Resumen de Estimating the recreational value of mountain biking sites in Scotland using count data models

Dominic Moran, Esmond Tresidder, Alistair Mcvittie

• Mountain biking is a relatively recent forest recreational activity and this paper estimates the use value associated with purpose-built centres in southern Scotland. An on-site survey is used to generate visitor frequency that can be related to travel costs and participants� socio-economic characteristics. Count data regressions provide maximum likelihood estimates of model coefficients used to estimate expected per-trip economic surplus. The estimated consumer surplus for the Glentress biking range is £80 per visit. An aggregate value of £9.6 million is obtained, with an estimated 120,000 visits annually.

  While appreciable relative to the site investment outlay, data limitations lead the authors to caution against extrapolating this value over a range of substitute sites planned by the UK�s Forestry Commission.