Introduction
As interest in gardens has increased in South Korea, local festivals with the theme of flowers and gardens have been increasing, which are belong to garden tourism. Benfield (2013) mentioned that most people did not recognize on garden tourism yet though they enjoyed it in many different tourism places such as heritages, museums, resorts, etc. The origin of garden festivals almost certainly traces back to the development of parks in the UK in the 18th century and it was followed by the city beautiful movement, and also the visitation to stately homes in the latter part of the 19th century, early 20th century and the inter-war years (Law, 1992; Theokas, 2004). In the UK, it was not until the early 1980s that garden festivals became major features of garden tourism, and the festivals quickly succeeded in attracting many visitors to the venues though the new Tory government in 1980 regarded them as urban revitalization projects rather than tourism generators (Benfield, 2013). Law (1992) pointed out that such garden festivals can contribute to accelerating the revitalization of derelict land, generating economic income, enhancing the image of the areas and creating jobs. The number of small and large-scale flower or garden festivals has significantly increased around the world, which can be attributed to people’s perception that the festivals held in the UK were practically successful, and brought about meaningful and continuous benefits to the tourism industry (Benfield, 2013; LipovskLipovská. 2013). In South Korea, a number of flower exhibitions, garden shows, and flower festivals with the theme of rose or chrysanthemum have been continuously held in places like urban parks, amusement parks and city squares.
Recently, many local festivals have been held on the theme of various flowers in rural areas, and the government and local governments support these local festivals. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) in South Korea has operated the landscape conservation debit system since 2005 (MAFRA, 2019), and the purposes of the system are to beautifully create, maintain and enhance the landscape of rural areas through activities of cultivating landscape crops with local specialty and conserving the landscape of villages, and to promote the growth of local economy by linking them with local festivals, rural tourism and urban-rural exchanges. The beneficiaries of the system include farmers and agricultural corporations registered to grow landscape crops in farmlands being subject to a landscape conservation subsidy. The support is provided for any farmland with a planting area for landscape crop grouped by village (district) and lot (grouped by over 2 ha for landscape crops and 10 ha for quasi-landscape crops); the supporting unit cost is 1.7 million KRW (1,457 USD)/ha for landscape crops and 1 million KRW (857 USD)/ha for quasi-landscape crops. For activities of conserving the landscape of villages, 150,000 KRW (129 USD)/ha is supported. The support is covered by the central government (50%) and local governments (50%), and the entities of implementation include mayor or governor, and the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service. Landscape crops include leaf mustard, Siberian chrysanthemum, chrysanthemum, Iceland poppy, prunella spike, evening primrose, lavender, buckwheat, rape, Chinese milk-vetch, cosmos, sunflower, hairy vetch, mother chrysanthemum, gypsophila, catchfly, crape myrtle and goutweed. The total enforced area in 2018 was 11,462 ha, and the budget was 9.320 billion KRW (7.97 million USD). A total of 577 villages were supported.
To sustain and enhance local festivals, it is necessary to differentiate them from other local festivals and assess the visitors’ motives and satisfaction in order to maintain a high revisit rate (Crompton and McKay, 1997; Ko et al., 2012). Visitors’ intention to revisit is related to their satisfaction of visits and also their satisfaction of visits is related to their motives (Ahn and Kim, 2009; Chu et al., 2018; Kim and Huh, 2019). Motives cause behaviors, serving as an important factor in determining choices (Ahn and Kim, 2009). Since tourists choose tourist destinations and types of travel in order to meet their needs, it is important to identify the motives of tourists not only to increase their satisfaction, but also to predict their behaviors in the future (Yuan et al., 2005). Thus, as a part of studies to sustain and enhance local flower festivals as a garden tourism, this study assessed the socio-demographic background, awareness, motives, behavior, satisfaction, and intention to revisit of visitors at Hadong Bukcheon Iceland Poppy(BIP) Festival. As garden tourism was still in the beginning compared to other tourisms, the assessment was focused on descriptive statistical analysis to show the characteristics of visitors instead of the theories of tourism, which might have more impact at the moment that there were a small number of studies in garden tourism.
Research Methods
Site selection
To analyze the characteristics of visitors of local festivals held on the theme of flowers and gardens, BIP Festival in Hadong County was selected. Hadong is located in the westernmost part of South Gyeongsang Province in the southern region of Korean peninsula, and is bordered with Jiri Mountain to the north, and Hallyeo Haesang National Park in the southern sea to the south. The area of the county is 675.23 km2, and its population is 48,083 as of May, 2018 (Hadong County, 2019b). Bukcheon Township is located in the foot of Jiri Mountain, and large-size cosmos colonies and buckwheat flower colonies were created, having beautiful natural landscapes. As these places became famous, cosmos and buckwheat flower festivals started to be held from 2007. Hadong has held the BIP Festival since 2015 with the aim of continuously reinforcing the festivals, and promoting the place as a tourist attraction for spring flowers. The festival has been held in the land of 25 ha in Jikjeon Village, Bukcheon Township (35°06′49.9″N 127°53′35.2″E) along Route 2 that crosses Hadong County from the middle of May to the end of May every year (Hadong County, 2019a). During the festival in 2018, red Iceland poppy flowers were blooming to the north (25 ha), centering around the flower complex located in Jikjeon Village, Bukcheon Township, and other species of flowers including China pink (0.1 ha), cornflower (0.1ha), California poppy (0.1ha), gypsophila (0.1ha), Italian poppy (0.1ha), and lotus (0.1ha) were blooming to the south. Additionally, a trail of Iceland poppy (total length, 9.5 km) was created along the national road and railroads, and Iceland poppy flowers was also planted in areas near Bukcheon Station and Rail Bike Station (2.4 ha). Out of the total budget for the festival in 2018, 70 million KRW (60,319 USD) was spent for labor costs and subsidies for creating flower gardens, weeding, and complementary planting, 60 million KRW (51,702 USD) for supporting the festival, and 30 million KRW (25,851 USD) for other costs such as printed materials for promotion and insurance. The total cost was covered by the county. The Cosmos and Buckwheat Farming Association Corporation hosted and supervised the BIP Festival, and it was held for 10 days from May 18 to 27, 2018. The entrance or admission fees were free.
Subjects and questionnaire design
Subjects were selected among visitors who consented to participate in the survey at the festival in 2018. The questionnaire was designed to analyze the socio-demographic background, awareness, motives, behavior, satisfaction, and intention to revisit as shown in Table 1 (Ahn and Kim, 2009; Hong and Min, 2017; Kim et al., 2008; Lee and Yang, 2003; Son et al., 2009). About their socio-demographic background section in the questionnaire, seven questions were included as follows: gender, age, education, vocation, residence, preferred destination for tourism, and frequency of visits to festivals (Kim and Huh, 2016; Kim et al., 2008), and about their awareness of the festival, four questions were included as follows: experience of visits, awareness before visiting the festival, source of information on the festival and importance of the festival (Ahn and Kim, 2009; Hong and Min, 2017; Kim et al., 2008). Only one question about their motive for visits was included, but the following choices were presented: enjoying oneself (tranquility, mental rest, etc.); appreciating Iceland poppy and gardens; spending quality time with family or friends; enjoying staying outdoors/in nature; learning about plants, environment, etc.; and experiencing local culture, special products, etc. (Ballantyne et al., 2008; Connell, 2004; Connell and Meyer, 2004; Lee et al., 2012; Son et al., 2009). Subjects were allowed to select two out of the six choices (Lee and Lim, 2018). About their behaviors of visits, four questions were included as follows: transportation, companion, time spent watching the festival, and time to stay in Hadong County (Kim et al., 2008). About the satisfaction and intention to revisit of the festival, earlier studies including Ahn and Kim (2009), Hong and Min (2017), Kim et al. (2008), Lee (2017), Lee and Yang (2003), and Park (2001) were reviewed, and 21 questions about the satisfaction were designed as follows: festival itself; rest and convenience facilities; sanitation and cleanliness; public relations and information; accessibility. About the intention to revisit, two questions were included as follows: intention to revisit the festival next year and intention to recommend the festival to others. A 5-point Likert scale was used to evaluate the satisfaction and intention to revisit (strongly agree = 5, strongly disagree = 1).
Survey and analysis
The survey was conducted on visitors on site by those who were trained in advance from May 18 to 27, 2018, and respondents were instructed to answer the questionnaire using the self-administered method. A total of 180 responses were collected, and 167 responses were analyzed with those that lacked reliability excluded. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics ver. 24, and frequency analysis was carried out on their socio-demographic background, awareness, motives and behaviors. About their satisfaction and intention to revisit, reliability analysis and descriptive statistical analysis were performed (Kim and Huh, 2016; Kim and Huh, 2019; Lee and Lim, 2018).
Results and Discussion
Socio-demographic background
Females and males accounted for 63.0% and 37.0% respectively (Table 2). The share of those in their 50s was the highest (31.9%), followed by those in their 40s (28.3%), and those in their 30s (18.1%). The share of those in their 60s or older was relatively low (7.8%). In an earlier study that analyzed the characteristics of visitors to the Gwacheon Flower Show, female respondents accounted for 71.2%, while the share of those in their 50s or older and in their 30s and 40s was 20.9% and 61.3% respectively (Son et al., 2009). Lee et al., (2012) analyzed the characteristics of visitors to the Taiwan Flower Exhibition, and reported that females accounted for 67.5%, and those in their 50s or older, and in their 20s or younger accounted for 5.2% and 57.8% respectively (Lee et al., 2012). Ruth Diamond Market Research reported that 82% of the visitors to the Garden Walk Buffalo in 2011 were females, and that the median age of visitors was 55.5 (Benfield, 2013). These results show that the share of female visitors to local flower or garden festivals is higher than that of male visitors, and that the share of those in their 40s and 50s is relatively high.
In terms of educational background, those who were college or university graduates, and graduate school graduates accounted for 53.3% and 16.2% respectively, showing a high level of educational background. Among those who visited the Goyang World Flower Exhibition in 2017, those who were college or university graduates, and graduate school graduates accounted for 61.6% and 15.2% respectively (Lee, 2017). Similar results were observed in other local festivals (Ahn and Kim, 2009; Benfield, 2013). Meanwhile, the share of company employee/civil servant was the highest (38.9%), followed by housewife (15.6%), and professional/management (13.8%). Lee (2017) and Son et al. (2009) also showed similar results, which indicates that many visitors were included in the white-collar group.
Connell (2004) reported that the demographic profile of visitors to gardens in the UK was correlated with that of visitors to the Chelsea Flower Show, and that they tended to be included in the white-collar group. Out of the respondents, 72.9% lived in other cities or counties in South Gyeongsang Province, and 13.3% lived in other provinces. Ahn and Kim (2009) and Cheon (2018) also reported that most visitors were found to live in communities near festivals, and that some were from Seoul or Gyeonggi Province. Most of the visitors (about 300,000) to the Azalea Festival held in Muskogee, Oklahoma, the United States were found to live in communities within up to 3 hours’ distance from Muskogee, and that at least 10% were assumed to come from other states (Benfield, 2013). This also shows that most of the visitors live in communities near the festival. The most preferred type of festivals was ecological and nature festivals (45.1%), followed by festivals of local specialties (27.4%), and culture and arts (15.2%), which indicates that visitors preferred local festivals that feature the unique natural and cultural characteristics of regions. In terms of the frequency of visits, the share of those who visited 3 times a year was the highest (34.2%), followed by 2 times a year (21.7%), and 5 times a year (16.1%). Most of the surveyed visitors tended to visit festivals at 2–3 times a year.
Awareness of BIP Festival
Out of the surveyed respondents, 52.1% were return visitors (Table 3). The return visitors to the Jeju Eulalia Festival in 2006 accounted for 46.9% (Kim et al., 2008), those to the Hampyong Butterfly Festival in 2008, 79.3% (Hong and Min, 2017), and those to the Wondong Maehwa Festival in 2018, 50.8% (Lee et al., 2018). The share of return visitors to the Garden Walk Buffalo in 2011 accounted for 59% (Benfield, 2013). The rate of revisits was good for local festivals. Out of 80 respondents who visited the festival for the first time, 42.5% answered that they were aware that the festival had been held from 2015 to 2017. When the results were combined, the share of those who were aware of the festival was 72.5%.
In terms of information sources, people around respondents including family members, friends and colleagues accounted for 37.1%, the Internet including homepage, 28.7%, and banner/advertising tower, 13.8%. The importance of newspaper/magazine (1.8%) and TV/radio (9.6%) as an information source was low, which might be attributed to their high costs and decreasing impact. Other related studies also reported that the share of those who obtained information on festivals from people around respondents was very high, and that the importance of the Internet and SNSs is relatively higher than newspaper/magazine or TV/radio (Ahn and Kim, 2009; Kim et al., 2008; Lee et al., 2018). This suggests that the improvement of satisfaction and intention to revisit should be given priority to produce the positive information sources, and that the share of the Internet or Social media needs to be increased. To the question about the importance of the festival, 77.7% answered that this festival was the most important destination of their trip. Out of the visitors to the Jeju Eulalia Festival in 2006, 9.8% answered that visiting the festival was the first purpose of their trip (Kim et al., 2008). In addition, 48.7% of the surveyed respondents in the Yangyang Song-i Festival answered that visiting the festival was the first purpose of their trip (Ahn and Kim, 2009). These results show that BIP Festival was an important tourist destination that attracted visitors.
Motives and behaviors of visitors
As the first motive for visiting the festival, “spending quality time with family or friends” accounted for the highest share (38.8%), followed by “enjoying oneself (28.5%)” and “appreciating Iceland Poppy and gardens (23.6%; Table 4).” As the second motive, “spending quality time with family or friends” accounted for the highest share (28.6%), followed by “appreciating Iceland Poppy and gardens (27.9%)” and “experiencing local culture, special products, etc. (17.1%).” The overall share of “spending quality time with family or friends (34.1%),” “appreciating Iceland Poppy and gardens (25.6%)” and “enjoying oneself (21.3%)” was high. The result indicates that these motives are major for visiting BIP Festival, and is similar to the motives for visiting gardens surveyed in earlier studies. Connell and Meyer (2004) reported that the major motives for visiting gardens included “admiration of gardens’ scenery and ambience” and “pleasure in being outdoors,” and Ballantyne et al. (2008) revealed that the most important reasons given for visiting the botanic gardens were “to enjoy oneself,” “to admire the garden’s scenery,” “to spend quality time with family or friends” and “to enjoy being outdoors/in nature.”
To the question about transportation, 90.4% of respondents answered they visited the festival by car, and 9.6% answered they used trains, which shows the behaviors of visitors to visit local festivals or means that it is difficult to access BIP Festival by public transportation(Table 5). As a companion, family and friends/colleagues accounted for 62.3% and 26.3% respectively, and visiting alone accounted for 5.4%. Those who visited the Jeju Eulalia festival with family and friends accounted for 50.5% and 22.2% respectively (Kim et al., 2008). In South Gyeongsang Province, Kim and Huh (2019) surveyed the motives of people for visiting gardens and revealed that the number of those who answered they preferred family members as a companion was the highest (43.6%), followed by those who answered they preferred friends/colleagues (24.3%) and loved one (23.8%). Meanwhile, Connell (2004) reported that those who visited English gardens with partners, family and alone accounted for 46.1%, 28.2%, and 14.2% respectively. The share of those who visited the festival with family and friends/colleagues was high in this study, which seems to be related to the motives for visiting the festival (Table 4). In terms of the time spent watching the festival, the share of 2 hours was the highest (33.1%), followed by 1 hour (31.3%), and 3 hours (19.9%). In terms of the time to stay in Hadong County, a quarter of a day (1/4 day) and half a day (1/2 day) accounted for 56.0% and 24.7% respectively, showing a high share. Those who stayed for 1 day or longer including accommodation accounted for 9.0%. Meanwhile, 28.4% of the visitors to the Jeju Eulalia Festival were found to stay at the festival for 1–2 hours, and 46.3% stayed in Jeju for 3 days and 2 nights (Kim et al., 2008). The results of this study indicate that most of the visitors to BIP Festival came from other cities or counties close to Hadong County; the festival was the most important tourist destination for them; and they left Hadong County by using their own car after watching the festival for about 1–2 hours.
Visitors’ satisfaction and intention to revisit
Based on earlier studies, the visitors’ satisfaction was divided into several factors (Ahn and Kim, 2009; Hong and Min, 2017; Kim et al., 2008; Lee, 2017; Lee and Yang, 2003; Park, 2001), and the reliability was analyzed. As shown in Table 6, the Cronbach’s α values were between .759 and .938, which was an acceptable level (Lee and Lim, 2018). In terms of the satisfaction of the festival itself, the mean value of “display and maintenance of Iceland Poppy” was 3.76, and “easiness of viewing (places arrangement, path, etc.)” was 3.57, showing a relatively high level. The mean value of “hands-on experience programs” and “variety, quality and price of food (meals and drinks)” was 3.16 respectively, showing a relatively low level. The mean value of “the overall festival displays, programs, operations, etc.” was 3.32. To encourage people to revisit the festival, their needs have to be satisfied, and to do so it is essential to identify their motives (Ahn and Kim, 2009; Lee et al., 2018). “Appreciating Iceland Poppy and gardens” was one of the major motives of visitors (Table 4), and it can be said that visitors’ satisfaction of “display and maintenance of Iceland Poppy” and “easiness of viewing” significantly affect visitors’ intention to revisit the festival.
The overall satisfaction of rest and convenience facilities was “fair,” and the mean value of “facilities for the elderly, expectant mothers or disabled” was 2.98, and “facilities for children” was 3.05, showing a relatively low level. In terms of sanitation and cleanliness, the mean value of “sanitation and cleanliness of toilets, drinking fountains, etc.” and “management of garbage cans and trash” was 3.36 respectively, and that of “overall cleanliness in and around festival place” was 3.49. As Lee (2017) said that the overall satisfaction of visitors is affected by facilities, and spaces for rest, etc., visitors’ satisfaction of “sanitation and cleanliness” and “rest and convenience facilities” is expected to affect their overall satisfaction.
In terms of public relations and information for visitors, the mean value of “services and hospitality of guides and desk clerks” was relatively high (3.66), and that of “site maps and facilities for giving information” was 3.53. The mean value of “Promotion and information through internet, etc. before visit” was 3.48, slightly lower than those of the rest two variables. Earlier studies including Lee (2017), Lee (2015) and Lee et al. (2018) pointed out that it is necessary to provide systems and services of guides and docents that can give the overall information on the festival to visitors in order to increase visitors’ satisfaction and intention to revisit of the festival, which indicates that visitors’ satisfaction of “service and hospitality of guides and desk clerks ” significantly affects their satisfaction of the festival itself, and their intention to revisit of the festival. In terms of accessibility, the mean value of “from home to the festival place” was 3.71; that of “from Hadong County to the festival place,” 3.51, and that of “around the festival place/parking lots,” 3.59. Although visitors’ overall satisfaction of accessibility was good, it is still necessary to consider the fact that most of the visitors used their own car (Table 5).
The overall level of visitors’ satisfaction shows that the satisfaction of scales related to “appreciating Iceland poppy and gardens,” one of the important motives, including “display and maintenance of Iceland Poppy” and “easiness of viewing,” was relatively the highest. In additions, their satisfaction of “service and hospitality of guides and desk clerks” that significantly affects visitors’ intention to revisit was high (Lee, 2015; Lee et al., 2018), but the overall satisfaction of rest and convenience facilities was low (Lee, 2017). Visitors’ satisfaction affects their intention to revisit (Kim and Huh, 2019), and the mean value of “intention to visit the festival next year” was 3.73, and that of “intention to recommend the festival to others” was 3.80, showing an affirmative intention. These results, although it would be difficult to identify clearly, show that factors related not only to “appreciating Iceland poppy and gardens” but also to “spending quality time with family or friends,” the major motives, achieved a high level of satisfaction (Ahn and Kim, 2009; Kim et al., 2008).
Conclusion
The number of local flower festivals as a garden tourism has been on the rise and the government and local governments in South Korea have supported these festivals to enhance the landscape of rural areas, to connect it with local festivals, rural tourism and urban-rural exchanges, and to vitalize local economy. Sustainability is essential to vitalize the local festivals and can be secured by increasing the rate of revisits. As a part of studies on garden tourism, this study was conducted to assess the characteristics of visitors to the Hadong Bukcheon Iceland Poppy Festival (BIP). In the results, the share of female visitors, and those in their 40s and 50s was high, and their educational background was found to be high. Many visitors tended to be included in the white-collar group, and visitors mostly lived in other cities or counties near the area where BIP Festival was held. Most of the surveyed visitors preferred festivals held on the theme of nature and local features, and tended to visit festivals at 2–3 times a year. Their revisit rate and awareness of BIP Festival were 52.1% and 72.5% respectively. They mostly obtained information on the festival from people around them including family members, friends and colleagues, or the Internet. Most answered that this festival was the most important destination. Their major motives included “spending quality time with family or friends (34.1%),” “appreciating Iceland Poppy and gardens (25.6%)” and “enjoying oneself (21.3%).” In addition, 90.4% of the surveyed respondents answered they visited the festival by car. As a companion, family and friends/colleagues accounted for 62.3% and 26.3% respectively, and most of the surveyed respondents were found to watch BIP Festival for 1–2 hours, and stayed in Hadong County for a quarter of a day. Visitors’ satisfaction of the festival itself, particularly, “display and maintenance of Iceland Poppy” and “easiness of viewing,” was high, and their satisfaction of “service and hospitality of guides and desk clerks” in terms of public relations and information was high. Although their satisfaction of rest and convenience facilities was relatively low, their overall satisfaction of factors related to major motives for visiting was high. In terms of visitors’ intention to revisit, the mean value of “intention to visit the festival next year” and “intention to recommend the festival to others” was 3.73 and 3.80 respectively, showing an affirmative intention. Lastly, this flower festival as a garden tourism was found to give visitors a relatively high level of satisfaction related to major motives of visit, and as the rate of revisits shows, this seemed to make them highly intend to revisit the festival. As a result, garden tourism such as outdoor flower festivals should be considered to enhance the landscape of rural areas, to be connected with local festivals, rural tourism and urban-rural exchanges, and to vitalize local economy.
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