Application of the travel cost method for the valuation of the Poseidon temple in Sounio, Greece

Abstract In this paper the application of the travel cost method for estimating consumer surpluses and total values attributed to the Poseidon temple in Sounio, Greece, is presented. The monument in question is one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, built in the middle of the 5th century BC. The implementation of the method was supported by a survey of the visitors of the monument, through the completion of an appropriately designed questionnaire with personal interviews. The results of the analysis show that the consumer surplus for visiting the Poseidon temple ranges from € 1.5–24.5 million per year, giving useful insights for the amount of money that are socially acceptable to be spent by the Greek state for the protection and maintenance of the monument. Treatment of travel costs associated with multipurpose trips as well as the type of functional form used to estimate how travel costs influence visitation rates, seem to be the two most important parameters affecting the final results.