The Value of Cultural Heritage Sites in Armenia: Evidence From a Travel Cost Method Study

11

The majority of our respondents (467) report spending a few hours—from a
minimum of a half hour to a maximum of 10—in the town or village where the
monument is located. When asked about time spent at the actual monument site, the
responses ranged from a half-hour to six hours, for an average of 1.55. Only 24
respondents out of 500 spend one or more nights in the village or town near the
monument. Regarding accommodations, six of these people reported camping, 14 stayed
with friends or family, and 4 used a rental home. Taken together with the fact that most
respondents bring their own meals, this suggests that there is very little expenditure at the
monument’s locale.⁶

Three quarters of our respondents travel to the site by their own car and 14.6% of
respondents rent a vehicle (cars or motorcycles). Public transportation accounts only 6.4
percent of the visitors. The remainder walks to the site, or reaches it using office cars or
minibuses.

The average cost of the trip is 18,538 Armenian Drams (AMD) for the respondent
and his or her travel party.⁷ When we divide the cost by the number of people (4.31 on

⁶ In addition to “visiting the monument” (40.6% of the respondents) and “religious purposes” (19%), many
respondents (23.3% of the sample) mentioned that the reason for their visit was to “take foreign guests.”
⁷ At the time of the survey, one US dollars was equivalent to 515 AMD.

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