Comparing the Recreational Value of "Sorkheh Hesar" National Park and "Geno" Protected area by Travel Cost Method

Nowadays, the machinery dependent life makes the people take refuge in natural recreational places. Therefore, evaluating the recreational value of natural promenades has great importance to lead to more protection. In this research, economic valuation of Sorkheh Hesar national park, and protected area of Geno were computed, and socio-economic factors compared in each area.
Geno Protected Area with 44,437 hec & Sorkheh Hesar national park with 9,168 hec are located in Hormozgan and Tehran provinces. The most important characteristics of these mountainous areas are respectively. Faunal and floral species richness, and great amounts of visitors.
In order to evaluate recreational value of these places, the travel cost method was used. Then, Geno Protected area and Sorkheh Hesar national park were assumed as centers, and the concentric circles with specific radius were drawn.
Results from socio-economical data demonstrate that more than 50% of both recreational areas’ visitors have university degrees, considering to distance element, Geno’s accessible cost is more than Sorkhe hesar national park. Results also show that Distance and times of visit is related toaccessible costs meaningfully.
The final recreational value was calculated for Geno protected area 5,698,250,000 Rials and for Sorkheh Hesar national park about 2,625,249,000 Rials.