The Recreation Value of Botanical Gardens: Applying a Travel Cost Approach

Background and objective: Botanical gardens play a vital role in connecting society with nature through their exhibition and educational programs, and they are also becoming increasingly popular travel attractions, with approximately 500 million visitors to botanical gardens worldwide each year. Although botanical gardens offer substantial recreational value, research measuring this direct-use value remains limited. In this context, this study aims to estimate the recreational benefits of botanical gardens by assessing the direct-use value of the Sejong National Arboretum in South Korea.Methods: We employed the individual travel cost method to measure the recreational value of the Sejong National Arboretum. On-site surveys yielded 474 responses, of which 430 were included in the analysis. To account for multi-destination trips, we incorporated dummy variables for travel type and interaction terms with travel costs in our analyses. Using the model, we estimated consumer surplus and conducted a sensitivity analysis of consumer surplus with respect to the opportunity cost.Results: Arboretum visitation was significantly influenced by travel cost at the substitute site, age, residency in Sejong, and independent travel status. However, no additional consumer surplus attributable to multi-destination trips was observed. The sensitivity analysis demonstrated sufficient robustness, so the baseline model employing one-third of the wage rate to calculate consumer surplus was adopted. Ultimately, the consumer surplus associated with the arboretum was estimated to be ₩12,248 ($8.97).Conclusion: The Sejong National Arboretum's direct-use value exceeded twice its entrance fee, suggesting that management should consider increasing entrance prices. The results of this study can contribute to the financial sustainability of the arboretum. Given the limited research on the direct-use value of modern urban botanical gardens, this study contributes to the literature by applying a travel cost method to evaluate the recreational benefits provided by such institutions.