Entrance and Activity Fees (Tourism)

2.   Methodology

2.5    Monitoring, Evaluation, and Adaptive Management

Any entrance or activity fee system should be incorporated into a broader monitoring program that follows internationally adopted guidelines (Eagles, McCool & Haynes 2002; Leung et al. 2018). Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is critical to understanding the impact of fees; aside from revenue generation, the introduction of fees can have a range of positive and negative environmental, social, and economic impacts (Leung et al. 2018). M&E helps to track progress of the fee system and allows the management authority to respond to issues and changes in visitor preferences through adaptive management. For instance, fees may need to be increased or decreased in response to visitor experience or visitor numbers, or measures may need to be taken to reduce congestion. This adaptive approach can also instil confidence in stakeholders that there is flexibility to respond to concerns, making them less likely to oppose fees (Lindberg 2001).

Key areas of monitoring should include (Leung et al. 2018):

  • Visitor use: for example, visitor counts, visitor hours, visitor days, visitor spending (these are basic data and should be collected for all PAs with tourism);

  • Visitor impact: indicators of ecological condition at relevant sites, and social impacts on local communities;

  • Visitor experience: for example, through feedback cards, social media, and systematic visitor surveys.

For example, since 1996, the US National Park Service, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Fish and Wildlife Service have used the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program to experiment with entrance and activity fees. Through surveys of visitor experience, the agencies gradually improved decision-making and public trust and acceptance of the program (Summers 2005).

Best practice is to engage an independent third-party expert to carry out periodic reviews of the fee system (the norm is every two years) to verify that the fee rates, collection procedures, and use and reporting of funds meets the original objectives. The extent and nature of market research and stakeholder consultation in this review process will depend on the available resources and any political constraints, but thorough consultation reduces the opportunity for conflict and opposition (Lindberg 2001).