Estimating the Willingness to Pay of Visitors of Shahre Sukhte Historical Collection, Using Conditional Valuation Method (CVM
In this study, willingness to pay (WTP) of the visitors of "shahre sukhte" has been determined with the use of conditional valuation method (CVM) and dichotomous choice questionnaire. Willingness to pay is calculated with Logit model, and the parameters of the model are estimated by maximum likelihood method. Results revealed that 58% of the research sample were willing to pay for their visit to "shahre sukhte". The average willingness to pay for each visit to the place equaled to 6563 Rials and the total recreational value was estimated to be more than 1292 Million Rials per year. Additionally, it was indicated that variables of age, income, Antiquities-related occupations or fields of study, and the perceived importance of protection of historical collections, had significant effects on willingness to pay. The influencing factors on willingness to pay were related to the importance of historical collections protection, occupation or field of study associated with the Antiquities, family size, age and income, respectively.