Visiting motivation and satisfaction of visitors to Chinese botanical gardens
Received date: 2011-02-28
Accepted date: 2011-05-06
Online published: 2011-10-08
Botanical gardens (BGs) have attracted millions of visitors worldwide; therefore, BGs have become important sites for displaying and education for biodiversity. Understanding garden visitors’ motivations and their traveling satisfactory degree is crucial for BG management and its role in public education. In this study, we conducted survey in five Chinese BGs, i.e., Xiamen BG, Wuhan BG of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing BG, Kunming BG of CAS and Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of CAS. We aimed to understand visitors’ traveling motivation and the degree of satisfaction after they visited the gardens by questionnaire survey. The main results are as follows: (1) The motivations for visitors differed among the five BGs. “To get close to nature” was the most common motivation, followed by “To get relax” and “To enjoy the beautiful scenery”. In Xiamen BG, “To be together with friends or relatives” was also one of the motivations. (2) “To gain relative knowledge” as the motivation did not get significant support. (3) The visitors were satisfied by the visit to the five BGs. The authors also discussed how BGs could adjust their management in order to fit visitors’ motivation meanwhile play a better role in scientific and environmental education.
He He , Jin Chen . Visiting motivation and satisfaction of visitors to Chinese botanical gardens[J]. Biodiversity Science, 2011 , 19(5) : 589 -596 . DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1003.2011.08033
| [1] | Anderson EW (1996) Customer satisfaction and price tolerance. Marketing Letters, 7,265-274. |
| [2] | Ballantyne R, Packer J, Hughes K (2008) Environmental awareness, interests and motives of botanic gardens visitors: implications for interpretive practice. Tourism Management, 29,439-444. |
| [3] | Bennett E, Swasey J (1996) Perceived stress reduction in urban public garden. HortTechnology, 6,125-128. |
| [4] | Chen LR (陈丽蓉), Su Q (苏勤) (2007) Review of researches on tourist satisfaction in China. Resource Development and Market (资源开发与市场), 23,266-268. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [5] | Cohen E (1988) Authenticity and commoditization in tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 15,371-386. |
| [6] | Connell J (2004) The purest of human pleasures: the characteristics and motivations of garden visitors in Great Britain. Tourism Management, 25,229-247. |
| [7] | Connell J, Meyer D (2004) Modelling the visitor experience in the gardens of Great Britain. Current Issues in Tourism, 7,183-216. |
| [8] | Crilley G, Price B (2005) The Adelaide Botanic Gardens Visitor Service Quality Survey. Adelaide: Centre for Environmental and Recreational Management, University of South Australia. |
| [9] | Dann G (1977) Anomie, ego-enhancement and tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 4,184-194. |
| [10] | Darwin-Edwards I (2000) Education by stealth: the subtle art of educating people who didn’t come to learn. Roots, 20,37-40. |
| [11] | Dolnicar S (2002) Business travellers’ hotel expectations and disappointments: a different perspective to hotel attribute importance investigation. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 7,29-35. |
| [12] | Fodness D (1994) Measuring tourist motivation. Annals of Tourism Research, 21,555-581. |
| [13] | Gnoth J (1997) Tourism motivation and expectation formation. Annals of Tourism Research, 24,283-304. |
| [14] | He SA (贺善安), Gu Y (顾姻), Xia B (夏冰) (1998) The trend of the development of botanical gardens. Journal of Plant Resources and Environment (植物资源与环境), 7(2),48-58. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [15] | He SA (贺善安), Gu Y (顾姻), Chu RZ (褚瑞芝), Yu H (於虹) (2001) On botanical garden science. Journal of Plant Resources and Environment (植物资源与环境), 10(4),48-51. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [16] | He SA (2002) Fifty years of botanical gardens in China. Acta Botanica Sinica (植物学报), 44,1123-1133. |
| [17] | Jackson W, Sutherland L (2000) International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation. Botanic Gardens Conservation International, London, UK. |
| [18] | Kozak M, Rimmington M (2000) Tourist satisfaction with Mallorca, Spain, as an off-season holiday destination. Journal of Travel Research, 38,260-269. |
| [19] | Kozak M (2002) Comparative analysis of tourist motivations by nationality and destinations. Tourism Management, 23,221-232. |
| [20] | Manning R, Wang B, Valliere W, Lawson S, Newman P (2002) Research to estimate and manage carrying capacity of a tourist attraction: a study of Alcatraz Island. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 10,388-404. |
| [21] | Maunder M (2008) Beyond the greenhouse. Nature, 455,596-597. |
| [22] | Mintz S, Rode S (1999) More than a walk in the park? Roots, (July),24-26. |
| [23] | Reisinger Y, Turner LW (2002) The determination of shopping satisfaction of Japanese tourists visiting Hawaii and the Gold Coast compared. Journal of Travel Research, 41,167-176. |
| [24] | Saleh F, Ryan C (1992) Client perceptions of hotels. Tourism Management, 13,163-168. |
| [25] | Wen XY (2008) The importance of botanic gardens in Chinese cities. BGjournal, 5,19-22. |
| [26] | Willison J (2006) Education for Sustainable Development: Guidelines for Action in Botanic Gardens. Botanic Gardens Conservation International, UK. |
| [27] | Willison J, Greene J (1994) Environmental Education in Botanical Gardens: Guidelines for Developing Individual Strategies. BGCI, U.K. |
| [28] | Willison R (1997) Special places for young children. Roots, (Dec.),26-30. |
| [29] | Xu ZF (许再富) (1996) Public education for biodiversity in botanical gardens and its development. Chinese Biodiversity (生物多样性), 4,52-53. (in Chinese) |
| [30] | Xu ZF (许再富) (2007) Botanical gardens and their ecological bases of construction—a case study of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, CAS. Proceedings of the 3rd Global Botanical Gardens Congress (第三届世界植物园大会论文集), pp.11-16. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [31] | Yan H (严海), Chen J (陈进), He H (贺赫) (2010) Preliminary investigation on function recognition and image perception in public upon botanical gardens. Biodiversity Science (生物多样性), 18,516-522. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [32] | Yoon Y, Uysal M (2005) An examination of the effects of motivation and satisfaction on destination loyalty: a structural model. Tourism Management, 26,45-56. |
/
| 〈 |
|
〉 |
Copyright © 2022 Biodiversity Science
Editorial Office of Biodiversity Science, 20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing 100093, China
Tel: 010-62836137, 62836665 E-mail: biodiversity@ibcas.ac.cn 
