Original scientific paper
A survey of tourist preference for forests and attitudes towards ecological and social forest services
D. Vuletić
V. Vondra
L. Szirovicza
E. Paladinić
Abstract
The preference of tourists for forests was surveyed during two summer seasons on the island of Kor~ula. The respondents were Croatian and foreign tourists who chose the Croatian coast as a holiday destination. The island is situated in the Central Dalmatian archipelago south of Split and north of Dubrovnik. It is a renowned tourist resort that achieves up to one million overnight stays per season. Over 60% of the area of Kor~ula is covered with forests, which ranks this island among one of the most forested in the Adriatic. The goal of the survey was to test the attitudes and preferences of tourists for forests and for ecological and social forest services. Tourists were asked to fill in the questionnaire at their choice and with no time limit. The extensive questionnaire consisted of several groups of questions and offered different possibilities of answers. The groups of questions included the following the socio-economic status of the respondents, the preference for forests and different activities in forests, attitudes towards the environment and the reasons for spending a holiday in a chosen destination. In order to include different tourist populations in the survey, the questionnaire was printed in Croatian and in 7 foreign languages (English, German, Italian, Slovenian, Polish, Check and Hungarian). The results showed significant preference of tourists for forests and the nature, a keen awareness of environmental values and the perception of a forest as an important landscape and environmental factor in general. Tourists were prepared to pay an additional 1.5 to 3.5% on the cost of accommodation in order to contribute to the means intended for the preservation and regeneration of forests.
Keywords
survey; preference of tourists for forests; ecological and social forest services; method of expressed preferences; contingent method
Hrčak ID:
16903
URI
Publication date:
23.12.2006.
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