Measuring the utility of ancillary travel: revealed preferences in recreation site demand and trips taken

The issues involved in determining economic values of travel as a component of away-from-home trips are discussed. Four distinct concepts are relevant and useful depending on circumstances: marginal and total values of travel, and gross versus net values. A utility-theoretic inverse demand systems approach is implemented to estimate the separate demands for recreation trips and time onsite at the destination, and implemented using data on pink salmon fishing in Alaska. The distance function underlying the demand system is used to determine the net values of travel ancillary to fishing. Some 64% of fishermen had positive net values of travel, and the value of travel per hour traveled averaged $1.64/h with a median of -$3.18/h.