Providing quality recreation experiences in Japan

This paper uses a choice experiment to evaluate the benefits to trekkers of the natural environment and the provision of appropriate recreation experiences in the Uryu-numa Mire, northern Japan. The result, applying a conditional logit model, shows that restoration of the natural environment are positively valued by trekkers, and their respective willingness to pay for one percentage point improvement are JPY 32.6 and 59.6. Likewise, provision of appropriate recreation experiences, setting a limit on the number of trekkers a day, is also positively valued. The results indicate that the optimal number of trekkers is 458, and the willingness to pay for controlling the number of trekkers from 800 to 458 is JPY 1,457. In Japan, importance of the quality of recreation experiences is not well recognized by park managers. However, our results indicate that both restoring the environment and providing excellent recreation experiences are significant challenges for recreation areas.