Published:  

July 2006
Fiordland National Park costs almost $9m a year to run but in 2005 it added an estimated $228m to the national economy.

Summary

This project estimates the total net economic impacts of Fiordland National Park (FNP) by combining available data on the number of people using the sites with surveys of expenditure per person using the sites, including their expenditure on concessions, and their expected changes in regional visiting patterns if the sites were not available for public use.

Note that the impact estimated here is quite different from the direct economic impact of concessions operating in the park. There are two reasons for this. First, concessions do not cover the impacts of accommodation and meals outside the park for those who make a day trip to the Park. Hence the concessions understate economic impacts. Second, the concessions may be a substitute for other visitor activities which, if the Park did not exist, people who visit would do instead.  Hence concessions may overstate the net economic impact at a regional level.
 
The maintenance and use of the conservation land gives rise to considerable economic benefits and economic and social impacts in the region, but this study examines and reports on only the economic impacts as measured by value added, household income and employment. Other economic benefits associated with consumer and producer surplus related to these lands are not addressed.

Publication information

This is the third in a series of reports on the economic impacts of the DOC estate, with earlier work covering the West Coast conservation estate, Abel Tasman National Park and Queen Charlotte Track. The Department of Conservation (DOC) administers large areas of land in New Zealand, and expends significant sums of money on providing visitor facilities in various parks and reserves. DOC would like to understand more about the economic activity which is dependent on this land and facilities, and it has asked Butcher Partners Ltd to assess the regional economic impacts which are dependent on Fiordland National Park (FNP).

Contact

Whare Kaupapa Atawhai / Conservation House Head Office
Phone:   0800 275 362
Fax:   +64 4 471 1117
Email:   info@doc.govt.nz
Address:   18 Manners Street
Wellington 6011
Postal Address:   PO Box 10420
Wellington 6140
 

Related link

Fiordland National Park

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