The recreational value of Lake McKenzie: An application of the travel cost method

Lake McKenzie is one of the most highly used and popular visitor destinations of all Fraser Island's natural sites, attracting 2,000 visitors a day in peak periods. Many consider this level of visitation to be unsustainable and the management authority is considering a range of management options. In assessing the alternatives it is useful to have some idea of the recreational value of the Lake under the current regime. This paper estimates this value using the travel cost method. Once adjustments for multiple-site visitors are made, the method yields recreational values of the Lake ranging from $13.7 M. to $31.8 M per annum, or from $104.30 to $242.84 per-person per-visit.