The economic impacts of off-highway vehicle (OHV) recreation in Oregon: main report

Despite a recent decline, during the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in sales and permit registrations for off-highway vehicles (OHVs) in Oregon. These vehicles include quads and three-wheel ATVs (Class I), dune buggies, sand rails, and 4x4 vehicles (Class II), and off-highway motorcycles (Class III). This report updates the 1999 OHV economic impact analysis, based on expenditure reported by a sample of OHV riders for the year 2008. As with any economic activity, this expenditure creates multiplier effects in the economy. The economic significance of equipment expenditure reflects all activity, by region, from “oneoff” purchases such as OHV vehicles, trailers, and tow vehicles. The economic impact of trip expenditure reflects “new money,” by region, from fuel, lodging, food, and other spending related to the use of OHVs. All spending reflects recreational OHV use of public lands in Oregon. Equipment expenditure is from Oregon residents, while trip expenditure is in-Oregon spending by Oregon residents and out-of-state visitors. Within Oregon, an estimated 68,202 households engage in recreational OHV riding. These households spent an estimated $291 million on OHV equipment in 2008, with the Willamette Valley region representing 38household spent$4,259 on equipment, of which $1,596 was for OHV vehicles and$1,105 was the cost of vehicles attributable to towing OHVs. Statewide, this spending generated $53.5 million in labor income, including employee compensation and proprietary income. This income supported 1,162 jobs. An estimated 2.6 million household trip days were taken statewide in 2008, with the South Coast having the largest share (756,581 trip days). These trip days include all OHV riding, from an hour-long ride on adjacent land to a week-long vacation hundreds of miles away. Combined, local, non-local, and out-of-state trips were associated with$250 million in trip expenditure in Oregon. A substantial portion of this total was for gasoline, to be expected given the record high gas prices that year. Statewide, this spending generated $64.1 million in labor income, and this income supported 2,369 jobs. Both types of expenditure involve significant retail components, but this is especially true for equipment. Much of this spending is quickly “lost” from the host region to purchase the products sold (vehicles, gasoline, etc.). In addition, jobs are both full-time and part-time, and with varying wage levels. This accounts for the difference between equipment and trip results with respect to the ratios between expenditure, income, and employment.Prepared for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department by Kreg Lindberg (Oregon State University -- Cascades Campus). Permission to make available online given by Terry Bergerson, Outdoor Recreation Planner, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.Keywords: Economic impact, Off-highway vehicle recreation, Orego

CONTINGENT VALUATION OF RURAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT WITH TESTS OF SCOPE AND MODE STABILITY

Contingent valuation is used to measure the social impacts of tourism in rural Oregon communities. Impacts are substantial, for example, annual household willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce traffic congestion is $186. Study features include tests of sensitivity to a change in scope, tests of stability across survey mode, and a thorough system of “no” –vote follow-up questions in a referendum format. While there is no evidence of scope effects (at the 0.05 level), results indicate that conclusions regarding sensitivity to scope may be dependent on the test used. WTP estimates are substantially less with the mail versus telephone survey mode.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Assessment of tourism's social impacts in Oregon coast communities using contingent valuation, value-attitude, and expectancy value models

Tourism development has expanded in Oregon coast communities and in rural communities elsewhere in the nation. This expansion has brought economic gains, but has also brought social costs. The identification and management of tourism's actual and perceived social impacts has received significant attention. This dissertation presents two approaches that extend social impact analysis. First, the contingent valuation (CV) method is used to measure selected tourism-related social impacts in an economic metric. Such measurement facilitates benefit-cost analysis of mitigation projects and contributes to integrated analysis of tourism's diverse impacts. Adjusted mean willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the noise, congestion, and housing commodity models is, respectively, $130,$186, and $161 per household per year. Adjusted mean WTP for the policy models is$95, $110, and$103. The magnitude of these amounts signifies that tourism's economic benefits have come at a substantial social cost. Second, a general conceptual model of resident attitudes toward tourism is presented. Two sets of specific models derived from this general model are evaluated using structural equation modeling. The value-attitude models indicate that, for the present data set, the strength of resident values regarding economic gain better predict attitudes than do values regarding disruption within the community. The expectancy-value models indicate that perceived economic and congestion impacts have greater effect on attitudes than do perceived crime and aesthetic impacts. In addition, the data support the hypothesis that demographic variables affect attitudes indirectly through values, but not directly. Lastly, methodological issues within the CV field are addressed. A relatively thorough No vote follow-up system is illustrated. Scope effects are evaluated and are not found in the present data set. Varying significance levels for the tests used in this evaluation indicate that conclusions regarding scope sensitivity may be dependent on the test used. WTP estimates are not found to be stable across formats, and the data suggest that the mail format may provide the time needed for respondents to fully evaluate their budget constraints. The present contingent valuation and resident attitude models are the first of their kind within the tourism field. Recommendations for future research on these, and related, topics are presented

Assessing recreation specialization to guide nature-based tourism development: A hybrid choice model of birder destination preferences

Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Birding is a growing nature-based tourism activity, and a better understanding of birder preferences could support tourism development and species conservation. Using a hybrid choice modeling approach, we analyzed birding destination preferences and how they vary by recreation specialization. This approach allows a continuum of specialization rather than allocating birders into discrete segments. A sample of 205 birders recruited in the 2017 summer season in Varanger, Norway, completed an online choice experiment with scenarios that included five systematically-varied destination attributes: Birding quality, bird diversity, landscape scenic quality, facilitation (e.g., trails and specialized guides), and a visitor fee. The hybrid choice (HC) model explained preference heterogeneity better than the attributes only multinomial logit (MNL) or random parameters logit (RPL) models. Birding quality, landscape scenery, and a medium level of facilitation were significant predictors in all models, while high bird diversity was significant only in the RPL and HC models. Interaction terms in the HC model indicated that birding quality, bird diversity, and the highest level of facilitation (specialized guides and birding hides) were more important for “more specialized” birders than for “less specialized” birders. Findings allow destinations to target birder segments more deliberately, while also assisting in planning and management decisions.Assessing recreation specialization to guide nature-based tourism development: A hybrid choice model of birder destination preferencespublishedVersio

Analyzing the deeper motivations for nature-based tourism facility demand: a hybrid choice model of preferences for a reindeer visitor center

Wildlife interpretive centers may increase the attractiveness of natural areas for visitors, provide local employment and income, and channel visitors to reduce wildlife disturbance. However, interpretive center success depends on understanding visitor preferences. This is facilitated by integrated analysis of individual characteristics, such as attitudes and demographic factors, and situational characteristics, such as interpretive center features. The current study integrates these characteristics via a hybrid choice model estimated with multi-level structural equation modeling in the context of prospective visits to a wild reindeer center in Norway. Results indicate that interpretive preferences vary, with foreigners prioritizing guided options more highly than do Norwegians. Neither sample prioritized technologically-intense media options. Both samples prioritized avoiding negative effects on wildlife habitat, with foreigners prioritizing it more highly. Connectedness to nature predicted preferences for visiting the interpretive center over not visiting. Consistent with the value-attitude hierarchy, intrinsic values predicted these preferences only indirectly, via connectedness. Comparison of the hybrid choice model with a basic multinomial logit model highlights the benefits of including latent variables to understand the deeper structure of preferences

Tourism and Change in Local Society and Culture, 1999

The purpose was to better understand resident perceptions of changes caused by tourism in rural Norway, as well as preferences for future development

Nature-based tourism and community resilience: Framework and application with a firm perspective

publishedVersio

Analyzing the deeper motivations for nature-based tourism facility demand: A hybrid choice model of preferences for a reindeer visitor center

Wildlife interpretive centers may increase the attractiveness of natural areas for visitors, provide local employment and income, and channel visitors to reduce wildlife disturbance. However, interpretive center success depends on understanding visitor preferences. This is facilitated by integrated analysis of individual characteristics, such as attitudes and demographic factors, and situational characteristics, such as interpretive center features. The current study integrates these characteristics via a hybrid choice model estimated with multi-level structural equation modeling in the context of prospective visits to a wild reindeer center in Norway. Results indicate that interpretive preferences vary, with foreigners prioritizing guided options more highly than do Norwegians. Neither sample prioritized technologically-intense media options. Both samples prioritized avoiding negative effects on wildlife habitat, with foreigners prioritizing it more highly. Connectedness to nature predicted preferences for visiting the interpretive center over not visiting. Consistent with the value-attitude hierarchy, intrinsic values predicted these preferences only indirectly, via connectedness. Comparison of the hybrid choice model with a basic multinomial logit model highlights the benefits of including latent variables to understand the “deeper structure” of preferences.submittedVersio

Nature-based tourism and community resilience

submittedVersio

Choice experiment selection of tourism destinations in a dual process theory framework: The role of decision style and potential to promote deliberation.

Models of consumer choice that assume rational decision processes are too simplistic, as they ignore intuitive processes and combinations of intuition and rationality. In dual process theory, System 1 processes are intuitive, fast, require low cognitive effort, and involve autonomous systems, while System 2 processes are deliberative, slower, reflect greater cognitive effort, and involve controlled attention. The dual process framework facilitates understanding of decision processes that may be diverse and complex. Based on response time as an indicator of System 2 use, we fill gaps in the tourism and choice experiment literatures by i) assessing the dimensionality of a decision style scale and its role in predicting System 2 use and ii) assessing whether researcher interventions, such as instructions, can promote System 2 use. The study is based on survey-based choice experiment responses of 483 domestic and international visitors across two Norwegian nature-based tourism destination contexts. Each visitor completed four choice experiment tasks for a total of 1,932 choice occasions. Results indicated diversity in extent of System 2 use. The decision style scale was multidimensional with both the intuitive and rational subscales predicting response time. We encourage inclusion of decision style scales-and specifically multidimensional scales-in future tourism choice and choice experiment applications. Statistically significant coefficients for instructions and unhurriedness suggest potential for researchers to increase System 2 processing in survey tasks. We encourage future use of this intervention, especially when survey tasks are intended to replicate "real world" decisions that rely heavily on System 2 use