Papaspyropoulos K.G., Sokos C.K., Hasanagas N.D., Birtsas P.K., 2012. Sustainability of recreational hunting tourism: a cluster analysis approach for woodcock hunting in Greece, in New Trends Towards Mediterranean Tourism Sustainability. Nova Science Publishers. Βοοκ Chapter, p. 79 – 94.
Abstract
Hunting tourism is a relatively small, although developing, business sector worldwide. As with all forms of tourism it can become a source of unsustainability, especially in terms of the economic and ecological dimension of sustainability. This chapter discusses the potential unsustainabilities of recreational hunting tourism inGreece. It examines the cases of woodcock hunters that live inThessaloniki,Macedonia, the second largest city in the country, with more than 1 million inhabitants. These hunters are mainly forced to travel far from home in order to hunt. By analyzing 170 questionnaires filled out by hunters, this chapter concludes that better hunting area management would prevent some environmental degradation caused by the hunters’ trips, and would allow hunters to save a significant amount of money to fulfill their passion for this activity, by hunting closer to home.
Key words: tourism, hunters, Thessaloniki, woodcock