Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Consumer Profile of Hunting Tourism and Trophy Hunting from Tradition to Protected Areas: Study Case on Romania and Spain

Abstract

Hunting has major importance from many perspectives: As a product of leisure and recreation, as a tool for conservation and wildlife management, as the main economic activity in rural areas, or as a cultural heritage and traditional activity for countries around the world, especially for countries in Europe and Africa. Therefore, this research fills a gap in the literature and offers a cross-cultural opinion and perceptions of 198 hunters from Romania and Spain. The aim of the paper is to analyze the perceptions and opinions of hunters regarding hunting tourism through an online self-administrated questionnaire by convenience sampling using hunters associations from these countries. Among the values that identify hunting as an activity, hunters highlight the human values (friendship, company, ethics), ecological values (love of nature associated with hunting as a tool to understand and enjoy the natural environment), and social values (resources generated, hobby, effort). The respondents can self-criticize some components and aspects of hunting groups. Hunters believe that the future of this sector is moving towards commercial hunting, associated with purchasing power to ensure results. Regardless of the nationality of the hunters, their values related to this sector are similar.

Landscape and Unique Fascination: A Dual-Case Study on the Antecedents of Tourist Pro-Environmental Behavioral Intentions

“…Tourist behavior is closely associate with rural landscapes, as landscapes and particularly natural landscape are the essence of rural tourism development [10]. Tourist activities such as orchard picking [11] and hunting [12] conducted in rural areas help promote natural resource conservation and facilitate ecological restoration of rural landscapes [13]. However, increasing tourist involvement has also created many negative effects on rural landscapes, including environmental destruction, resource damage, improper uses and overuse, waste accumulation, harmful emission release, and overcrowding [14,15], all of which slow down the sustainable evolution of rural landscapes and hamper rural tourism development.…”

The identification of cultural tourism geographies: Results from a Systematic Literature Review

“…In recent years, especially after the pandemic from Covid-19, a new trend in travel has increasingly emerged. Tourists are now oriented towards domestic rather than external offers, rural rather than urban regions (Oltean & Gabor, 2021). Rural tourism is one of the activities that can help to prevent depopulation by promoting the landscape and cultural heritage, also useful for their development and improvement, so that the abandonment of the territories is slowed or even reversed to the benefit of the local population (López-Sanz et al, 2021).…”

The Effects of Perceived Cultural and Tourism Public Services on Visitor Satisfaction and Quality of Life: A Multiple Mediation Model

“…A team of five highly skilled research assistants was hired to gather the data. This study, similar to previous research, employed convenience sampling as a method to select participants, based on the accessibility and availability of visitors to complete the questionnaires [50][51][52][53][54]. In order to ascertain the similarity between the sample and the population, the present study considered the representativeness of the visitor population.…”