Hunting Tourism in Finland: Service Product Development for Russian Market
Alekhina, Margarita (2015)
Alekhina, Margarita
Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulu
2015
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201505076654
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201505076654
Tiivistelmä
The chosen topic for this thesis is hunting tourism, a small sector of nature tourism which is not fully recognized as a separate type of tourism and less studied. The main purpose of this thesis was to research the phenomena of hunting tourism in Finland and services provided by the Finnish companies for foreign hunting tourists. The objective was to reach future foreign customers. Since Russian tourists form one of the largest visitor groups in Finland, they were chosen to be the target group.
The theoretical part consists of information collected from researches and literature as well as Internet resources. Firstly, the hunting and hunting tourism concepts were defined and their characteristics were observed as well as the position of hunting tourism in tourism industry researched. Secondly, the specifics of Finnish hunting culture were described. Next, the Finnish hunting tourism market analysis was presented where the potential target groups and typical hunting service providers were classified followed by a description of the interviewed companies.
To implement the theory into practice, the product development process was described followed by analysis of the conducted survey among potential customers and interviews with the managers of the leading hunting tourism companies. The main result of the thesis was product development suggestions and an example of a new hunting product concerning the Russian target group for the Finnish hunting tourism sector and Visit Finland which stands as a commissioner for this thesis.
The conclusion points out that through product development based on customers’ preferences and needs, the final product is likely to be successful. The target group showed the potential, but also has some specific requirements. All in all, hunting has a long tradition in Finland and hunting tourism has much potential for further development as a part of nature tourism and rural development. Finnish pure nature and unique game species are seen as competitive advantages for the destination.
The theoretical part consists of information collected from researches and literature as well as Internet resources. Firstly, the hunting and hunting tourism concepts were defined and their characteristics were observed as well as the position of hunting tourism in tourism industry researched. Secondly, the specifics of Finnish hunting culture were described. Next, the Finnish hunting tourism market analysis was presented where the potential target groups and typical hunting service providers were classified followed by a description of the interviewed companies.
To implement the theory into practice, the product development process was described followed by analysis of the conducted survey among potential customers and interviews with the managers of the leading hunting tourism companies. The main result of the thesis was product development suggestions and an example of a new hunting product concerning the Russian target group for the Finnish hunting tourism sector and Visit Finland which stands as a commissioner for this thesis.
The conclusion points out that through product development based on customers’ preferences and needs, the final product is likely to be successful. The target group showed the potential, but also has some specific requirements. All in all, hunting has a long tradition in Finland and hunting tourism has much potential for further development as a part of nature tourism and rural development. Finnish pure nature and unique game species are seen as competitive advantages for the destination.