Insights into nature-based tourism and recreation in Norway: Preliminary results from EU grant project 101113401 — 2022-NO-EGD on recreation-related services in Ecosystem Accounting

Abstract

The objectives of this EU grant project (101113401- 2022-NO-EGD) have been to i) improve the knowledge base for modelling ecosystem services, (ii) investigate the statistical base for developing ecosystem accounts for nature-based tourism and recreation, both on the supply and use of the ecosystem service, and iii) to evaluate different valuation methods for nature-based tourism and recreation. This report addresses the results of Work Package 3 (objectives ii and iii) and aims to produce estimates of ecosystem accounts in line with the EU Regulation No 2024/3024 on environmental economic accounts. Extensive work has been undertaken to meet the objectives outlined in the EU grant application, particularly in evaluating various methods, both for physical measurement and monetary valuation, and subsequently developing new statistics on nature-based tourism and recreation. After assessing potential methods for physical measurement, we opted to create a new survey given the weaknesses demonstrated by evaluated data sources and existing statistics for measuring recreation-related ecosystem services. The survey, which serves as the primary output of Work Package 3, provides valuable data on recreational activities and overnight stays in Norway, offering insight into the frequency, types and geographical distribution of recreation-related ecosystem services. By connecting the activities to specific ecosystem types using maps, the survey enhances the understanding of the ecosystem’s contribution to recreation-related services and has the potential to inform policy decisions both at a regional and national level. Regarding monetary valuation, we opted to include a module in the survey following a travel cost model structure, including questions on consumer expenditures. The survey was conducted in November 2024, and most questions refer to activities done in late summer and autumn 2024. The preliminary results demonstrate that coastal areas and archipelagos, high mountain areas and forests are the most visited ecosystem types for overnight stays, while forests, open landscapes and high mountain areas are the most visited for same-day trips. The data collected demonstrated that most of the expenses were reported for food and accommodation. The results from the survey will help to improve the accuracy of tourism data and to bridge gaps in existing statistics towards a more comprehensive understanding of nature-based tourism and recreational patterns. Drawing on experiences from other ongoing projects in Norway, valuable contributions to research on monetary valuation methods will be made with the exploration of a relatively new application of the travel cost model. The integration of spatial data can provide useful insight into site choice behaviour following the travel cost model through multi-site recreation models. Several challenges and limitations were encountered during the survey development, such as addressing seasonal variations, ensuring limitation of recall bias and delimitation of key concepts. The plan forward is to hopefully collect data quarterly, which will make up for some of these challenges, especially regarding seasonal fluctuations. Despite the limitations, the project offers a novel foundation for future research on ecosystem accounting and policy development in Norway for nature-based tourism and recreation. Moving forward we plan on improving the survey based on experiences from this project.