<b>Recreational value of the Araguaia river, Aruanã region, as estimated by the travel cost method</b> - DOI: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v29i4.886

Abstract

The travel cost method was used to estimate the economic value of the Araguaia river, in the Aruanã region, through interviews carried out with tourists who seasonally visit the region every year in July. Information from July/2005 indicates that the travel cost is influenced by the distance and annual frequency of visits. The river attracts nature-based tourism, in which visitors go to Aruanã to appreciate and use the river while fishing, drinking and relaxing. Although most respondents have no knowledge about ecological processes and do not know what a floodplain is, more than half of tourists consider themselves as users of the river’s resources, particularly the water and fish. The recreational value of the Araguaia river estimated throughout tourists’ expenses is R$ 17 billion year^-1. Despite this value having been underestimated by the inaccuracy in the registered number of annual tourists, it is nevertheless high, and highlights the importance that environmental investments be made to promote knowledge and maintain the ecological integrity of the Araguaia river, as well as to maintain the economic activity of tourism, which the ecosystem supports.