National park entrance fees: A global benchmarking focussed on affordability

Abstract

Setting protected area entrance fees at appropriate levels can be extremely challenging. We provide benchmarking data across a sample of 62 countries and construct an Index of Affordability (IOA), showing protected area entry fees relative to citizens’ per capita income adjusted for purchasing power. Using this measure, Australian parks are the most affordable (IOA of 0.10) to citizens, those in Benin are the least affordable (10.69), while Indonesia is closest to the global average IOA of 2.09. Protected areas in low-income countries are on average 30 times less affordable to citizens than in high-income countries. This has equity implications, and may supress visitation rates, thereby reducing the degree to which citizens attach value to, and are willing to support, national parks. International tourist fees are lowest in Armenia (US$1.04) and highest in Tanzania (US$43.72), while Costa Rica is closest to the global average (US$11.21), a relatively small proportion of the US$165 average daily spend estimated for European middle to higher income tourists. International tourists to low-income countries pay an average entrance fee of US$20, four times that paid in high-income countries. This is arguably fair, given their far smaller protected area funding bases and much greater reliance on tourism earnings. Our findings support fee differentiation between citizens and international tourists as a means of equating affordability.