Recreational Visits to the Adam’s River during the Annual Sockeye Run: A Travel Cost Analysis

In October of each year, sockeye salmon return to the Adam’s River in the southern-interior of British Columbia, Canada, to spawn. A survey instrument based upon the individual travel cost approach was distributed to individuals making recreational visits to Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park (through which the Adam’s River flows) during a recent dominant-year run. The primary objective of this article is to report estimates of the net benefits arising from those recreational visits for three categories of visitors, including multi-purpose visitors. Since the data set encompasses both revealed preference (RP) and stated preference (SP) data, a random-effects Poisson regression was utilized to generate the estimates of consumer surplus. Two related issues of concern are also addressed: (1) does the SP data reflect hypothetical bias, and (2) is convergent validity reflected in separate estimates of consumer surplus generated using RP and SP data?