TOURISTS IN CANSIGLIO FOREST, ITALY – CASE STUDY ABOUT FORESTS VISITORS AND THEIR OPINIONS

The development of the recreational use of forests demands a greater understanding of the profile, preferences and opinions of visitors to these forests.A questionnaire survey was hold in Cansiglio forest in northern Italy, which has become a very famous recreational area where many people come to spend their leisure time.The objective of this paper is to ascertain specifics about forest visitors, their preferences of forest structure and shape, and their other opinions, e.g. about regional problems with red deer.Results showed, among other, that almost ¼ of respondents were bikers, the rest were hikers, and the majority was from nearby cities and villages.Most of respondents go to forests from six to eleven times per year, more than ½ of them are satisfied with this frequency of forest visits.Knowing which type of forest visitors generally look for and what kind of activities they want to enjoy there is very important information and useful for management in research areas.