Hunters as tourists - an exploratory study of push-pull motivations.

This article examines push and pull motivations of hunting tourists - those hunters who travel outside their usual hunting area - as well as push motivations differences between regular hunters and hunting tourists. An online survey was used to collect 557 responses from Finnish hunters. Principal component analysis was used to distinguish underlying motivational structures and help understand push and pull motivations. The resulting push motivations components were Competence-mastery, Nature, Family, Hunting, Relaxation, Social, and Added benefits. Pull motivation components were Tourism services, Destination novelty, Costs, Meal preparing possibilities, Game, Destination suitability for hunting, and Hunting grounds. Furthermore, a regression analysis was used to examine how push and pull motivation components explain hunting tourists' travel behaviour. Competence-mastery, Family, and Relaxation motivated the Finnish hunting tourists to visit destinations where they could learn about culture and animals. Tourism service providers should note that a hunting tourism trip should include educational elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]