Abstract/Summary

In the last couple of decades, an increasing trend has been observed globally for outdoor recreational activities at natural sites, and national parks are no exception. Despite the benefits received from national parks, whether parks receive enough funds for conservation and management is still questionable. Currently, Sri Lanka charges a park entrance fee of Rs.60 (US$ 0.17) per local tourist and US$ 15 per foreigner, which are considerably lower than other comparable countries. Out of the total revenue earned from park entry fees, more than 90% was contributed by foreign tickets. Even though the country has experienced a substantial rise in tourism following the end of the civil war, tourist arrivals were reduced by the Easter Sunday attack and the COVID-19 pandemic. Within this context, this study examines the conservation and management of park resources for the sustainable development of national parks in Sri Lanka. The literature on the theories and rationales behind park entry fees were explored, and key informant interviews were conducted with Department higher officials and park wardens to determine their perceptions about funding for national parks and park prices. This established that national parks are often considered club goods or public goods, and Sri Lankan parks can be considered club goods. Though the current entrance fee is relatively low, it was found that the total amount of money a tourist has to spend to enter the park is nearly ten times higher than the entrance fee. It was also observed that Sri Lanka had made use of differential pricing in national parks, and a comparatively higher revenue was received from foreigners than locals. A contingent valuation study was used to estimate the willingness-to-pay of local tourists and estimated the revenue-maximizing entrance fee for parks in Sri Lanka. This was conducted in four national parks in Sri Lanka, by surveying 150 local tourists. The results suggested that younger tourists were willing to contribute more than older people, and the respondent's income positively influenced their willingness-to-pay. The mean willingness-to-pay by local tourists was Rs. 109.19, which was higher than the current entrance fee. The optimal price that would maximize the expected revenue for the normal distribution was estimated to be between Rs. 77.50, and for gamma distribution was Rs. 79.25. Although the current entry fee is the same for all the national parks in Sri Lanka, it was found that revenue-maximizing optimum entrance fees for Wilpattu, Hikkaduwa, and Pigeon Island parks were Rs. 88.50 Rs. 87.25, and Rs. 74.25 respectively, suggesting that a price differentiation by sites might be implemented. Together these results suggested that there might be some limited scope to raise revenues from local tourists for the sustainable management of parks. Although the study did not include foreigners, secondary data revealed that there is high scope to increase the revenue by increasing the entrance fees for foreigners. This study further explored how locals who may or may not have visited the parks were willing to fund the national parks in Sri Lanka if there was no revenue from international tourism. In order to accomplish this, a novel qualitative vignette approach was used. Two vignettes were developed, and individual interviews were done with local tourists and non-tourists. The first vignette aimed to understand the participant’s background knowledge about the national parks of Sri Lanka. The second vignette was designed to explore the participant’s knowledge and perception about the sustainable management of national parks as well as to find out the willingness of respondents to conserve the national parks by various means when there is a loss of revenue from park tourism. The results revealed the awareness of the importance and benefits of parks and the positive attitudes of locals towards the conservation of parks. Further, it was found that locals were willing to contribute to the management of parks by direct contributions. They expressed confidence in being able to collect funds through multiple organisations. Therefore, locals would directly or indirectly contribute to the protection of parks when there is no revenue from foreign tourism and the Government of Sri Lanka may have considerable support from its citizens to protect and manage parks in crises. The results of the study can be used as propositions leading to the development of a comprehensive policy plan for national parks in Sri Lanka. A revenue-maximizing entrance fee combined with voluntary donations at park sites is considered to be a viable option to overcome any sudden loss of tourism revenue. It is proposed to initiate necessary action to revise the entrance fee of national parks since the entrance fee was not revised for more than a decade. Moreover, the department can consider implementing a park-specific entrance fees system after carrying out a detailed willingness-to-pay study focusing on foreign tourists, and gradually after assessing the actual demand responses of each park.