € per yea