Non-market Valuation of Tiya Megalithic World Cultural Heritage of Ethiopia, Application of Travel Cost and Contingent Valuation Methods

The main purpose of this study is to estimate the total economic value of Tiya megalithic world cultural heritage site using non-market valuation methods of Travel Cost Method (TCM) and Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). The study uses Individual Travel Cost Method to estimate the use value and the Double Bounded Contingent Valuation Method to investigate the mean Willingness to Pay for the nonuse value of the Tiya MWCH site. The truncated Poisson regression method (TPRM) was employed to derive the demand function for the use value of Tiya MWCH site and the bivariate probit model were used to estimate the nonuse value of Tiya MWCH site. The regression result showed that travel cost, monthly income, total travel time, sex, family size, household head, purpose of visit, membership in any environmental group and knowledge are important determinants of the recreational demand of the site. The result of the study also showed that the potential annual use value of the Tiya MWCH site was estimated to be 9,615,508.00 ETB per year and the nonuse value (one time contribution of community residents of Tiya town) of the site is 64,494.20 ETB. Finally, we recommend that to maintenances and maximize the benefits that can be derived from the Tiya MWCH site.