Empirical Study on the Recreation Value Calculation of Desert Ecological Tourism
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Abstract. Desert ecological tourism resources are an integration of desert natural geographic and landform landscape with its interdependent desert ecosystem environment， possess two major functions （ecology and recreation）， and also their values are reflected in ecological benefit and recreation value. Therefore， through choosing ecological tourism as an index and combining EM inside direct cost and outside direct cost with grading evaluation， the intension of the recreation value of desert tourism resources was defined according to the ecological tourism function of desert tourism resources； through investigation and research， classification， data collection and regression processing， the recreation value of China's desert tourism resources was calculated， and the result showed that the recreation value of China's desert tourism resources reached 4.5 billion RMB in 2010.
Key words： Desert Tourism； Resource Value； Accounting Method
1. Introduction
Ecological tourism， as a concept of the sustainable development of tourism industry， was proposed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature （IUCN） first in 1983. Essentially， ecological tourism landscape resources are the important parts of its environmental resources， and ecological tourism resources intangibly provide environmental enjoying function when providing recreational function.
Desert ecological system is natural geographical landscape of sparse vegetation in the condition of drought climate， and is mainly distributed in subtropical and variable zones of extremely less rain. Its ecosystem is very fragile； ecological environment is unique； landscape is straightforward and distinctive； tourism forms and layouts are highly different because of the spreading of deserts.
Therefore， the recreation value of desert tourism resources should be calculated according to the characteristics of the recreational， cultural and environmental forms provided by desert tourism resources.
2.Methods of Evaluating the Recreation Value of Desert Ecosystem
The theories and methods of evaluating the monetary value and recreation value of tourism resources can be mainly classified into two types： （1） evaluation method replacing market technology， which expresses the monetary value of tourism resources with shadow price and consumer surplus， specifically includes travel cost method， opportunity cost method， expense method， market value method and hedonic priced method， and is mainly applicable to the evaluation without market exchange but with market price； （2） evaluation method simulating market technology， which expresses the monetary value of tourism resources with willingness-to-pay， and mainly includes contingent value method at present.
3.Analysis and Evaluation of Desert Recreation Value
3.1 Current Situation of China's Desert Tourism
China's deserts are mainly distributed in north inland basins and plateaus of north latitude 30o-50o and east longitude 75 o-125 o， extend from the west end of Tarim Basin to the west Songnen Plain， and span northwest， north and northeast areas. They are 4500km long from east to west and 600km wide from north and south， and spread as an intermittent arc belt.
Seen from the causes， the geologic forces for the formation of desert landscapes mainly include weathering， gravity， water function and wind effect. From mountainous regions to piedmont plains， desert landscape is regularly distributed （piedmont denudated Hamada-pluvial fan， and diluvial plain gravel desert zone-wind-drift desert zone-salt playa/ salt lake/salt desert zone）. On this basis， desert landscapes with distinctive features are produced： sand dune， sand chain， elegant Dan landform， deflation hole， deflation mushrooms， deflation castle， etc. In the meantime， the vulnerability of desert ecosystem and the uniqueness of landscapes are decided by the long-term and difficult formation and environmental change of deserts. Therefore， in the utilization and development of desert tourism resources， environmental protection is a major issue.
3.2 Determination of calculation Method of China's desert Recreation Value
Considering the special characteristics of desert ecological system and desert recreation ways， Norms for the Evaluation of Desert Ecosystem Service Functions， which was drafted by Institute of Desertification Studies of Chinese ACAD Forestry， was issued by the State Forestry Bureau （under the State Council）. In the Norms， the evaluation model of desert ecosystem recreation value as follows is provided by choosing ecological tourism as an index.
In the above equation， V Tourism is the total annual value of the ecological tourism of desert ecosystem， and its unit is RMB/a； A is evaluated desert area， and its unit is hm2； E is the direct average travelling cost paid by tourist within scenic region each time， and its unit is RMB； R Tourism is the proportion of scenic region travelling cost in the total tourism revenue.
The amount of ecological tourism indexes is the total number of the tourists travelling in desert ecological system. The above model can be concluded as follows： direct travelling cost of tourists is obtained through the product between the direct travelling cost per capita and the number of tourists， and then divides the proportion of scenic region travelling cost in tourism revenue.
3.3 Calculation of China's Desert Recreation Value
3.3.1 Determination of the Recreation Value of Full-data Desert Scenic Regions
73 desert scenic regions had been totally investigated by 2010. However， 59 of them were with available economic data and their total tourism revenue was calculated with direct summation method. According to world tourism organizations and relevant domestic tourism multiplier studies， a revenue of 1 additional RMB from tourism can drive related industries to increase a revenue of 4.3 RMB， namely the tourism multiplier is 5.3 （including tourism）. Because the tourism revenue at this moment is the direct income of scenic regions， the proportion R tourism of travelling cost within scenic regions in the total tourism revenue from a broad sense is related to social productivity， namely R Tourism=1/5.3=0.19.
In the above equation， Si was the total tourism revenue of the ith desert scenic region/scenic spot.
Considering the multiplier effect，
SⅠ= 3485585541.34RMB
3.3.2 Determination of the Recreation Value of Desert Scenic Regions only with Gate Receipts
3.3.2.1 Sample Selection
According to the acquisitions of the data from different provinces and desert scenic regions， stratified sampling was made. In the above 73 scenic regions， 55 of them with relatively perfect data were randomly chosen， accounting for 75.3% of the total desert scenic regions.
3.3.2.2 Regression Analysis
Through data correlation analysis， it was found that the population correlation coefficients between the tourism revenue from desert scenic regions and the direct traveling cost （gate receipts） were highly correlated. For desert tourism scenic regions， gate receipts were data easy to be collected. Therefore， using this direct traveling cost as independent variable and the tourism revenue from scenic regions as dependent variable， simple regression analysis containing constant was made. The specific results are shown in table 1.
Table 1： Model Statistics
Table 2 shows that regression coefficient estimation value was 1.79； standard error was 0.15； standardized regression coefficient was 0.858； the test-t statistic value of regression coefficient significance was 11.942 and corresponding to significance level Sig.=0.000
According to the above desert scenic region/scenic spot's total revenue and the gate receipts， the simple regression equation is as follows.
Y=1.79X+381357.032
In the above equation， Y was the total tourism revenue of desert scenic regions； X was gate receipts （traveling cost/direct tourism cost）. After substituting them into known sample data for verification， the error was less than 5%， and therefore equation could be confirmed to be established. In the condition that data was incomplete and only gate receipts could be collected， regression prediction could be made with the above regression equation.
For several scenic regions without full-data but only with gate receipts， the tourism revenue could be calculated with this method. Therefore， the total tourism revenue of this part of desert scenic regions was as follows.
S2 = 81636770.73RMB
Considering the multiplier effect，
SⅡ = 432674884.87RMB
3.3.3 Determination of the Recreation Value of Desert Scenic Regions without Data
3.3.3.1 Grading of Consumption Per Capita in Desert Scenic Regions
In the research process， it was found that the data of some desert scenic regional enterprises was very difficult to be collected， and therefore the tourism revenue of these scenic regions should be calculated if necessary； according to consumption per capita， consumption grades in scenic regions were determined； through the types and areas of scenic regions， the number of visitors was calculated. Thus， the estimation on the tourism revenue of desert scenic regions without data was realized.
Sample data was used in histogram statistics， and the consumption per capita in different scenic regions was 50RMB/person-time， 100RMB/person-time， and 150 RMB/person-time respectively， as shown in figure 1.
Fig.1： Histogram of the consumption per capita in sample scenic regions
3.3.3.2 The Number of Tourists Suitable for the Capacity of a Unit Desert Environmental Area
Desert scenic regional areas were obtained through investigations of various channels. The formula calculating the number N persons of tourists suitable for the capacity of a unit desert environmental area is as follows.
According to relevant researches， the features and current situations of the scenic area per capita in desert scenic regions were acquired. Here， the scenic area per capita of 24000m2/person was applied in calculation； T was the open time （usually 8 hours） of scenic regions a day； t was the average travelling time of tourists， and it was usually 4 hours a day according to researches.
For scenic regions centering on natural class tourism resources， their tourists a year were generally concentrated in the period from May to October （5 months/150 days totally）. According to field investigations， the average traveling time （t） of tourists was 4 hours a day.
D was the open days of scenic regions a year； desert tourism features distinctive seasonality and the tourists a year was concentrated in the period from May to October （5 months/150 days totally）.
According to the above variable values， the following equation can be calculated.
Namely， the number N persons of tourists suitable for the capacity of a unit desert environmental area was 0.0125 person/year·m2.
For the rest scenic regions without full data， their consumption grade per capita was given according to scenic regional investigations and group discussions and then substituted into the following formula.
The total tourism revenue of this part of desert scenic regions was as follows.
S3 =111693200RMB
Considering the multiplier effect，
S Ⅲ = 591973960 RMB
The recreation monetary value of China's desert tourism scenic regions in 2010 was as follows.
V= S1+ S2+ S3=850987620.04 RMB
Considering the multiplier effect，
V= SⅠ+ SⅡ+ SⅢ=4510234386.21RMB
4. Problem and Suggestion
In this evaluation， classification evaluation was applied. In evaluating tourism service values， three corresponding methods were proposed according to the available and unavailable economic data appearing in the investigation and research process. However， they are still required to be further examined.
This Paper Is Supported by the National Forestry Industry's Special Scientific Research Fund （No.201004010） for Public Welfare Projects.
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