The Effects of Economic Factors on the Demand for Natural Recreational Forests in Korea

Demand for tourism and recreation in Korea has been increased remarkably as Korean economy improves. This may be caused by an increase in income and by the government policy of allocating more resources to meet those needs. In Korea, forest resources have played an important role in the provision of various outdoor recreation opportunities to meet recreational needs of the society. 166 sites have been named as the Natural Recreational Forests as of 1998 and had attracted a lot of people across the country. We found that the demand for recreational forests depends not only on number of recreational forests, but also on economic factors. We found that the dependence of the demand for recreational forests on the income factor is stronger than the dependence on the number of recreational forests. After all, to achieve the intended objectives of establishing recreational forests, we need to incorporate the expectations of both demand and supply sides.