[pp.131_136]

Investigating Climbers’ Awareness and Willingness to Pay a Donation

Thomas Edward JONES*, Kiyotatsu YAMAMOTO** and Akihiro KOBAYASHI*** （*Meiji Univ., **Iwate Univ.,*** Senshu Univ. ）

Abstract:
UNESCO’s World Heritage Site (WHS) list aims to mobilize resources for conservation. After inscription in 2013, a new pilot system was introduced at Mount Fuji encouraging climbers to donate ￥1000 towards improved environmental conservation. This paper reports the results of a questionnaire survey conducted in the summer 2013 season. Fuji climber segments were investigated to compare their socio-economic characteristics, level of awareness and willingness to pay (WTP) the new donation. Results of an a priori segment analysis revealed broad differences between Japanese and international climbers, with 71% of the latter unaware about the new fee prior to climbing Fuji, compared to only 8% of Japanese. At ￥1000, WTP among Japanese (88%) was much higher than among international (50%) climbers, but of the latter, those with prior awareness (72%) showed significantly greater WTP than those without (43%). These findings suggest that priming climbers to increase levels of prior awareness is vital for compliance. As the new trial donation was duly extended for the 2014-15 seasons on a 24 hour basis, these findings have applied implications for improving management through a better understanding of visitor segments, along with more targeted multilingual messaging to raise awareness and WTP among international climbers.

Key Word:
demographic profile, prior awareness, conservation donation, willingness to pay

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