Heritage Contingent Valuation

Heritage contingent valuation applies the contingent valuation method (CVM) to cultural and heritage tourism, estimating the monetary value people place on conserving, restoring or accessing historic buildings, monuments, sites and artifacts. Because heritage delivers benefits that markets do not price, including the satisfaction of knowing a site exists and will be passed to future generations, its value cannot be read off ticket sales alone. Following the survey-based framework set out by Mitchell and Carson (1989), the method constructs a hypothetical market in a carefully designed questionnaire, asks respondents what they would pay for a defined change in the heritage good, and estimates mean and aggregate willingness to pay. Navrud and Ready (2002) assembled case studies showing how these environmental valuation techniques transfer to cultural heritage, capturing not just visitors' use value but the non-use values held by non-visitors as well.