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Tourism & Horticulture Reproduced from an article by Alan Jolliffe From The New Zealand Garden Journal (Journal of the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture), Vol. 2, No. 2, June 1997, pp. 15-21. Abstract This article provides
information on basic tourism concepts for an audience not traditionally
exposed to tourism. It aims to show the interrelationships between
tourism, tourists and horticulture and gardening. It also examines
briefly the media coverage of horticulture, horticultural features,
and horticultural events to show the direct relationship between
tourism and horticulture. Key words: Horticulture,
gardening, tourism. Introduction There has been an upsurge
in the interest of people and businesses trying to cash in on the
tourism boom in New Zealand. Of interest in this article is the
relationship between horticulture and gardening and tourism. Tourism is a major growth
industry in New Zealand and indeed the world. With New Zealand tourism
growth rates expected of up to 10% per annum many people are promoting
tourism as one of the saviours of the New Zealand economy in the
future. In this article Tourism
is defined in the broad context, and tourism activities related
to horticulture are discussed. The extent of interrelationships
between horticulture and tourism is shown through a snapshot investigation
of various media. Finally a short discussion on the impacts of tourism
is provided. Visitor Numbers The Truth about Tourism Figures (NZ$)
Tourism There are a number of
definitions of tourism. Murphy (1982) defined Tourism as "... the
temporary movement of people to destinations outside their normal
places of work and residence, the activities undertaken during their
stay in those destinations, and the facilities created to cater
for their needs." The four factors identified
in tourism which affects profitability of businesses and regional
development are (Jolliffe 1993):
When examining figures like this we have to know how they are made up. Gross figures are fine but a large area of expenditure like air travel can make a big difference to the picture painted by those wishing to enhance the value of tourism to the economy. Ground figures are also
general because they comprise two main components of each:
Business travel has a different set of expenditure patterns to pleasure travel. Pleasure travel can be
subdivided into the following distinct groups:
Length of Stay Historically the average
length of stay in New Zealand was about 27 days. Currently the average
length of stay is about 19 days. A significant drop. In the future there is
predicted to be a world wide trend towards short break holidays.
It is expected that this the length of stay will fall even further. Regionally one can measure
tourism in length of stay because it has high economic impact. Auckland's
length of stay is up to 6 days with Wellington at 2 days (NZTB). Expenditure
NZTB (New Zealand Tourism
Board) has a policy to attract medium to high income earners to
visit New Zealand to increase these expenditure patterns. Repeat and Referal
Business Summary International
Visitor Activities Over the years there
have been a variety of surveys undertaken to determine what activities
visitors undertake. In the 1984 International Visitor Survey the
main attractions visited were: Top 7 Activities
One of the prime reasons we are attracting people to New Zealand is the 'Clean Green' image portrayed to the world. Every piece of New Zealand seen by visitors is judged by the imagery sent overseas. The Tourism Product Tourism — Inbound/Outbound/Domestic Turning now to the relationship of tourism to horticulture we need to consider the three areas of tourism.Inbound is people coming into New Zealand — many arriving to experience the 'clean and green' that is promoted overseas. This image should be enhanced. 9% of international visitors visit gardens in New Zealand and that is increasing. Currently there are various package tours of New Zealand which have a horticultural aspect to them including:
New Zealand should be
taking advantage of this interest and bring the native and introduced
flora to the visitor through a different style of horticulture.
Can New Zealand gardeners take an idea from Kelly Tarltons and provide
a wide range of flora in attractive environments? Outbound Tourism To further illustrate the relationship between tourism and horticulture consider some aspects of outbound tourism. There are two examplesGarden Tours:
pick up any magazine and you will find an advertisement
by a travel agent taking a special interest in garden tours to England,
Europe, Japan, California, Australia etc. New Zealander's are great
travellers with a love of gardening. These tours, often led by personalities
(Maggie Barry, Eion Scarrow etc), are very popular. Wild Flower Tours:
wildflower tours to South Africa, Nepal or Western Australia
are regularly advertised. Domestic
Tourism Day Trippers:
people leaving home for less than 24 hours. A market that
is being exploited more and more in New Zealand. In horticultural
terms there are many opportunities to capture this market including Open Gardens:
Absolutely gone mad in NZ. In the spring of 1994 in Wellington
up to 4 different groups organised open gardens for various reasons
— mainly community fund raising. Some small towns like Marton use Open Gardens as a major draw card for visitors to the town. The whole community benefits through the increased expenditure. Increases in petrol sales, food sales, product sales, nursery sales and the like are made. Many special events are run for this particular market. The significance of it has been recognised in such things as Garden Festivals, Ellerslie Flower Show, Garden Tours, Wine events, even the Alexandra Blossom Festival.Longer stay tourists: These are people who stay away from home more than 24 hours, i.e., overnight. This group is broken down into three groups: Business Travellers, Pleasure Travellers and Visiting Friends and Relatives. Business Travellers —
may or may not visit a horticultural attraction but be sure they
will notice horticultural features in a city or region. Business
travellers enjoy going to well maintained areas. 84% used parks and gardens The Botanic Garden was at the top of the list One could extrapolate
from this that domestic visitors may also like to visit such attractions
when in another location. Horticulture Gardens: Crompton (1993) suggested it was public parks and recreation facilities that attracted tourists to an area. Gardens vary in their type in different areas and are attractions in their own right. Botanic Gardens: Concentrate on high quality displays including colour and form, geographical collections, plant trials, specialist collections and many more. A great deal of work is put into interpretation work such as signs and various educational programmes. These are a major drawcard
for both domestic and international visitors. Public Gardens
and Domains: these are generally nice places to go and
have a high profile in the local community. Horticultural features: there are many of these in every town or city. Outside the town hall and in prominent places. All to beautify the area and make it more attractive to both locals and visitors. The survey in 1976 examined what people did in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.Activities in order of importance
This provides a guide
to the type of design elements that need to be included. Private Gardens: contrary to popular opinion some of the best plant collections in New Zealand are in private gardens. These are owned and maintained by serious amateurs or semi-professionals. Today many of these are open to the public either regularly, occasionally or seasonally. There may be a charge for charity or a charge to pay for the upkeep or even run as a business. Some of the better ones have associated food and beverage outlets, souvenirs, merchandise, plants ete to increase revenue.Farms: one
of the fastest growing tourism ventures in New Zealand today is
Farm Stay/Home Stay. Everything from the Hobby Farm to the High
Country Station is offering a range of truly NZ "get to know you"
opportunities. Associated with many
of these areas are some of the country's best private gardens. In
fact, in some cases the garden is the prime attraction. Not only is it the garden
but also the farm with its high number of trees planted on the land.
Some of the country's largestcollection of trees either generally
or in specific generic collections are to be found on farms (MacKay,
1993). Attractions: Kiwifruit Country, Disneyland, Sea World, Dreamworld all use horticulture to enhance the quality of the visit. Take for example Disneyland. It always looks great, is extremely well landscaped, with not a plant out of place. It is the gardens — its horticultural expertise in planning, design, planting and maintenance that sets it apart from others.Kiwifruit Country serves to enthuse people to learn more about horticulture. Living education — and it is only a small part of the horticulture that fascinates people. Nurseries Retail:
there are the old fashioned plantsman nurseries which are
a joy for the specialist to visit. However, Palmers have changed
the face of nursery retailing turning it into an adventure and a
day out. With its special guests Maggie Barry and Bill Ward —
coffee shop, range of other garden related products and of course
plants. Swafield (1992) stated "Garden centres rival shopping centres
as a weekend leisure focus". Ecotourism Turning now to another
aspect of Tourism, Ecotourism. In the forest, in alpine areas, along
the coastline and in National Parks the visitor/tourist is offered
many opportunities to experience nature. Short bush walks are the
most popular visitor activity by tourists (IVS 1994/5). Skills are
needed to preserve these assets to ensure they are sustained in
the future. Already alpine walks
and treks, mountain bike trips, all terrain tours, mountain walks,
coastal walks are operated by tour companies. This will grow and
mean more work for horticulturalists, park managers, planners and
rangers. More and more horticultural skills will be required to
maintain the natural heritage. Resorts Swafield (1992) stated resorts were "created because of a particular scenic attraction". Take for example Rotorua where the Government Gardens has long been regarded as one of the major attractions in Rotorua. Featured on postcards in promotional leaflets, books, movies, videos etc. In Nelson in 1982 the Council decided to reduce bedding plants by 25% to save costs. Inspection showed that the uncontrolled use of bedding plants had led to a dilution of their effect. The new plan concentrated bedding where it mattered — high profile and set in the landscape to provide excellent bedding features. Two years later Council were asking for more because visitors commented on it, locals loved it and it did something for the city — pride! Needless to say staff actually refused to plant more because it would water down what was being done and reduce the dramatic impact on people of those displays.Attractions should be absolutely fabulous with design, displays and maintenance being of a high standard, but often they are not. In summary there is a great deal that can be done to improve horticulture as a major drawcard to a city, town etc based upon the way people are flocking to horticultural events, garden tours and the like. Tourist Attractions — Gardens There is a growing interest in visiting gardens. Everywhere there are garden visits organised. In the Wellington Region in August 1995, 5 or more separate organisations ran garden visits with some 150 private gardens open to the public. In addition New Zealand Rail organised a train trip to the Wairarapa to visit gardens. Palmers Garden Centre and Williams Garden Centre also organised them. The list goes on.Deloitte Touche Tobmatsu
(1993) conduct an annual visitor survey of attractions in New Zealand. The following chart shows
the dates when public and private gardens in the survey were first
opened to the public:
Opening Hours Marketing Gardens have the lowest marketing budget of all attractions. Gardens know less about
visitor make up than other attractions.
Media Survey In order to test the popularity of horticulture as a tourism attraction 1 looked at different media and the programmes being offered.Television
Magazines
This shows the range
of advertising using horticulture to promote tourism. New Zealand Gardener
1993-94
When looking at brochures promoting cities and regions parks and reserves feature strongly. NZTB uses amazing photographs of flora, scenery, parks and gardens. The range of photographs is wide.
Brochures of specific
attractions always features plants, garden setting, views or scenery. Special Events — Horticulture Horticultural events are proving more and more popular all the time and create a major inflow of domestic tourists. The day-tripper is just as important as the overnighter.At some point in time these events will reach market saturation reducing the likelihood of them being repeated in the future due to insufficient visitors to make it profitable. The decline in attendance may also be caused by too many poor quality events rather than too many good events. Other Horticulture Looking at the nature of tourism a range of other horticultural sectors influences tourism.
The influence of horticulture
is immense. Impacts on Tourism There are 4 major impacts
of tourism. Each has its good points and bad points. Right now everyone
is promoting the good points and in some cases ignoring the bad. Economic Impact Environmental
Impact Gardens with good paths that don't wear out, grass well maintained, vandalism minimised and with litter cleared up have a high carrying capacity. Garden areas are very suitable to develop to take pressure off natural areas. Social carrying capacity is also important. Visitors do not mind sharing the discovery of a fine garden with 50 others. This issue is greater in National Parks where low social carrying capacity has to be managed to ensure a high quality experience. Cultural Impact Social Impact Interrelationships
of impacts Conclusion
References
Web-notes: Related to this article is the RNZIH Annual Conference 2000 Seminar on Garden Visiting - Potential for Tourism. Towards a national information register of showcase open gardens. Eden Garden Pavilion, 24 Omana Ave, Epsom, Auckland, 24 November 2000. Proceedings of this conference are now available from the RNZIH. |
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