Economic Valuation of Cultural Heritage: Application to a museum located in the Alto Douro Wine Region World Heritage Site

A museum's cultural value within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Alto Douro Wine Region is positively influenced by visitors' educational level and gender, while negatively affected by travel costs. This insight emerged from applying the travel cost method—a non-market valuation technique—to analyze demand for the Museum of Lamego. Researchers used a Poisson model to quantify these relationships, revealing that higher education and female visitors are more likely to engage with cultural heritage, whereas travel expenses deter participation. The study underscores the importance of indirect economic valuation methods in assessing intangible assets like museums, which lack market transactions but drive territorial development through spillover effects.

Fonseca, S., & Rebelo, J. (2010). Economic Valuation of Cultural Heritage: Application to a museum located in the Alto Douro Wine Region World Heritage Site. PASOS Revista de Turismo Y Patrimonio Cultural, 8(2), 339–350. https://doi.org/10.25145/j.pasos.2010.08.024