Estimating the Value of Self-Drive Recreation in the Remote Kimberley : Sensitivity to Multi-Destination Trips and the Value of Travel Time

The remote and iconic Kimberley region, in northern Western Australia, is a contested landscape with growing pressure for different types of future land-use and development. The region has high biodiversity values and impressive scenery that provides attractive wilderness experiences for visitors. We estimate the value of domestic recreation to the region using a travel cost model and address two challenges that are particularly relevant to remote sites like the Kimberley. Firstly, the appropriate measurement of the value of travel time when large distances are travelled, and secondly, the treatment of multiple destinations, given travel to remote sites are more likely to include these. In the sensitivity analysis we test four specifications for the value of travel time and two approaches to allocating travel costs for multi-destination trips. We find that adjusting travel costs for multi-destination trips using stated information results in a better fitting model. We estimate total consumer surplus of A$110.34 million annually but observe that results are sensitive to the chosen specification for the value of travel time. These findings highlight both the importance of estimating recreation values for the region, and of improving the travel cost method, especially for remote sites where per-trip recreation values are high