Nonmarket valuation of the University of Tennessee Arboretum

Many studies have estimated demand functions for visits to recreation sites. Several included commonly defined recreation-based areas such as beaches, parks, lakes and rivers but excluded examination of horticulturally significant sites such as botanic gardens and arboreta. This study estimates user-demand and consumer surplus for visits to the University of Tennessee Arboretum by the travel cost method using maximum likelihood estimation techniques. Results suggest that travel cost and income of consumers are important determinants of demand, at least in the case of visits to the University of Tennessee Arboretum, and that consumer-use value may be derived from this demand.