Fifth International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

Scuba diving is increasing in popularity as a recreation and tourism activity. This paper reports on the findings of a discrete choice experiment which aims to value the different attributes of the scuba diving experience in the Portofino Marine Protected Area (MPA). The attributes included environmental and non-environmental aspects of the diving experience and were divided into five different qualities, namely water visibility, diver crowding, species diversity, species number and the willingness to pay price. Using a self-administered choice questionnaire, divers were asked to state their choice over different choice sets with different combination of environmental attributes and prices, representing the cost of having that combination of attributes. A sample of 556 completed questionnaires were collected, with each respondent answering two random choice cards. Each choice card represented a choice between two different sets of attributes. A multinomial logit and a probit model were used to estimate scuba divers’ willingness to pay for the various environmental attributes. The findings of this show that the most valued attribute for scuba divers in the Portofino MPA is underwater visibility followed by a less crowded dive site.