Nguyen Huu Giap

Estimation of Recreational Benefits of Trang An Complex, Vietnam Nguyen Huu Giap

Trang An Landscape Complex is Vietnam's latest and sole mixed natural and cultural world heritage site, inscribed by UNECO's World Heritage Committee in July 2014. The complex is famously known as an "outdoor geological museum". It currently receives 3.5 million visitors annually compared with the targeted 7.2 million in 2020. Records for 2014 showed that almost 90% of the total visitors were Vietnamese. Most of visitors came to the complex in February and March. The uneven tourist distribution results in the underemployment of more than one-third of the local population. Meanwhile, the province's tourism sector plan targeted a two-fold increase in Vietnamese visitors from 2015 to 2020 at an 8.5% average annual growth rate. This study estimated the recreational demand of Vietnamese visitors to Trang An Complex and measured the changes in recreational benefits, given that recreational activities are increased at different periods of the year. Using individual travel cost method, the Tobit censored regression model was employed to estimate the recreation demand. Of the total respondents, 91% expressed an intention to return to Trang An Complex under the hypothetical scenario.