Garden tourism

270 Pages·2013·15.505 MB·English

by  Benfield, R. (Eds.)

Garden Tourism
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Garden Tourism
Richard Benfield
Central Connecticut State University
USA
CABI is a trading name of CAB International
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© Richard W. Benfield 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any
form or by any means, electronically, mechanically by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the copyright owners.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library, London, UK.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Benfield, Richard.
Garden tourism / Richard Benfield, Central Connecticut State University, USA.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-78064-195-9 (alk. paper)
1. Tourism--Environmental aspects. 2. Garden tours. I. Title.
G156.5.E58B45 2013
338.4'791--dc23
2012049896
ISBN-13: 978 1 78064 195 9
Commissioning editor: Claire Parfitt
Editorial assistant: Alexandra Lainsbury
Production editor: Simon Hill
Typeset by SPi, Pondicherry, India.
Printed and bound by Guttenberg Press, Malta
Contents
Preface vii
1 Introduction 1
2 A History of Garden Tourism 30
3 Gardening and Gardens Today 55
4 A World Garden Survey 80
5 The Multiple Roles of Gardens and the Importance of Indoor Flower Festivals 104
6 Outdoor Garden Festivals 121
7 Managing the Garden 141
8 Tourists to Gardens and Tourists in the Garden: Motivators and Enablers 165
9 Problems and Issues in Gardens Today 192
10 Reflections on the Future of Garden Tourism 218
Bibliography 241
Index 249
v
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Preface
In 1973, as a young undergraduate at the University of Aberdeen, UK, as part of a readings in geography
seminar, we were told by the professor, one of my favorites and one whom I very much respected, that the
Preface of the book we were to read was the most important part of the book. Thus, I think it is with this
book, because it tells the story of my own involvement in gardens and is illustrative of how to secure a
research agenda and have the time of your life in the process.
This particular story begins in late August 1997, when I was about to take up the first tenure-track posi-
tion in tourism at my university. I was sitting outside Longwood Garden, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
(USA), as my wife was inside doing, I presumed, what master gardeners did. I noticed large numbers of tour
buses disgorging huge crowds of visitors into the entrance, and I panicked when I realized I had no data on
garden visitation for the upcoming fall lectures. I called the American Association of Botanic Gardens and
Arboreta (AABGA) to obtain this information and was told by a very helpful director, Nancy Moran, that
no such aggregated data existed, as each garden might or might not have collected its own visitation figures.
Having seen the numbers arriving at Longwood, I realized I needed these data and asked Nancy if she would
help me to obtain such material. She agreed and put me in touch with all the gardens so that I could acquire
this information. I have been collecting these data ever since.
It became apparent fairly early on that not only were there a large number of gardens but also what data there
existed were varied in form, focus, and sophistication. These are problems that still exist today. Thus, for many
years I visited gardens in just about every city, on every continent, collecting photos and data, and I wrote on
gardens, garden visitation, and specific market segments that used gardens. It was a great research agenda. In
2005, I made the big mistake of boasting to a book editor just how important gardens were to tourism: “There
are more visitors to gardens in the USA than to Disneyland and Disneyworld combined and I am the only person
in the USA writing on this.” She coerced me into writing a book. This is the result of those loose lips.
There are a number of themes and disclaimers that need to be detailed for those who read this book
beyond the Preface.
First, this is a book aimed squarely at not only the undergraduate but also, more specifically, the first- or
second-year student. This includes not only university students but also those garden professionals who are
in their early years of business and management, particularly those in the gardens who have expressed many
times their need for such a book. To those in that position, I hope this book meets your needs. There is also
another audience to whom the book is directed. In speaking engagements with garden clubs and other mem-
bers of the general public, I have often been urged to put the historical, current, and future story of garden
visitation all in one volume, for invariably my audiences are interested in garden tourism, as it seems to
vindicate the love they feel for gardens and gardening. For those in the garden club audiences, others I have
yet to address, and all interested garden visitors, I hope this book confirms that you do, indeed, work in and
visit what I consider the best leisure activity and product one can find.
Second, the use of the word “story” above is deliberate. Professor Bret Wallach at the University of
Oklahoma, yet another of those great professors whom I enjoyed learning from and respect greatly, once told
me, as advice on writing a thesis, to “just tell a good story”. It is good advice, especially to those students who
are soon to be thesis and dissertation writers. Unfortunately, none tell a story quite as well as he, but the story
of visitors to gardens is a good one. It deserves to be told in an interesting and fascinating fashion. I have tried
to do that, and hence I eschew academic concepts, terms, and jargon in favor of prose. To those who write
academic texts and theses, particularly those few of us in the tourism field, you have my greatest respect and
thanks; this text owes much to your academic insight, organization, and philosophical grounding for a study
of garden tourism. I owe you all much, even though you may not see your works cited or referenced.
vii
Third, I worked in the tourism industry for many years. I was once told “You may be the best tourism
person ever, but if you cannot read a financial statement, you are useless to us, for without such an appre-
ciation of such issues the company will soon go out of business.” It is similar in garden tourism. I think it
important that students know the cost of a heat exchanger in the basement of a botanic garden when one of
the 19 go out of service and they see where it is reflected in the financial statement, because it is my hope
that many student readers of this book will become executives in the garden tourism sector. In Connecticut,
we teach a course on Operational Tourism. It is one of our most important because it makes our students
much more aware and well rounded. I have repeated this stress on operational tourism herein. Thus, you will
find this book on garden tourism broader than the usual academic text, with examples of financial state-
ments, cost of fixed assets, and the like: unusual, but necessary. In total 9 have tried to provide a written
synthesis of the field of garden tourism.
Fourth, writing this book has made me realize how much there is still to be done. For students and research
professionals, it is a field rich in academic research potential. Moreover, you will find that the subject area
delivers a rich harvest of results for students and garden professionals to get their teeth into. Go to it.
This naturally leads into a fifth area for comment. If, as a researcher, you enter into this field, there can
surely be no nicer, more committed and more professional group to work with than those professionals who
work in gardens. I can think of only one organization that told me they had no interest in what I was doing,
but I cannot count the number who embraced the study and gave me every possible form of assistance they
could. This attitude is perhaps best exemplified by my first contact at the Eden Project (UK), who, after giv-
ing me a wealth of information, much of which other tourism enterprises would consider proprietary, said:
“It’s unlikely you are going to go out and build another Eden 10 miles down the road. Anyway, we in Eden
believe knowledge should be shared, for that is how we as a society advance, not by keeping knowledge a
secret. Anyway, if there were the demand for another Eden 10 miles down the road, then go build it, we need
help educating people about conserving our plants for our children.”
Would that all tourism businesses held such an attitude. This, of course, leads me to thank those who
have made this book a possibility. First on this list should be all the gardens that unstintingly gave of their
time, resources, and opinions to make this book possible. They are too numerous to mention, but they
know who they are and you will see many of them mentioned in the book. There are a number who deserve
special mention, for they really went above and beyond. They include Karl Lauby (now retired) and Nick
Leshi at the New York Botanical Garden, Sabina Carr and Mary Pat Matheson at the Atlanta Botanical
Garden, Sharon Cybart at Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Susan Lacerte at Queens Botanical Garden, and Janal
Anderson at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in Pasadena. Also in Pasadena, Tim Estes of Fiesta Parade
Floats gave me a personal tour of the float warehouses used in building the Rose Parade floats. Mike
Maunder and Caroline Lewis, both formerly at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables,
Florida, deserve special recognition, not only for their assistance to me but also, as you will see, they are
doing remarkable things in the community, notwithstanding the slap in the face the garden received when
30 of the world’ rarest cycads were stolen from Fairchild one weekend. Gloria Ciaccio at Chicago Botanic
Garden was a lot of fun to work with and all at Chicago and neighbor, the Morton Arboretum, gave freely
of all they had to offer, particularly Gerry Donnelly, who, as a “Director of a Large Garden”, cleared the
way for much of Chapter 7. Paul Redman and Colvin Randall at Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania, were
very kind and helpful; even though, at the start of our meeting, I told them their garden was ultimately
responsible for this book. Jim Charlier, of the Garden Walk Buffalo, started out as a source of great knowledge
and insight and became a firm friend. Heather Suetter and Rob Smyth at Edmonton’s Muttart Conservatory
gave freely of their time and financial data.
Overseas (from the USA), Jane Tarran at the University of Technology in Sydney and Janelle Hathaway
and Pauline Markwell at the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia, were so gracious
with their time and resources – it is easy to see why they are one of the world’s most popular gardens. If you
ever go to South Africa, go to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town. Most will see only,
arguably, the most spectacular garden setting in the world and not have the benefit of meeting Brian Huntley,
Augustine Morkel, Phillip Leroux, and all Phil’s staff; that is unfortunate. They are doing remarkable things
that are well worth listening to. In Durban, Donal McCracken was most helpful and served a great lunch,
and Chris Dalzell, formerly at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, gave a great garden tour with remarkable
viii Preface
garden knowledge. In Pretoria, Maano Netshiombo gave freely of his time, data and expertise. In Amsterdam,
the Netherlands, Adrienne Landsbergen at the Aalsmeer Flower Auction was most helpful, even at 5:30 in
the morning, when the auction was already in full flow! Other gardens in Frankfurt and Munich, Germany,
and Padua, Italy, were also very generous with their time and expertise.
In the UK, I give thanks to Andy Jasper at the Eden Project and add thanks to Dorothy Fox at the
University of Bournemouth and Jo Connell at the University of Exeter. Dorothy has written, I believe,
the seminal work on garden management for tourism and Joanne once told me she wrote on gardens no
more as she could “slice the ham no thinner”. Pity, because the ham she did give us was remarkable in its
innovation, insight, and information. Sam Butler at Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Minelle Rogers at Down
House, and Sally Bennett at Hestercombe Gardens were very helpful in discussing the remarkable manage-
ment strategies they pursued in their respective gardens and in providing information, often doing so by
coming in to the office even before the gardens were open. Sam and Minelle were with the National Trust
and English Heritage, respectively, and they were just two of a large number of excellent site managers from
both organizations who gave freely of their time, data, and expertise. Mike MacCormack at Stourhead
should be foremost among those site managers. In London, in an office next to Kew, Julia Willison and Sarah
Kneebone at Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) (Sarah is now at the new garden in
Muscat, Oman) were both of inestimable help, especially on world gardens, and their organization should
be looked at immediately on the web and marveled at for the wonderful work they are doing.
Finally, thanks go to Claire Parfitt and her colleague, Alexandra Lainsbury, at CAB International. They
inherited a lazy and tardy author whom they have had to cajole and encourage, while maintaining remark-
ably level heads during the publication process. Thanks also go to Chris McEnnerney for copy-editing the
manuscript, and to Kim Farrington and Savah Marek who edited the proofs.
This book is dedicated to my two children, Elizabeth and David, who I hope will reap the benefits of this
work in the form of a greater understanding of the value of gardens and visitors to gardens. I hope the book
will lead to greater knowledge and awareness of the role gardens play and thus, ultimately, to the conserva-
tion of our plant heritage.
Preface ix