Access to the Beach

In the United States, an objective of coastal states is providing sufficient access to coastal resources. To better utilize public resources for such projects, decision makers would benefit from possessing reliable estimates of economic values coastal residents and tourists place on public beach access. This study’s purpose is to estimate the economic values coastal residents and tourists assign to public beach access, and provide options for financing such projects. Estimates of these values were calculated using the doubled-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation technique. Results indicated that coastal residents were willing to pay $2.46 for additional public beach access, while coastal tourists’ mean willingness to pay was $6.33. Findings suggest additional public beach access locations are desirable to both coastal residents and tourists. Supplying coastal resource managers with these values can assist in justifying the use of public resources on beach access projects, as well as in the development of long-term policies.

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