The Rio Grande, born in the high Rockies in southwestern Colorado, meanders over 1,800 miles across Colorado, New Mexico and Texas before spreading into a grand delta along the Texas/Mexico border. The Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) is comprised of the four Texas counties situated within this delta: Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy. The biological communities that have evolved within this delta (known collectively as Tamaulipan Brush) are among the most diverse in North America north of Mexico.

For decades, scientists and amateur naturalists have traveled to the LRGV to study and enjoy the remarkable variety of birds, butterflies, mammals, reptiles, and other wildlife that reside in this remarkable region. Only in the past few years, however, has this nature-based travel become recognized in the LRGV as an important economic force. What originally developed ad hoc has now become a recognized genre of tourism that offers remarkable potential for marrying the economic and ecological interest of the LRGV into a collective sustainable effort.

As part of an effort by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to enhance nature tourism efforts in the LRGV through the development of a major interpretive center complex, Fermata Inc. conducted two surveys of wildlife viewers (birders, more specifically) in Texas. Surveys were mailed to two populations of wildlife watchers: travelers along the GTCBT, and attendees at the 1998 RGVB Festival held in Harlingen, Texas. This document reports the results of these two surveys.

As expected, those who attended the RGVB Festival represented the most avid of wildlife watchers — the "hard core." By contrast, those who wandered the GTCBT were less committed to the recreation, and were interested in a broader range of resources. Of the GTCBT respondents, 27.7% considered themselves to be "casual" birders, whereas only 6.6% of the RGVB Festival attendees viewed themselves as being casual observers (compared to 32.3% who considered themselves to be "committed" birders.) GTCBT travelers had invested $2,775 in equipment and supplies related to their recreation, while RGVB Festival respondents had acquired nearly $4,000 ($3,989.15) in similar optical equipment, photographic paraphernalia, books and field guides. Finally, whereas 24.3% of the GTCBT travelers considered birding to be only one of many outdoor recreational activities they considered important, only 8.4% of the RGVB Festival respondents felt similarly (66.8% listed birding as their most important outdoor recreational activity).

Although the trip destinations were dissimilar (the GTCBT travelers were visiting the Texas coast in general, while the RGVB Festival attendees were largely limited in their wanderings to the LRGV), the trip characteristics are useful in projecting daily expenditures related to future visitors to the World Birding Center (WBC). Travelers on the GTCBT devoted an average of 31.23 days per year to birding on the GTCBT. Their most recent trip lasted 8.71 days and 7.55 nights, and their travel-related expenditures totaled $981.99 per person ($683.91 within the region, $197.90 within Texas but out of the region, and an additional $100.19 out of state). Therefore GTCBT travelers averaged expenditures of $78.52 per person, per day along the Texas coast (excluding those expenditures made outside the region and therefore of no economic benefit to the Texas coast). If annual trip expenditures were consistent with recent visits (as described in these survey responses), then each GTCBT traveler averaged $2,452.18 during the past 12 months in direct expenditures along the GTCBT.

RGVB Festival attendees generally spent more money during shorter trips to the survey region, the LRGV. The festival respondents averaged 11.50 days per year birding in the LRGV. Their most recent trip involved 6.47 days and 6.10 nights, and their travel-related expenditures totaled $976.40 per person ($761.15 in the LRGV, $142.36 elsewhere in Texas, and $72.89 out of Texas). RGVB Festival respondents, therefore, spent $117.64 per person, per day on their most recent trip within the LRGV. If previous trip expenditures were consistent with their most recent visit (as described in their survey responses), then RGVB Festival attendees averaged $1,352.86 in direct expenditures within the LRGV during the past 12 months.

However, visitors place value upon their experiences beyond their direct expenditures. A strict accounting of direct expenditures must be modified through an estimate of consumer’s surplus to accurately capture the actual economic value of tourism to an area (such as a birding destination in the LRGV). For something to have economic value it does not have to be bought and sold in markets. Therefore, in addition to the direct expenditures associated with their most recent trips, respondents were asked for an estimate of how much more they would have been willing to pay before deferring from taking the trip. In the case of the GTCBT, the additional willingness to pay (highest trip cost increase) averaged $214.03. In the case of the RGVB Festival, the additional willingness to pay (highest trip cost increase) averaged $205.09. So, while trip duration and average daily trip expense differed significantly between surveys, the total trip expense and average additional willingness to pay (also known as consumer’s surplus) were virtually identical.

In addition, indirect and induced effects expand the impacts of direct expenditures. This "multiplier" varies from county to county, region to region, and is often substantial. Based upon previous studies, the "multiplier" for travel and tourism averages between 1.5 and 2.5. For example, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis in 1992 estimated a tourism multiplier (food and lodging sectors) for Texas of 2.41. Scott et al. (1996), in their study of the Rockport HummerBird Festival, determined that the induced/indirect multiplier in that region of the central Texas coast varied between 1.68 and 2.28. Eubanks et al. (1998) found a similar range (1.9-2.7) of multipliers had been estimated for communities along the Platte River in Nebraska. Walsh (1984) found that regional multipliers typically averaged 2.0 and generally ranged between 1.5 and 2.5 in the United States. Therefore, we have chosen to adopt Walsh’s multiplier of 2.0 as a reasonable compromise.

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Using Walsh’s multiplier average of 2.0, it is not unreasonable to expect that the induced and indirect effects of these direct expenditures would expand the economic impacts of these survey respondents (per person, per trip) to $4,904.36 (GTCBT), and $2,705.72 (RGVB Festival). This figure, known as the Total Gross Output (TGO), when combined with consumer’s surplus, is known as the Gross Economic Value (GEV). The GEV of the GTCBT, therefore, is the combination of TGO ($4,904.36) and annual consumer’s surplus ($767.41) for an annual GEV of $5,671.77. The GEV of the RGVB Festival is the combination of TGO ($2,705.72) and annual consumer’s surplus ($364.53) for an annual GEV of $3,070.23 (Table 1).

 

 

Table 1: The Gross Economic Value of Annual Trips to the Great Texas Birding Trail and the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival (per visitor)

Value	GTCBT	RGVB Festival
Total Gross Output (TGO)	$4,904.36	$2,705.72
Consumer’s Surplus	$ 767.41	$ 364.53
Gross Economic Value (GEV)	$5,671.77	$3,070.23

 

 

According to the Texas Department of Economic Development (based upon 1997 data), on average every $60,242 spent in Texas by tourists generated one job in Texas. In addition, each travel dollar generated (on average) 3.9 cents in state tax receipts, and 3.0 cents in local tax receipts. Using these average figures, we can contemplate the economic impact of a successful WBC system. Given these new survey data, every 100 additional typical trips by GTCBT travelers (which would generate $68,391 in direct expenditures within the region) would generate 1.14 jobs, $2,667.25 in state tax receipts, and $2,051.73 in local tax revenues. For RGVB Festival attendees, each 100 additional trips ($76,115 in direct expenditures) would create 1.26 jobs, $2,968.49 in state tax receipts, and $2,283.45 in local tax revenues.

Yet are these wildlife viewers likely to visit the WBC? Is it reasonable to expect such a facility to attract these visitors, hold them in the LRGV for longer periods of time, and to lure them back for repeat visits during the year? In both surveys we asked a series of questions in an attempt to determine this likelihood. Travelers along the GTCBT stated that they were "Very Likely" (63.8%) or "Likely" (23.1%) to visit the WBC and its satellites during a trip to the LRGV. In addition, 66.7% stated that they would make a special trip to the LRGV to visit the complex. RGVB Festival attendees stated that they would be "Very Likely" (76.4%) or "Likely" (17.9%) to visit the WBC during a trip to the LRGV, and that 55.0% would make a special trip to the LRGV to visit the complex. Only 10% (GTCBT) and 3.1% (RGVB Festival) responded that they would be "Unlikely" or "Very Unlikely" to visit the WBC.

On the subject of fees, both groups expressed a willingness to pay to access the WBC and its satellites. Of the GTCBT respondents, 82.6% stated that they were willing to pay an average fee of $8.18. Of the RGVB Festival respondents, 90.2% stated that they were willing to pay an average of $12.63 to visit the WBC and its sites.

As for services the respondents expected from the WBC, the message could not have been clearer. Both groups desired "on-site birding opportunities," "current bird sighting information," and "travel information about birding in the LRGV." Although "bird and birding lectures, classes and/or programs," and "bird and birding exhibits" were of importance, these educational aspects of the WBC were secondary to those services these potential visitors viewed as being critical to their recreation (birding) and their trip to the LRGV.

As demonstrated by the data presented above, traveling birders (avitourists) invest significant resources (time and money) in their visit to regions where they can become immersed in a new culture, historical tradition, and natural history. Avitourists are experiential tourists, travelers for whom authenticity is a critically important factor in judging the value of a trip. The WBC will greatly enhance the potential for growth in the nature tourism industry in the LRGV if the complex and its programs are designed to bring the tourist into intimate contact with nature in its more pure and unadulterated form. In survey after survey of wildlife watchers conducted by Fermata Inc., the invariable motivations that people indicate for watching birds are "to enjoy the sights, smells, and sounds of nature" and "to be outdoors." Avitourists are not interested in multi-million dollar antiseptic wildlife warehouses that divorce them from an intimate and authentic experience with nature. The WBC should remember that the public is best served by a facility that opens the door that ushers them into a natural (rather than a virtual) world.