Multi-destination and multi-purpose trip effects in the analysis of the demand for trips to a remote recreational site

One of the basic assumptions of the travel cost method for recreational demand analysis is that the travel cost is always incurred for a single purpose recreational trip. Several studies have skirted around the issue with simplifying assumptions and dropping observations considered as non-conventional holiday-makers or as non-traditional visitors from the sample. The effectof such simplifications on the benefit estimates remains conjectural. Given the remoteness of notable recreational parks, multi-destination or multi-purpose trips are not uncommon. This paper examines the consequences of allocating travel costs to a recreational site when some trips were taken for purposes other than recreation and/or included visits to other recreational sites. Using a multi-purpose weighting approach on data from Gros Morne National Park, Canada, we conclude that a proper correction for multi-destination or multi-purpose trip is more of what is needed to avoid potential biases in the estimated effects of the price (travel-cost) variable and of the income variable in the trip generation equation.