monument. The survey was conducted on August 7-25, 2004, and resulted in a total of
500 completed questionnaires.
The travel cost method is one of the possible approaches for non-market
valuation, i.e., for placing a monetary value on goods that are not bought and sold in
regular markets, such as cultural heritage sites and the conservation of cultural heritage.
In our study, we focus on the single-site travel cost model, and rely on both observed
behaviors (the actual number of trips to a site) and stated behaviors (the number of trips
that would be taken to the site under hypothetical circumstances) to infer the value of
conservation.
We feel that the results of this study are interesting for three reasons. First, they
provide useful information about the patterns of visitation to selected cultural heritage
sites by Armenian nationals, and of the associated activities and expenditures. Second,
our survey questions elicit what individuals judge to be the most rewarding and least
satisfactory aspects of the visit experience, and their perceptions of the state of
conservation of the monuments and of other aspects of sustainable tourism to these
places. Third, we combine the actual number of trips and expected trips under
hypothetical conditions, and use them to estimate a travel demand function, from which
we infer the (use) value people place on the conservation of monuments.
The results suggest that there are significant use values associated with the four
study monuments, and that conservation programs and initiatives that improve the
cultural experience, or simply make it easier for the respondent to reach and spend time at