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

a three-hour driving distance (125km) from the capital, while Tatev, located in the south
of the country, is about 5 hours away (260km). (See Figure 1.)

The quality of the roads to these destinations, however, varies dramatically across
the sites. Khor Virap is located very close to a major highway and can be reached
relatively easily. The quality of the road to Garni is good. While reaching Haghardzin is
relatively easy, visiting it is somewhat problematic because of the dearth of parking
facilities. By comparison, Tatev is difficult to reach, given the poor condition of the local
road, which is too steep and narrow for big tourist buses. Regarding visitor services,
Khor Virap and Garni have souvenir stands, which are absent in Haghardzin and Tatev.

We wish to make two final points about the four cultural heritage sites of this
study. First, Khor Virap, Haghardzin and Tatev have historical and religious significance
to the Armenians, while Garni is mostly a historical and archeological site. Second,
Garni is very close to another famous cultural heritage site, Geghard. Most people
visiting Garni also visit Geghard—a unique monastery that is partly carved out of a
cliff—in the course of the same trip, because these two locations are only a few minutes
apart. In our study, we decided to consider a visit to Garni/Geghard as part of the same
trip, and to intercept people at only one of these two locations (at Garni).

<<   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   >>

More intriguing information