International Journal of Marine Science 2016, Vol.6, No.36, 1-8
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3.2.2 Estimation of consumer surplus
The results of consumer surplus estimation are presented in Table 5. It could be seen from the table that the
consumer surplus per trip per person was estimated as the inverse of the travel cost coefficient and it was ₹.5000
for mangrove forest and ₹.1111 for silver beach. The number of visits undertaken per person was 5 for mangrove
forest and 16 for silver beach and hence the consumer surplus per annum per person was ₹.25000 and ₹.17776
respectively for it. Taking into account the number of persons visiting the site, the estimated total consumer
surplus for mangrove forest was ₹.199.84 crores and for silver beach, the consumer surplus was ₹.438.60crores.
This high amount of consumer surplus for both the tourist spots suggested the need of government initiatives for
conservation of both the tourist spots.
4. Summary and Conclusion
Major findings of the study are briefly stated below for a comprehensive review and to draw specific conclusion.
The house features of sample fishermen revealed that building size, building quality and water quality was varied
with pollution intensity. Distance of house from sea was also increased with pollution intensity. With regard to
fuel for cooking, LPG connection was highest for low affected category with cent per cent connection and was
lowest in serious affected category with 87.50 per cent LPG connection. Presence of toilet was also highest in low
affected category with 75.00 per cent connection and the proportion was very less in serious and medium affected
category with a proportion of 25.00 per cent and 32.50 per cent respectively. Finally, access to school and hospital
was also coincided with pollution intensity and the accessibility was longer for serious and shorter for less
affected.
Semi logarithmic hedonic model were employed for all three categories affected fishermen with independent
variables of household income, water quality, distance from sea and amenities of respondents. For all the
categories of affected fishermen, the house value was positively influenced by the household income, water
quality, distance from sea and amenities. In seriously affected category, the water quality had negative influence
on household income due to high pollution existed in that category.
The travel cost incurred by the tourists visiting mangrove forest was higher with ₹.1562 per visit as compared
silver beach with ₹.487 per visit. The travel cost included the travel expenditure, entry cost and wage loss. Of the
total travel cost, for mangrove forest, wage loss accounted for the highest proportion with 48 per cent. For silver
beach, Travel expenditure accounted for the highest proportion with 51.00 per cent. In measuring consumer
surplus, the travel cost and distance from native, negatively influenced the number of visits(Y) for both mangrove
forest and silver beach which implies that as the travel cost and distance from native increases, the number of
visits to the tourist spots decrease. On the other hand, size of group of tourists and annual income positively
influenced the number of visits for both the tourist spots.
The consumer surplus per trip per person was estimated as the inverse of the travel cost coefficient and it was
₹.5000 for mangrove forest and ₹.1111 for silver beach. The consumer surplus per annum per person was ₹.25000
and ₹.17776 respectively for mangrove forest and silver beach respectively. The estimated total consumer surplus
for mangrove forest was ₹.199.84 crores and for silver beach, the consumer surplus was ₹.438.60 crores. This high
amount of consumer surplus for both the tourist spots suggested the need of government initiatives for
conservation of both the tourist spots.
5. Policy Implications
The results of hedonic model revealed that the house value was influenced by water quality and hence concretized
efforts should be taken by the State Government to improvise the water quality by establishing desalinization
plant using reverse osmosis in SIPCOT industrial plant. The travel cost estimation for tourism revealed that the
estimated total consumer surplus for mangrove forest was ₹.199.84 crores and for silver beach, the consumer
surplus was ₹.438.60. This suggested the need of government initiatives for conservation of both the tourist spots.
