Abstract
The economic assessment of non-marketed resources (i.e., cultural heritage) can be developed with stated or revealed preference methods. Travel cost method (TCM) is based on the demand theory and assumes that the demand for a recreational site is inversely related to the travel costs that a certain visitor must face to enjoy it. Its application requires data about the tourist’s origin. This work aims to analyze the economic value of the National Museum and Research Center of Altamira, which was created to research, conserve, and broadcast the Cave of Altamira (UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985). It includes an accurate replica known as the “Neocave”. Two different TCM approaches have been applied to obtain the demand curve of the museum, which is a powerful tool that helps to assess past and future investments. It has also provided the annual economic value estimate of the National Museum and Research Center of Altamira, which varies between 4.75 and 8.00 million € per year.
Highlights
When managing a cultural resource, it is necessary to know its value in order to give visibility and assist in management decision making
This work aims to assess the economic value of the Museum of Altamira with the application of the Travel cost method (TCM)
TCM is a revealed preference method [27] which tries to relate the costs of recreational activities and the characteristics of the resource
Summary
When managing a cultural resource (i.e., a museum, a heritage asset, a historic venue . . . ), it is necessary to know its value in order to give visibility and assist in management decision making. The economic valuation of non-marketed resources (as the previously enlisted) can be developed from two different approaches: stated and revealed preference methods. In the former, individuals are asked to give a value (defined by their willingness to pay, WTP) for the resource. Methodologies such as contingent valuation or choice modelling are applied. Revealed preference methods are based on observed behaviors and indirectly obtained data. These two approaches usually return different estimates, and several studies have tried to find an explainable relationship [1,2,3]
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