Rural Tourism Accommodation Prices by Land Use-Based Hedonic Approach: First Results from the Case Study of the Self-Catering Cottages in Asturias

Celia Bilbao-Terol,Eduardo Del Valle,Verónica Cañal-Fernández,Luis Valdés

doi:10.3390/su9101688

Abstract

This study analyses the impacts of environmental amenities associated with agricultural and silvicultural land use on the price of rural tourism accommodation in Asturias (Spain). A hedonic price model that relates the price of rural accommodation to environmental amenities as well as equipment, services offered, and the locational characteristics of the accommodation is estimated. The rural accommodations in the study are the self-catering cottages, the intrinsic features of which promote the development of rural tourism sustainability. Geographic information systems (GIS) data are used to measure the location and the proximity to amenities of these self-catering cottages. The main results indicate that agricultural land use has an important impact on the price of accommodation in self-catering cottages. Specifically, a high percentage of grassland in the municipality where the self-catering cottage is sited has a positive effect on rental prices, while a high percentage of arable crops has the opposite effect. The analysis is interesting for decision-making in the context of environmental policies, land use conflict resolution, and rural tourism sustainability.

Highlights

Agricultural, livestock, and forestry land uses affect their environmental surroundings, producing simultaneous positive externalities, including the protection of natural resources, open spaces, and wildlife habitats, and negative externalities such as pollution from fertilizers and pesticide [1], the degradation of the landscape due to buildings housing livestock, and air/water pollution resulting from manure surpluses [2]
The hedonic price method has been applied in order to explore the influence of agricultural land use on the price of self-catering cottage accommodation
The self-catering cottages are ancient farms or rural dwellings with traditional architecture, which are restored for tourism use

Summary

Introduction

Agricultural, livestock, and forestry land uses affect their environmental surroundings, producing simultaneous positive externalities, including the protection of natural resources, open spaces, and wildlife habitats, and negative externalities such as pollution from fertilizers and pesticide [1], the degradation of the landscape due to buildings housing livestock, and air/water pollution resulting from manure surpluses [2]. The valuation of these externalities is essential for designing more effective environmental policies, but there is no market for them. The hedonic method takes into account the relationship between the price of rural accommodation and its environmental quality, and this makes it possible to obtain the implicit price of the environmental amenities

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion