Valuing a historic site with multiple visitor types and missing survey data

This study offers several insights into valuing cultural heritage sites. Foremost, the travel cost method is used to estimate the economic use value of a unique historic site from the American Revolutionary Period. The site is primarily an indoor and outdoor history museum but also acts as an outdoor recreational park. We estimate several demand models using a 2003 intercept survey of visitors and find that the results are sensitive to how visitor type and non-response in the sample are handled. National parks and outdoor heritage sites frequently protect elements of both nature and culture, and missing data is a common problem in survey-driven research, so this study has broad relevancy. Overall, the results indicate that the economic value of the historic site is substantial.