Application of Matrix Approach for Evaluation and Assessment the Potential of Recreational Ecosystem Service in Model Regions in Slovakia

Recreation and tourism are important for economic growth and human wellbeing. They are directly related to the cultural services provided by ecosystems. Recreational services, as part of tourism, have the greatest potential for development within the sector of services in the Slovak economy, and they are able to generate a significant number of new jobs especially in small rural regions. There is a gap in the literature providing assessments of geographically small regions in relation to their potential to provide different types of ecosystem services. The aim of the article was to evaluate and assess the recreational potential of ecosystem services in two small pilot regions of the Slovak Republic, Brezno district and Krupina district. Modified matrix of indices was used. Results showed that Brezno district has a higher area of ecosystems with a higher potential for recreation, therefore the conditions for recreation and tourism are much better in comparison to Krupina district. However, the use of recreation potential in Brezno district is negatively affected by the availability of sites and transport options, which is reflected in a lower ratio of visitors to the capacity of recreation potential. This finding opens up discussion about opportunities to create new jobs within sustainable tourism in Brezno district. This study provides an alternative view to the assessment and evaluation of the recreational potential of ecosystem services in small regions. Moreover, the methodology developed in this paper is replicable and could be applied by planners using geographical information systems.

A regionalized IO-model to value seasonal recreational ecosystem services in a mountain National Park in Spain

Recreational Ecosystem Services(RES)are among the most frequently evaluated ecosystem services.RES are seen as a major opportunity for sustainable development in areas of high ecological value resulting from the presence of emblematic species,habitats or scenery,often integrated in conservation areas,in particular in mountain areas affected by depopulation,rising environmental risks and poverty.Economically,the assessment of RES has been based on Contingent Valuation and Choice Experiments,methods with limitations related to their subjectivity.Alternatively,Input-Output(IO)models provide a very accurate and effective way of valuation of RES with regional information regarding interindustry transactions.Whilst data on nature tourist expenditure may be only available annually,tourism inflows have a strong seasonal behavior,which impacts the profitability of several local economic activities.In this paper,we firstly constructed a novel regionalized IO-model based on Cross-Industry Location Quotients using employment data and,secondly,based on Monte Carlo simulation,we estimated nature tourist expenditure monthly using data on nature tourism inflows.This method allowed for a more precise RES evaluation,estimating direct,indirect and induced monthly economic impacts of nature-based tourism.The method was applied to the Ordesa and Monte Perdido(OMP)National Park in the Spanish Pyrenees.To estimate the average tourist expenditure,we collected and analyzed spending on commerce,hospitality and restaurants,leisure,and transport of 385 visitors.Results suggest that using a regionalized IO model leads to a considerable reduction of over-estimation of the economic impact of tourist expenditure estimated by conventional methods.Taking into consideration the direct,indirect and induced effects of tourist expenditure in 2016-2018,the total annual output effect in the OMP National Park amounted to€208.8 million,while the total income effect amounted to€86.29 million.Also,a total of 2,429 jobs were created which indicates that for each thousand annual visitors to the National Park,3.8 jobs are created in the surrounding area.Overall,the proposed methodology can be easily applied to the remaining National Parks in Spain or other regions in the world,making it a valuable tool to estimate the value of RES in areas affects by strong seasonality,to set priorities and support regional policies for mountain sustainable development.

Evaluation of Recreation Service Quality of Slow Traffic Space in Urban Parks Based on IPA-Space Syntax Model

To build an“ecological and livable city”,it is important to figure out the relationship between human activity and urban park space and create a high-quality urban park through the integration of“people”and“park”.Taking Longhu Park in Huainan Province as an example,the study quantitatively analyzed and evaluated the characteristics and service quality of slow traffic space using importance-performance analysis(IPA)and space syntax,clarified the key indexes and areas to be optimized,and put forward corresponding design countermeasures and suggestions in combination with human activity demand.The results suggest that:①The mean performance of park recreation service quality is 3.63,less than the mean importance(3.95).Tourists pay special attention to the safety and convenience of slow traffic space,and the diversity and identiability of site functions is the focus“to be improved”.②The accessibility of Longhu Park shows a strong irregular shape in the southwest.The dead-end roads in the far lake area and the flora and fauna area on the northwest side have weak spatial perception,and the composite function carrying potential of slow traffic space is better reflected in a small range.Therefore,an optimization strategy for slow traffic space is proposed to enhance the continuity of road network,site identifiability,and functional diversification.The results will provide new thoughts of governance based on spatial humanism for the high-quality renewal of urban parks in the new era.

Tourists’Willingness to Pay for Recreation Services in Nyerere National Park,Tanzania:Are We Overvaluing or Undervaluing Our Nature Recreation Resources?

This study estimated tourists’Willingness to Pay(WTP)per day for recreation services in Nyerere National Park(NNP)and compared these values with daily travel costs that are incurred by tourists to visit NNP in order to inform whether recreation resources in the park are overvalued or undervalued.The study revealed that tourists’WTP per day for recreation services was estimated at$237.4 and$1521 for resident and non-resident tourists,respectively.The estimated tourists’WTP values exceed the daily travel costs currently incurred by tourists,which are$201.04 and$1517.97 for resident and non-resident tourists,respectively.This indicates that tourists are willing to spend more to enjoy recreation services in NNP,which signifies that recreation resources in NNP are slightly undervalued.In addi­tion,the findings disclosed that the largest share of tourist daily travel expenses is allocated to transportation services,and very little is paid to the park as a conservation fee.It was revealed that out of the daily travel expenses incurred by non-resident and resident tourists,only 4.62%and 2.23%are respectively paid directly to NNP as conservation fees.This study considers that allocation is not very fair;thus,NNP,in collaboration with TANAPA,needs to adjust the current entrance or conservation fee and reduce the transportation costs charged by tourist companies.The travel costs incurred by tourists,age,education,monthly income,site visited,substitute site,and quality of park were identified as significant factors in influencing tourists’WTP for recreation services in NNP.Thus,policies oriented to reduce tour­ists’transportation costs and improve the quality of national parks would attract more tourists to NNP.