Economic Valuation of Cultural Heritage Using the Travel Cost Method: The Historical Centre of the Municipality of Bucharest as a Case Study

Florentina-Cristina Merciu,Alexandru-Ionuţ Petrişor,George-Laurenţiu Merciu

doi:10.3390/heritage4030133

Abstract

Because heritage buildings represent a special category of goods due to characteristics such as uniqueness and irreversibility, they are associated with multiple possibilities of use. This article aims to present a complex analysis of the values associated with using heritage buildings in the historical center of Bucharest and their correlation with corresponding conservation measures using the travel cost method. The authors used two computation methods: the zonal travel cost and the individual travel cost methods. The application of Bravais–Pearson’s coefficient of linear correlation confirmed that the demand for a cultural heritage site is inversely related to the travel costs and distance. The results reflect that the demand also depends on other factors, such as the satisfaction level of the tourist experience and tourists’ income and motivations. The study highlights the usefulness of the travel cost method, which facilitates analyzing the relationship between the significant value of using historical monuments and the extremely important conservation process in the current context, marked by socioeconomic dynamics that determine many reuses of cultural heritage.

Highlights

The importance of the built heritage is associated, on the one hand, with a varied typology, but, on the other, with the multiple values that it incorporates [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13]
The economic evaluation of cultural heritage is performed using nonmarket valuation techniques that can be classified into two categories: revealed preference methods based on observed behaviors and stated preference methods
While stated preference methods are based on hypothetical scenarios to evaluate nonuse value, the revealed preference methods assess the value of use of cultural heritage through real behavior [5,6,9,12,18,21,24,27,35,36]

Summary

Introduction

The importance of the built heritage is associated, on the one hand, with a varied typology, but, on the other, with the multiple values that it incorporates (historical, architectural, artistic, aesthetic, social, authenticity, symbolic, cultural, and scientific) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13]. While stated preference methods are based on hypothetical scenarios to evaluate nonuse value, the revealed preference methods assess the value of use of cultural heritage through real behavior (e.g., cost of travel, frequency of visits, etc.) [5,6,9,12,18,21,24,27,35,36]. Both categories of methods were applied in environmental economics [33,35]. These methods have been frequently used for the economic evaluation of cultural heritage [6,9,12,18,19,20,21,24,27,35].

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion