Understanding Immigrants’ Outdoor Recreation Patterns

The last decade has seen a significant increase in the use of open spaces for recreation purposes. Studies recently conducted in Israel investigated various aspects of the demand for outdoor recreation, examining the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of consumers. However, these cross-sections do not capture the full complexity of the demand for outdoor recreation, since they do not give sufficient weight to cultural traditions and habits which depend, to the great extent, on the consumers’ country of origin. Israel is characterized by great ethnic diversity, and each sector in the population has its own preferences in terms of outdoor leisure activities.

Immigrants from the FSU constitute a large market segment of the visitors to nature and recreation sites in Israel, and they exhibit various patterns of recreational preferences. Surveys recently conducted in Israel regarding the domestic tourism activity of various immigrant groups (Degani and Degani, 1998; Berman Institute, 1996) provide some information, but we still do not have sufficient details about the extent, character and structure of the demand for outdoor recreation among sub-sectors of different immigrant populations. We also lack information regarding the factors which influence the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of demand for outdoor recreation among immigrants from the FSU.

The study reveals that immigrants from the FSU have considerable interest in outdoor recreation, which is reflected in the extensive demand — both effective and latent. Immigrants from the FSU visit nature and recreation sites even more frequently than native Israelis. In other words, this population constitutes a significant segment of the market for outdoor recreation. In addition, this population also exhibits considerable latent demand for outdoor recreation, thus suggesting even greater potential as a consumer of this type of activity.