Post on 07-Jul-2020
WOOD PRODUCTS USAGE IN RURAL TOURISM
BUILDINGS
Prof. Darko MOTIK, Ph.D. Andreja PIRC BARČIĆ, Ph.D.
Valentino SLIVAR, student Ivana HIDEG, student Lovro BELIN, student
Franciska KLANFAR, student
THE PATH FORWARD FOR WOOD PRODUCTS: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
October 5th-8th 2016, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
1.INTRODUCTION
Rural tourism includes set of all tourism services and activities that take place
within rural areas, which is not necessarily a supplementary activity.
Wood industry presents one of the most important sectors of Croatian
economy, while rural tourism sector present one of the important parts of
Croatian economy where a great degree of involvement of wood products
usage is possible.
This sector present opportunities for wood products and furniture producers in
the context of designing and furnishing. The aim of the study was to identify possibilities of wood products usage in rural tourism buildings
- The sample frame for this research were 317 business subject of rural tourism in Croatia
taken from the first national catalogue of rural tourism subjects ‘Rural Toirism of Croatia’) from
2015.
- All business subjects were located in Croatia.
1.) An email survey was the method used for surveying respondents for this study.
2.) Based on research objectives questionnaire was developed.
3.) The questionnaire consisted of 17 questions: (general information, information about wwood
products usage in rural tourism buildings and elements of decision process in buying wood products
The survey was conducted during the spring 2016. The total number of usable surveys received was
47 with adjusted response rate of 15%.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Respondents profile
Given that domain of this research was tourism in rural areas - - - - it was expected that a
majority of respondents would come from rural areas of Croatia - - - - - 53% of 47 respondent rural
tourism objects were located in area with less than 1000 inhabitants.
The oldest respondent
rural tourism building
was established in
1983, while the
youngest was established in 2014
that the average age
of years in business was 10
It is possible that this presents a year in which business
was officially opened/established and when owners of
the buildings decided to start working in rural tourism
business, but the buildings (houses,…) were built before in the past
The average age
of rural tourism
building was 62.4 years.
The oldest building is
from the year 1836., while
the newest was built in
2012.
The total number of people employed in 47 respondent rural tourism
businesses was 164 persons - - - minimum was 1, maximun was 23
persons
Gender (%) Education level (%) Age groups (%)
Male
51
No education 10.9 18 – 30 years old 18.8
High school 61.6 31 – 40 years old 24.4
Female
49
College graduate 14.6 41 – 50 years old 30.9
Graduate degree 12.3 51 – 60 years old 21.8
M.s./Ph.D. 0.6 Older than 60 6.1
Table 1. Employees gender, education, and age structure in the rural tourism buildings
2. Wood products usage in rural tourism buildings
85.11
29.79
57.45
87.23
55.32
38.30
63.83
82.98
29.79
76.60 76.60
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 WP9 WP10 WP11
Perc
ent
of
resp
on
den
ts (
%)
Wood Product category (multiple response)
Figure 1. Wood
product category in
rural tourism buildings
(n=47)
Legend: WP1 – exterior joinery (windows, doors, …); WP2 – wooden facades (fronts of the buildings); WP3 – venetian blinds;
WP4 – interior joinery; WP5 – floor coverings (parquet, rustic flooring, decking); WP6 – wall coverings; WP7 – kitchen and dining
room furniture; WP8 – sitting furniture (bench, chair); WP9 – upholster furniture (armchair; sofa); WP10 – beds; WP11 – closets
(cupboards, wardrobes; bookcases).
4.65
27.91
72.09
30.23
16.28
2.33
20.93
18.6
30.23
20.93
25.58
6.98
25.58
32.56
13.95
20.93
11.63
18.6
79.07
4.65
2.33
2.33
11.63
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Massive wood
Playwood/MDF
Plastic
Metal
Combination of materials
Material preference (%) Likert scale (1= strongly disagree; 5= strongly agree)
Mat
eria
l cat
ego
ry
1 2 3 4 5
Figure 2. Material category preference of INTERIOR equipment in rural tourism
buildings (n=43)
4.65
44.19
58.14
20.93
18.6
2.33
27.91
18.6
13.95
16.28
11.63
13.95
34.88
23.26
16.28
9.3
6.98
25.58
30.23
76.74
6.98
2.33
4.66
11.63
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Massive wood
Playwood/MDF
Plastic
Metal
Combination of materials
Material preference (%) Liker scale (1= strongly disagree; 5= strongly agree
Mat
eria
l cat
ego
ry
1 2 3 4 5
Figure 3. Material category preference of EXTERIOR equipment in
rural tourism buildings (n=43)
3.3. Elements of decision process in buying wood products
2.33
4.65
2.33
2.33
20.93
13.95
6.98
32.56
9.30
2.33
6.98
18.6
4.65
16.28
11.63
27.91
39.53
2.33
13.95
23.26
41.86
20.93
23.26
13.95
16.28
27.91
20.93
25.58
25.58
16.28
13.95
32.56
13.94
27.91
32.56
23.25
72.09
55.81
30.23
16.28
34.89
25.57
11.64
46.51
60.45
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Price
Quality
Design
Ecological characteristics
Combination of materials
Country of origin
Warranty
Brand
Safety
Functionality
Factor preference (%) Likert scale (1= definitely not imprtant; 5=definitely imprtant
Fact
ors
1 2 3 4 5
Figure 4. Factors in
decision making
process (n=43)
In furnishing and/or renovation of their rural tourism buildings majority of the 37
respondents (70.27%) favor Croatian wood furniture and products.
In addition, the respondents noted that they would equally buy Croatian furniture in
the furniture store or directly form Croatian furniture manufacturer.
On the other hand, 26.19% of the respondents prefer foreign wooden furniture and
products.
SUMMARY
1.) When deciding about type of material in equipping interior of owners/stewards of rural
tourism buildings prefer ‘real’ massive wood, followed by combination of materials, while the
most unfavourable material were plastic and metal.
2.) In equipping outdoor space the respondents would mostly use also, massive wood and
combination of materials.
3.) Quality of wood products was found to be the most important factor in decision making
process of buying furniture and wood products, flowed by product functionality, product
design, safety, country of origin, environmental characteristics, warranty, price, material
combination and as the most insignificant factor was brand.
In making decision about foreign of Croatian furniture majority of owners/stewards prefer
Croatian wood products and furniture what was a logical choice, given that respondents were
traditional Croatian rural tourism object in which all activates are based on Croatian tradition
and inheritance.
In Croatia rural tourism present a very important segment for wood furniture and wood
product manufacturers.
Owner and/or stewards of this places were noted as potential buyers and users of wooden
products, so for wood furniture company managers was very important to get insights into
situation, needs and possibilities of this rural tourism buildings.
Andreja PIRC BARČIĆ, Ph.D.
Prof. Darko MOTIK, Ph.D Valentino SLIVAR, student
Ivana HIDEG, student Lovro BELIN, student
Franciska KLANFAR, student
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Forestry, Zagreb, Croatia e-mail: apirc@sumfak.hr;
motik@sumfak.hr
THANK YOU!