Identifying hunting tourist types – an exploratory case study from Finland

Abstract

Purpose

This study is an attempt to increase the understanding of the hunting tourism customer. The purpose of the paper is to explore the characteristics, motivations, values and expectations of Finnish hunting tourists, and to try to distinguish between different types among them.

Design/methodology/approach

Twelve semi‐structured, narrative, face‐to‐face interviews were conducted. The study was conceived within an interpretive paradigm, in which a central aim is to understand the subjective world of the human experience. Constant comparison was used as a method of data analysis.

Findings

Several common features were distinguished among the interviewees. First, hunters' attitudes towards shooting and the importance of a bag have changed during the years. Second, a difference between an ordinary hunting experience and a hunting tourism experience was perceptible. Third, willingness to experience something new related to hunting was the most important hunting tourism motivation. The fourth common feature was the importance of the social component hunting tourism. Three different types of hunting tourists could be identified: responsible hunting tourists, adaptable hunting tourists and achievement‐oriented hunting tourists. The major distinguishing factors were the hunters' attitudes towards shooting, game farming and social relationships during the hunting trip.

Originality/value

The study is one of the few to investigate hunters as tourists.

Citation

Komppula, R. and Suni, J. (2013), "Identifying hunting tourist types – an exploratory case study from Finland", Tourism Review, Vol. 68 No. 1, pp. 48-61. https://doi.org/10.1108/16605371311310075