Original Research
Tourists’ willingness to pay to view otters along the Wild Coast, South Africa: a potential for increased ecotourism
The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa | Vol 1, No 1 | a304 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/td.v1i1.304
| © 2005 Lihle Dumalisile, Michael Somers, Michele Walters, Jan Nel
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 11 March 2016 | Published: 12 May 2005
Submitted: 11 March 2016 | Published: 12 May 2005
About the author(s)
Lihle Dumalisile, Applied Behaviour and Ecology Laboratory, Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Zoology, Walter Sisulu University, South AfricaMichael Somers, Applied Behaviour and Ecology Laboratory, Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Zoology, Walter Sisulu University, South Africa
Michele Walters, Applied Behaviour and Ecology Laboratory, Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Zoology, Walter Sisulu University, South Africa
Jan Nel, Department of Zoology and Botany, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
Full Text:
PDF (207KB)Abstract
This article reports on tourists’ willingness to pay to view Cape clawless otters Aonyx capensis along the Eastern Cape Wild Coast, South Africa. We collected data from a survey carried out using a structured, selfadministered questionnaire. We analyzed 67 completed questionnaires, of which 60 respondents (89.5%) indicated that they would be interested in viewing otters and would be prepared to pay an extra fee, over and above the normal entrance fees, for a trained guide to show them otters. The remaining 7 (10.4%) respondents indicated that they would reconsider and pay if this would create jobs for members of the local community. Most (98.4% and 91.8%) of the respondents also indicated that they would still pay even if there was only a 50% or 25% chance of seeing otters. Most of the respondents were willing to pay either less than R50.00 (ca US$8.00) or R50.00-R100.00 to view otters regardless of the chances of seeing them. We conclude from our results that otters do have the potential to increase ecotourism in the area, and also to contribute financially to the poverty stricken local Dwesa community.
Keywords
Aonyx capensis, Cape clawless otter; small carnivores; rural development
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