Economic Evaluation of Recreation and Tourism in Natural Areas: A Case Study in New South Wales,Australia

Provision of information for the purposes of evaluating and monitoring recreation and tourism land use is a conceptually difficult task for economists and land managers. A range of techniques has been developed since the pioneering work of Clawson and Knetsch in the 1960s to estimate the market value of recreation and tourism in natural areas. These techniques involve a number of conceptual and practical difficulties when used for environmental auditing and evaluation purposes. This article outlines the process of evaluating recreation and tourism on public lands in order to provide information for an environmental audit of the Upper North East region of New South Wales. The range of market and non-market values associated with tourism and recreation on public lands is based on existing studies of the region. The values of commercial production, recreation and tourism on public lands are compared within a structural model (input–output) of the regional economy.