STATED PREFERENCE TECHNIQUE FOR NATIONAL PARKS IN MALAYSIA

National parks hold a great value for recreational resources or/and ecotourism destination. The economic valuation for non-marketed goods in ecotourism activities in Malaysia is still considered rare. This is important to minimize the indifference between the tourists’ expectation and the level of management setting provided by the federal system of the government. The government which owns such areas needs to place money value to these goods. This paper aims to provide the importance of economic valuation as decision factors in the improvement of management plans of national parks in the country. It includes a discussion on the characteristics and capabilities of variety of methods used for this purpose