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I. Introduction

II. Literature Review

III. Methodology

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Research Background

Lukang

Statements of Problem

Purposes of Research

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Nearly 91% of the citizens traveled at least once

domestically in 2007, and the average number of

trips per person was 5.57.

(R.O.C. Tourism Bureau, 2008)

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The percentage of Taiwanese citizens who

preferred visiting cultural and historical sites as a

cultural experiencing activity was increasing.

(R.O.C. Tourism Bureau, 2008)

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Distinct benefits of historical tourism include the

potential of a clean industry and a valuable

source of income and employment.

(Orbasli, 2000)

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Interpretation allows visitors to generate a better

understanding of the history and significance of

events, people, and objects with which the site is

associated.

(Alderson & Low, 1996)

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Interpretation is one of the key factors to a

sustainable tourism.

(Harris, Griffin, & Williams, 2002)

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Primary historic heritage 1

Tertiary heritage sites 6

Valuable heritage sites 7

Designated Heritage Sites in Lukang

Only few of the past studies have examined the

need for interpretative services and the value of

these services to visitors in heritage sites.

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By probing the visiting patterns and the

perceptions of the tourists, more could be

considered to increase satisfaction of the

tourists, and may further increase

revisitation.

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to use the contingent valuation method (CVM)

to estimate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of the

tourists for interpretative service in Lukang,

and to analyze the WTP determinants

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To determine:

1. the perceptions of tourists on interpretative service in Lukang

2. the tourists’ willingness-to-pay for interpretative service in Lukang

3. the WTP value for interpretative service in Lukang

4. the WTP determinants

5. implications and suggestions15

Interpretative Service

Contingent Valuation Method

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Interpretation is an educational activity which

aims to reveal meanings and relationships to

people about the places they visit and the things

they see, which in turn improves the quality of

visitor experience.

(Tilden, 1977)

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The goal of interpretation is to increase visitor

awareness, promote learning, appreciation and

understanding of places so that tourists develop

empathy towards heritage, conservation, culture

and landscape.

(Stewart, Hayward, & Devlin, 1998)

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Interpretation services benefit both the heritage

sites and tourists and draw public support by

enhancing visitors’ experiences and educating

visitors in appropriate behaviors to conserve the

historical sites.

(Hall & McArthur, 1993)

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Personal/

Attended

Non-

personal/

Unattended

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Personal Interpretative Service

diverse audience

needs

more interaction

entertaining and

memorable

notice problems

The contingent valuation method (CVM) is a

standard approach to measuring economic

values of non-market goods, such as recreation

resources, wildlife, and environmental quality

goods.

(Hanemann, 1994; Lee & Han, 2002) 22

Elicitation techniques:

bidding game approach

payment card approach

dichotomous choice approach (DC)

open-ended elicitation technique

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bidding game approach

Yes Yes Yes No

market-like high cost and time-consuming starting–point bias

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$100

$200

$300

$400

payment card approach

reduces starting-point bias may not reflect true value order bias

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$ 1 0 0 $ 2 0 0 $ 3 0 0 $ 4 0 0

dichotomous choice approach (DC)

easy to answer starting-point bias ‘yea-saying’ problem

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$ 300Yes

No

open-ended elicitation technique If……, how much are you willing to

pay for _______?

reduces starting-point bias convenient/less time-

consuming reflect true value non-response

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Possible biases:

starting-point bias

sequencing effect

information effect

hypothetical bias

strategic bias

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Research Procedures

Instrument

Data Collection

Data Analysis

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Designing questionnaire

Conducting formal study

Analyzing data

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Revising the questionnaire

Collecting Data

questionnaire survey

Part 1 Personal Interpretative Services

Part 2 Lukang Traveling Experiences

Part 3Willingness-to-Pay for Personal Interpretative Service in Lukang

Part 4 Personal Information

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ParticipantsTourists who have visited Lukang (on-site)

Questionnaires 500 copies

Time 10 minutes

Duration 2 months

Elicitation approach

Open-ended

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Box-Cox double-hurdle model

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Yes NoInterpretati

ve perceptions

Lukang traveling

experience Socio-economic

status

Interpretative

perceptions

Lukang traveling

experience Socio-economic

status

Box-Cox double-hurdle model

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Level of WTP (price)

Interpretative

perceptions

Lukang traveling

experience

Socio-economic

status

Decision to participate in the market (D)

(1)

D* : participation variable

Z : vector of characteristics

α : vector of parameters

u : error term

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The level of participation (Y)

(2)

Yi : answer to the open-ended valuation question

X : vector of individual’s characteristics β : vector of parameters Vi : error term

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Di* = α + β1SEX + β2INC + β3FRE + β4IMP + Vi

D* : participation variable

α, β1, β2, …., β4 : coefficients

Vi : error term

SEX: gender

INC: income

FRE: number of previous visits to Lukang

IMP: importance of interpretation

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Thank you for your attention!

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