PUBLIC PREFERENCES AND NON-MARKET VALUES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF ROMANIAN NATIONAL AND NATURAL PARKS

Abstract: National and natural parks in Romania offer a large variety of recreational activities. Efficient park management implies finding equilibrium between the conservation of natural resources and development of the infrastructure of the areas. A key element for the decision processes is represented by the economic values of the parks and preferences expressed by potential tourists. In this study, choice experiments are used to analyze tourists ’ preferences towards several attributes of public natural areas. Results indicate that tourists have different preferences among parks. A graphical representation of the welfare measures allows an analysis and logical interpretation of the results. Areas with karst relief and steep slopes are preferred as well as camping places with or without facilities