An overview of surfonomics for a seminar at Chapman University

1. Highly Marketed but Undervalued:
Establishing economic values for surfers
Dr. Chad Nelsen
Surfrider Foundation

4. California Beaches:
17.8 million visits
$15 billion/year
(Source: Pendleton et al. 2011, King, 1999)

7. Solana Beach, CA Beach Use
(Source: CIC Research, July 2009)

8. Trestles

12. $0

14. Economic Impact vs Economic Value
• Economic Impact:
– Expenditures
– Support local businesses
– Create jobs
– Provide salaries and wages
• Economic Value:
– Willingness to Pay (Consumer Surplus)
– Travel Cost Model
– Revealed preference
– Negative sloping demand function
– Single Site Model (total use value)

15. Approach
• Develop & Test Survey
• Data Collection
– Web-based survey (non-random)
– Intercept survey (random?)
• Data Analysis
– Economic Impacts
• Travel Cost Model
– Economic Values

17. Trestles: Economic Impacts
Total Visits 367,000
Surfer Visits 330,000
Ave Expenditure/Visit
$23 - $40
Range
Economic Impact Range $8-13 million
(Nelsen, Pendleton 2007) Per year

18. Huntington Beach
South Orange County
Oceanside
North County SD
Imperial & Ocean Beach

19. Demand Curve

20. Trestles: Economic Value
Total Visits 367,000
Surfer Visits 330,000
Value/Visit Range $29 - $80
Consumer Surplus Range $10-26 million
Per year
(Nelsen 2010)

21. Trestles Results
• Attendance: 330,000 surfers/year
• Demographics: = coastal population
• Ave. Expenditure: $40/person/day
• Consumer Surplus: $138 / person/day

22. Surfrider / Surf-First Study
Who: 5,360 surfers
What: Surf behavior / demographics
Where: Internet-based opt in survey
When: November 2008 -September 2009
Why: 1st US characterization of surfers
Limitation: This is a non-probabilistic method of data collection and is not random so the results
cannot be extrapolated to the larger surfing population

23. Surf Behavior
Parameter Median
Experience 16 years
Number of boards 4
Arrival time 8:15 AM
Duration 2.5 hours
Distance Travelled 10 miles
Annual visits 108

24. Surfer Demographics
Parameter Median
Age 34 year
Education 62% ≥ college
Household income $75,000 annual
Employment 67% fully employed
Expenditure $66/visit*
*Average

25. US Surfer Economics
Surfers 3.1 million
Visits / year 76 million
Expenditures $25-66 / visit
Economic Impact $2-5 billion / year
Sources: NSRE 2001, Hanneman 2004

27. More..
US Surf econ study: http://bit.ly/us_surfecon
Coastal Blog:
surfrider.org/coastal-blog/c/surf-protection
Chad Nelsen
cnelsen@surfrider.org
twitter: chadenelsen

28. Questions
Chad Nelsen
cnelsen@surfrider.org
t: chadenelsen
www.surfrider.org/coastal-blog