Rila Monastery Nature Park Management Plan - part - usaid

February 2004
Transportation
expenses of the
visitors to Rila
Monastery
Table 36: Transportation expenses to and from Rila Monastery
Total annual
Estimation criteria
turnover
(BGN)
2,400,000 400,000 visitors @ 6 BGN on average*
* Since data reported by tour operators put the average transportation cost of a
single-day trip to Rila Monastery at anywhere between 15 BGN and US$ 65
per person, the above estimate is rather conservative.
Surveys of people’s willingness to pay for a given product or service in Bulgaria have
focused in the past on determining the perceived value of administrative services on a
municipal or central government level from the point of view of service recipients.
The same technique was used in developing the Management Plan in order to
determine the amount that visitors to RMNP were willing to pay, if an admission fee
were to be introduced. Here the estimate is also conservative since it discounts the
number of students visiting the Monastery every year (Table 37).
It should be noted that while according to foreign respondents a reasonable admission
fee to RMNP would be five BGN per person, Bulgarians are inclined to pay an
average one BGN per person. If a uniform fee were to be introduced for Bulgarian
and foreign nationals, the reasonable amount is seen by both groups as two BGN per
person.
Table 37: Willingness to pay an admission fee
Findings of the survey Total
annual
turnover
Reported willingness to pay an
admission fee
(BGN)
720,000 to
840,000
Rila Monastery Nature Park
Management Plan
2004 - 2013
Estimation criteria
145
Fees seen as reasonable
Foreign nationals:
120,000 @ 5 BGN = 600,000 BGN
Bulgarian nationals:
240,000 @ 1 BGN = 240,000 BGN,
or:
360,000 @ 2 BGN = 720,000 BGN
if a uniform fee were to be introduced for
both categories