Abstract:
Taman Negara is the Malaysia's premier national park and the largest in the country covering over 434,300 hectares of
primary forest. It is home to much wildlife and is a popular tourist attraction to both local and foreign tourists. This
study attempts to determine the economic value of nature based activities provided by Taman Negara National Park
by eliciting visitors' willingness to pay (WTP) using contingent valuation method followed by single bounded
dichotomous choices. A stepwise backward binary multivariate logistic regression model was used to measure WTP
for various nature based services provided by TNNP and to determine the factors that 'influence the variation in WTP.
Primary data were obtained from 368 local and foreign visitors which have been interviewed in TN Park. Study found
that both local and foreign visitors were willing to pay more than the current charges for entrance permit as well as all
services provided by TN Park. This study found evidence that visitors are willing to pay for existing activities such as
Canopy walkway, Hide, Camping arid Fishing, as a package whichis RM 52.5($17.5) per person. It is 110% more than
the current charges of RM 25($8.3). The optimum pricing strategy should be a combination of policy objectives and
information gathered from local and foreign visitors on WTP. In conclusion, the outcome of this study can be used as a
tool for revising pricing policies on TN national park in Malaysia.
