Whale watching choice experiment to assess boat crowding and whale abundance on tourist willingness to pay in Mexico

Abstract

Whale watching is a cultural service provided to societies around the world, but despite regulation, there is evidence of impacts on whales. Therefore, regulating demand through voluntary economic instruments is an option worth exploring. Thus, as a first step, using choice experiments, this paper estimates the willingness to pay (WTP) for blue whale watching in relation to boat congestion and whale abundance in Loreto Bay National Park. Choice experiments for blue whale watching are scarce and allow for the identification of the amount tourists are willing to pay given the characteristics of the activity without affecting their utility. The results of this paper show that boat congestion and whale abundance are determinants of tourist utility. Tourist specialisation, age, gender, nationality, income, norm crowding, first time visitor and other nature activities are also important variables in determining their WTP. In particular, international first-time visitors who engage in fishing as a complementary activity are interested in providing an additional payment. The results suggest that whale abundance needs to be conserved, as well as the actual number of boats and the passive method of whale watching. The amount of WTP could be used to implement a voluntary economic instrument such as a fund to improve adaptive management of whale watching.