Abstract We examine tourism demand for an iconic ecological resource – the migration of ~1.3 million wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. The wildebeest migration generates economic benefits through ecotourism, which we investigated by combining quantitative tools from spatial ecology and environmental economics with wildebeest GPS collar data and lodge use data from Serengeti National Park. We used GLMMs and random utility models to quantify the effect of the distance from lodges to wildebeest hotspots on two important aspects of demand: the number of tourists visiting lodges in the park (participation); and the tourists' choice of where to stay during their visit (site choice). We find that longer distances between lodges and wildebeest hotspots significantly reduced tourist participation (i.e. the total number of tourists visiting lodges) and site choice (the probability of tourist groups choosing a lodge). Lodge price had a positive effect on participation, but it did not affect site choice for international tourist groups. Whilst our results are specific to the Serengeti, the methods presented here can be applied to any system in which non-consumptive wildlife viewing is the foundation of local ecotourism. As such, this novel approach provides a new perspective on the economics of wildlife management and strengthens the case for the continued conservation of ecosystems that contain wildlife resources. Due to the high value of the wildebeest migration to tourism, we suggest that future expansion of tourist infrastructure in the Serengeti should proceed in ways that minimise disturbance to this living resource.

中文翻译：

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角马迁徙推动塞伦盖蒂的旅游需求

摘要 我们研究了旅游对标志性生态资源的需求——塞伦盖蒂-马拉生态系统中约 130 万角马 (Connochaetes taurinus) 的迁徙。角马迁徙通过生态旅游产生经济效益，我们通过将空间生态学和环境经济学的定量工具与角马 GPS 项圈数据和塞伦盖蒂国家公园的小屋使用数据相结合进行了调查。我们使用 GLMM 和随机实用模型来量化从旅馆到角马热点的距离对需求的两个重要方面的影响：参观公园旅馆的游客数量（参与度）；以及游客在访问期间对住宿地点的选择（地点选择）。我们发现旅馆和角马热点之间的较长距离显着降低了游客参与度（即 访问旅馆的游客总数）和地点选择（旅游团体选择旅馆的概率）。住宿价格对参与度有积极影响，但不影响国际旅游团的场地选择。虽然我们的结果特定于塞伦盖蒂，但这里介绍的方法可以应用于任何以非消费性野生动物观赏为当地生态旅游基础的系统。因此，这种新颖的方法为野生动物管理的经济学提供了新的视角，并加强了继续保护包含野生动物资源的生态系统的理由。由于角马迁徙对旅游业的高价值，我们建议塞伦盖蒂未来的旅游基础设施扩建应以尽量减少对这种生物资源的干扰的方式进行。