Recreational Benefits of Consocep Mountain Resort in Tigaon, Camarines Sur, Philippines

The study quantified the recreational benefits of Consocep Mountain Resort for the current and hypothetical improvement of the area. Recreation sites revealed their economic value through the services that they provide. However, these services do not command a price, which leads to an underestimation of their value. The travel cost method is one of the methods for estimating recreational values by converting physical and social benefits into monetary terms. The travel cost method was used to estimate the economic use value of Consocep Mountain Resort in its present condition by using visitors’ actual expenditures. Contingent behavior was added to compute the change in welfare, assuming that an improvement will occur and an additional access fee will be implemented. Given the current site condition of the area, the consumer surplus of a single visit per tourist is PhP 2,136.75 (US$ 41.41), while the consumer surplus for an improved visit is PhP 3,539.82 (US$ 68.60). visitors give high value to the site. Therefore, these information can be used as guide for managing the area. Conservation of resources is also important so that the benefits received by the present population can be enjoyed by generations to come.