Estimating the value of a UNESCO World Heritage Site using a contingent valuation method : Role of place attachment

The objective of this study is to estimate the economic value of a World Heritage Site, the Grand Canal in China, according to the level of place attachment (PA). To this end, a dichotomous choice contingent valuation method (DC CVM) was applied to estimate individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP) for preserving the heritage site. An on-site survey was conducted to 305 tourists who were visiting the Grand Canal in Yangzhou, China. The results of the logit model indicate that the preservation value of the World Heritage Site was estimated to be 35.7 Yuan (US$ 6.7) by WTP mean and 34.7 Yuan (US$ 5.6) by WTP truncated per household per year in the low-PA group, where as 481.0 Yuan (US$ 77.0) by WTP mean and 443.3 Yuan (US$ 70.9) by WTP truncated per household per year in the high-PA group. In addition, the results also show that there were significant differences in variables towards individuals’ WTP due to the effect of place attachment. Bid amount, awareness, concern, support and revisit intention were statistically significant to the WTP in both PA groups. By contrast, tourists’ perception on preservation of cultural heritage site, pro-environmental behavior, gender and income significantly affected the WTP only in the low-PA group. In other words, the PA factor played an important moderating role in the relationships between explanatory variables and WTP in the heritage tourism context. Findings of this study extend the empirical evidence on the PA’s role in a CVM approach and offer managerial implications for policy-makers of the World Heritage Site.