Xaghra man wins prize draw on FKNK research study

The Federation for Hunting & Conservation – Malta (FKNK) recently commissioned a team of independent statisticians to carry out a research study by means of a questionnaire, regarding Maltese hunters who travel abroad on hunting trips.

In order to encourage participation FKNK said that “the participants, whose anonymity was guaranteed, were provided with a stamped, addressed envelope so that no expense would be incurred by the respondents in returning the questionnaire duly compiled. Furthermore, all respondents were automatically entered into a draw where they stood the chance to win an all expenses paid hunting trip to a European country.”

FKNK announced “the winner of the draw as Mr Amabile Vella from Xaghra, Gozo, who will soon be contacted by the FKNK to claim his prize.”

The research was carried out by means of a questionnaire sent by conventional mail to a 1000 sample selected at random by the statisticians from amongst FKNK hunter members. Respondents showed a good and even representation from each of Malta’s six regions.

FKNK said that the “main aim of the research was to quantify the amount of Maltese hunters that also hunt abroad, how often and why and how many do not take such hunting trips and why. Outgoing tourism statistics, that till now, were unavailable.

“The study’s other objectives included the type of game Maltese hunters prefer when hunting abroad, the financial implications, the hunting destinations most sought, the hunting sustainability issue and other related aims. Again, outgoing tourists’ data, which was unavailable.

“The survey’s response rate was 34% which is considered to represent the population at a 95% confidence interval with a margin of error of +/- 5.17%, estimated on the total population of FKNK’s hunter members.”

FKNK said that the major findings and results include the following:

– Circa 23% of Maltese hunters have been on hunting trips abroad;

– 43% of respondents said that they had never been on a hunting trip abroad due to financial constraints, while 34% replied that they preferred Maltese traditional hunting;

– As expected, the preferred hunted game was game birds (66%) with 28% who also preferred to hunt small ground game;

– The reasons given for going on a foreign hunting trip included larger bags (30%), and as consequences of EU imposed restrictions locally (21%) and new local restrictions (another 21%);

– 57% of respondents considered hunting tourism abroad as sustainable, with the top destination being the UK (43%). The main reasons being respect shown towards the game and the natural environment, locals respect towards hunting tourists and hunting discipline and ethics;

– The majority spent between €1500 and €3000 per hunting trip, followed by €3500 to €7000 per trip;

– Respondents were equally divided whether they planned future hunting trips or otherwise. The main reasons for planning future hunting trips were given at 34.8% (financially will be able to afford to); 30.5% (due to new local restrictions) and 28.6% (due to EU imposed restrictions). This is also a clear indication, due to the reasons’ listed, that the trend is that outgoing Maltese hunting tourism is on the increase.

The full report can be viewed here ^[1].