Complementarity between agriculture and tourism towards sustainability

The economic valuation of oases has focused almost entirely on marketable agricultural outputs. The role of oases as a provider of positive amenities has not been recognized. In this study, the contingent valuation method was used to estimate visitors' willingness to pay to visit Misfat Al-Abreen mountain oasis for recreation. A Tobit model was used considering a range of socioeconomic and preference variables. Sixty four percent of the visitors indicated their willingness to pay an entrance fee. The average willingness to pay is $ 8.6/visit/group. Oases in Oman are managed by farmers' associations whose responsibilities could be expanded to encompass the collection of entrance fees in Misfat AL-Abreen as the oasis has one single entrance. The collected fees will be used to improve the maintenance of the irrigation infrastructure and provide services to visitors as well as to distribute among farmers based on land/water property. This will encourage landowners to sustain the agricultural activity and enhance the production of environmental services.