VARIABLES COEFFICIENT Exp(B)

OPTION A
Sex -0.342
0.710
(0.591)
Age -0.207
0.813
(0.216)
Marital Status -0.646
0.524
(0.611)
Educational Status -0.633
0.531
(0.697)
Household Size 0.450
1.568
(0.653)
Household Income 0.839
2.314
(0.735)
Employment Status -0.690
0.502
(0.572)
Intercept 4.781
(3.373)
OPTION B
Sex -0.011
0.989
(0.625)
Age -0.211
0.810
(0.235)
Marital Status -1.579**
0.206
(0.656)
Educational Status -0.103
0.902
(0.727)
Household Size 0.728
2.072
(0.675)
Household Income 1.120
3.065
(0.747)
Employment Status -0.881
0.414
(0.578)
Intercept 4.338
(3.463)
*significant at α=10%; **significant at α=5%; ***significant at α=1% (TABLE 1)

Among the 137 respondents surveyed, 65 (47.4%) opted for OPTION A, 55 (40.1%) chose
OPTION B, and 17 (12.4%) selected the STATUS QUO. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was
employed to assess the probabilities of respondents selecting the provided alternatives. In Choice
Modelling (CM), each observation is discretized into a binary form (0 or 1) to represent the visitor's
decision—1 for choosing option A and 0 for selecting option B. The derivation of Willingness to Pay
(WTP) values in Choice Modelling does not occur directly but is inferred indirectly from tourist decisions,
which are subsequently analyzed using multinomial logistic regression. Despite the coefficient values
suggesting no statistically significant relationship between the independent variables and the dependent
variable, it's crucial to acknowledge that statistically insignificant findings may arise due to factors such
as small sample sizes or data variability, reflecting real-life scenarios. Moreover, Model Fitting
Information will furthermore interpret these factors. Overall measure of your model is to consider the
statistics presented in the Model Fitting Information table, as shown below:

Model Fitting Information

Model Model Fitting Likelihood Ratio Tests
Criteria
-2 Log Chi-Square df Sig.
Likelihood
Intercept Only 208.785
Final 184.669 24.116 14 .044
Table 2. Model Fitting Information

The "Final" row indicates whether the coefficients of the model are zero, implying whether any
of the coefficients are statistically significant. Another perspective is to assess if the variables added
enhance the model significantly compared to having just the intercept. The "Sig." column shows a p-
value of 0.044, indicating that the full model predicts the dependent variable significantly better than
the intercept-only model.

The value of Willingness to Pay (WTP) of tourists towards alternative choices is indirectly obtained by
using the equation (Putrantomo, 2010):

[ ]
∑ exp β 1 ∑ exp β n
i i
WTP= +…+
∑ exp β 1 ∑ exp β 1
i i

WTP=
[ exp Age exp Sex exp Mari exp Educ exp HHS exp HHI exp Employ
+ + + +
ExpAge ExpAge ExpAge ExpAge ExpAge ExpAge
+ +
ExpAge ]
WTP=
[ 0. 813 0. 710 0. 524 0.531 1.568 2.314 0. 502
+ + + + + +
0. 813 0.813 0.813 0.813 0.813 0.813 0.813 ]
WTP=1+0.873+0.6 44+0. 653+1.927 +2.846+0.617
WTP=8.56
According to the equation, a 50Php increase equates to an 8.56% rise in the visitors' Willingness
to Pay (WTP) to enhance the environmental quality of mangrove forests in Panabo, amounting to
approximately 54Php per person for option A. Consequently, assuming an average monthly visitor count
of 200 individuals, the economic valuation of mangrove forest ecotourism would reach 10,800Php
monthly. This research revealed that travel expenses exert a positive and substantial impact on visitors'
decisions to support the enhancement of mangrove forest environmental quality.

[ ]
∑ exp β 1 ∑ exp β n
i i
WTP= +…+
∑ exp β 1 ∑ exp β 1
i i

WTP=
[ ExpAge ExpSex ExpMari ExpEduc ExpHHS ExpHHI ExpEmploy
+ + + + +
ExpAge ExpAge ExpAge ExpAge ExpAge ExpAge
+
ExpAge ]
WTP=
[ 0.81 0. 989 0. 206 0. 902 2.072 3.065 0. 414
+
0.81 0.81
+
0.81
+ + +
0.81 0.81 0.81
+
0.81 ]
WTP=1+1.22+0. 254+1.113 +2.558+3.784+ 0.511
WTP=10.44
The equation suggests that a 100Php increase results in a 10.44% boost in visitors' Willingness to
Pay (WTP) to enhance the environmental quality of Panabo's mangrove forests, reaching approximately
110Php per person for option B. Consequently, with an average monthly visitor count of 200 individuals,
the economic worth of mangrove forest ecotourism would reach 22,000Php per month. This study
underscores the notable and affirmative impact of travel expenses on visitors' decisions to contribute to
the improvement of mangrove forest environmental quality.

In general, both Option A and Option B contribute to the enhancement of the environmental
quality of Panabo's mangrove forest. Irrespective of the visitors' demographic profiles, both options
exhibit positive Exp(B) values, indicating a favorable increase in willingness to pay valuation.