한국의 관광 목적지 가치

Economic Values of Korea as a Tourism Destination: An Application of the Travel Cost Method to International Free Individual Travelers

Unlike traditional group travelers who commonly seek different countries for their trips, a sizable number of free individual travelers are likely to revisit particular destinations. It is reasoned that these individual international travelers continuously pursue distinctive trip experiences such as cultural authenticity and personal contacts with residents, which often lead to re-visitation. This study aims to compute the economic benefits which free individual travelers acquire during their stay in Korea. This paper also intends to evaluate aggregate economic values of Korea as an international travel destination. In order to calculate willingness-to-pay (WTP) values, this study makes use of travel cost method (TCM) as a popularly used non-market valuation tool. The study's results suggest that an individual traveler who visited Korea from 2006 to 2008, and from 2007 to 2009 indicates consumer surplus of US$3,364 and US$4,361, respectively. The total economic value of South Korea as a tourism destination are also estimated using the total number of free individual travelers. These valuation efforts are important for policy makers to determine the optimal level of public investment in provision of better travel opportunities.