Potential of establishing a tourism entrance fee for the conservation management of St. Martin's Island, Bangladesh

St. Martin's Island was declared an ecologically critical area of Bangladesh in 1999, but this has had limited effect on the conservation of the island's natural coral resources, on which a thriving tourism industry and the local inhabitants depend. The introduction of a tourism entrance fee can benefit conservation management on the island, but research on the amount that tourists are willing to pay is absent. The objective of this paper is to determine an appropriate entrance fee amount tourists would be willing to pay (WTP) for visiting St. Martin's Island using contingent valuation method questionnaire surveys and interviews of tourists on the island (n = 327) and the factors that influence their decision. Significance testing and regression analysis were used to assess survey data. A large majority of respondents suggested that they would be willing to pay between 0.78 and 7.8 USD; however, 24.5% said that they would pay nothing and indicated that such reluctance to pay was based on a belief that the responsibility should not fall on themselves as individuals, rather than a lack of financial capacity. Evidence suggests that even greater tourism entrance fees would still be accepted and amenable to tourists. If a fee of 4.29 USD was introduced, between 350,000 and 3.51 million USD, or 1.93 million USD, could be generated annually. The level of education, income, and a general concern for the environment significantly influenced WTP amounts. This study is aimed at assisting policy decision-makers and conservation managers of St. Martin's Island; required policy actions are briefly discussed.