Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2013, 61(7), 2851-2858 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201361072851

Individual single-site travel cost model for Czech paradise geopark

Jan Špaček, Michaela Antoušková
Department of Economics, Czech University of Life Science in Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic

Geotourism is a new phenomenon, which has emerged in the tourism literature during the past two decades, and whose meaning suffered from global census. Geotourism is still a new discipline and relatively little has been written about its demand side, demonstrated by a lack of studies in the literature This article studies the recreational value of geotourism areas, and focuses on the first geopark in the Czech Republic, namely the Czech Paradise Geopark. To assess the recreational value the travel cost method is applied, specifically the individual travel cost model. The necessary research data was gathered through intensive tourist surveys conducted in the study area. Data gathered in the respondents' survey served to determine the consumer surplus as a measure of recreational value and to develop the single site travel cost model. The dependent variable in the conducted model is the number of visits in the area and among the independent variables, studied age, education, travel cost, family status, economic activity and income. The results were subsequently compared to findings in the available literature, research works and case studies.

Keywords: geotourism, recreational value, travel cost method, single site model
Grants and funding:

The findings introduced in this paper arise from research made possible by a grant provided by the Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague - No. 201211110557.

Received: September 2, 2013; Published: December 24, 2013  Show citation

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Špaček, J., & Antoušková, M. (2013). Individual single-site travel cost model for Czech paradise geopark. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 61(7), 2851-2858. doi: 10.11118/actaun201361072851
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