The use of natural protected areas has been analyzed abundantly in the relevant literature, although on many occasions these areas are studied from the viewpoint of their role as a tourist destination in themselves, while neglecting their role as a tourist attraction that can be visited from the main destination of their stay. In certain specific areas, as in the case of Extremadura, protected areas are often a complementary destination for visitors who are staying in popular tourist hubs. This study is based on data from 4 different spaces (with different degrees in their status as protected areas) about the flow of tourists they generate at the destination. In light of the data, this paper identifies the 41 towns and villages with the most tourists, later to determine their mobility towards natural protected areas. Information was collected from almost 14,000 surveys that were filled at 52 tourist offices. This information allowed us to map the flow of tourists from their places of stay to the protected areas analyzed here, which resulted in the mapping of relevant networks by means of a Geographic Information System following the criterion of shortest path available. The results here clearly demonstrate that each area has a varying capacity to attract visitors, although in a large proportion of cases, the 60-min isochrone is a boundary beyond which the number of visitors drops significantly.
The constant declaration of new protected natural spaces that has taken place on a world scale in recent decades has caused changes in rural areas, where these spaces are often host to traditional activities that have acted over time as the area’s main sources of wealth. Among these activities, hunting has been one of the most affected. For this reason, the following study analyzes the incidence of one of the economic sectors linked to venatoria, hunting tourism, in two protected areas with an established hunting tradition: Sierra de San Pedro and Monfragüe. In order to achieve this objective, a questionnaire was drawn up and subsequently completed by a large proportion of the tourist accommodation establishments located in these areas. The results were obtained by means of statistical techniques and yielded very interesting information. This included information about the strong presence of hunting tourism in both regions, the differences in the presence of hunters according to the type of tourist accommodation, and the interest of hunters in taking part in activities other than hunting.
Hunters make a large number of trips during the hunting season all over the world due to the irregular distribution of hunting species. The proliferation of this kind of travel gives rise to the origin of a new kind of specific tourism, i.e., hunting tourism. Currently, the economic magnitude of this kind of travel has led to carrying out numerous studies on the subject. It has, however, been observed that most of them concentrate on the economic and environmental aspects of this activity and neglect a parameter as important as demand. Becoming familiar with the characteristics of the hunting traveller allows more appropriate management of this kind of tourism. It is for this reason that this study approaches the various profiles of hunting travellers residing in Extremadura and determines the most important characteristics of their movements. The main source of information for this research is the results obtained from distributing a questionnaire during a period of one year. These data have been processed by univariate and bivariate statistical techniques, which allow us to obtain groundbreaking results. These include, in particular, the considerable mobility of the hunter resident in Extremadura, who makes a large number of trips in order to hunt during the season, and the relationship between the number of days hunters travel, according to their income.
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