Hunting tourism in Estonia in decline over past decade
Compared to ten years ago, the number of foreign hunting tourists in Estonia has significantly decreased. The primary reason for this is the reduced wild boar population due to African swine fever. As a result of the decrease in hunting guests, rural areas in particular are losing out on revenue.
According to Aimar Rakko, hunting advisor for the Ministry of Climate's forestry department, the number of foreign hunting tourists was at its lowest during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with fewer than 1,000 visitors. Last year, the number of foreign hunting tourists was slightly under 3,000, down from nearly 5,000 in 2014, marking a significant decline over the past decade.
The decline in the number of visiting hunters actually began in the years preceding the pandemic. Rakko stated that the reason for this was the arrival of African swine fever in Estonia in 2014, which led to a decrease in the wild boar population.
"One such hunting tourism attraction was wild boar hunting, organized by local hunting associations. With the disappearance of this attraction, interest in hunting in Estonia also waned," Rakko said.
The specialist mentioned that the number of hunting tourists might increase slightly, but it is unlikely to reach the 2014 level in the near future, as nothing seems to be able to compensate for the popular wild boar hunting on such a scale.
"Perhaps another type of hunting, like small game hunting, beaver hunting or bird hunting, which is currently attractive and popular, might see some increase. However, there are no significant changes in our game population that would greatly attract hunting tourism," Rakko explained.
Tõnis Korts, the executive director of the Estonian Hunters' Society, said that wild boar was a popular game animal, especially among tourists from the Nordic countries. In his view, the interest of hunting tourists in recent years has also been affected by the war in Ukraine.
"Many guests simply choose not to come to Estonia for security reasons. Most hunting guests came from the European Union, predominantly from the Nordic countries. When we previously summarized the data, hunting guests left at least five million euros here annually, according to the most conservative estimates. This income primarily benefited rural areas, especially accommodation, catering and transport services," Korts explained.
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Editor: Merili Nael, Marcus Turovski
