An opportunity for rural areas or a threat to local hunters? : Finnish hunters' attitudes towards hunting tourism

Abstract

Due to a strong population influx to urban areas, Finnish hunting territories and the geographical residence of hunters are today becoming increasingly detached from each other. This has created a demand for hunting tourism services, which in turn necessitates new forms of wildlife management on the local level. However, the introduction of hunting tourism is far from uncontroversial as it is likely to cause conflict between stakeholders. In this paper we analyse Finnish hunters’ attitudes towards hunting tourism from a sociological point of view. The aim is two-fold; first, we map hunters’ positions on hunting tourism as a tool for revitalising the countryside and as a commercial use of wildlife; second, we analyse the determinants of these attitudes by using multivariate statistical techniques. Empirically, the analysis uses unique national survey data on Finnish hunters and their attitudes to different aspects of hunting (N=1193). The results show that Finnish hunters are ambivalent as to the virtues of hunting tourism. On the one hand it is conceived of as a potential economic remedy for peripheral areas, but on the other hand it challenges stakeholder interests as well as traditional conceptions of hunting and wildlife management. Hence hunting tourism is seen both as an opportunity and a threat to hunters. Whereas the attitudes to hunting tourism as a tool for rural development can be primarily explained by socioeconomic factors, such as age and education, the attitudes to its more specific manifestations are mainly explained by geographical residence and value orientation of hunters.