ABSTRACT
Long admired for their inherent beauty and tranquillity, gardens have become increasingly popular and widely visited tourist attractions making this leisure pursuit one of the protagonists of contemporary tourism. According to Benfield (2013) there are more than 300 million garden visitors worldwide. Portugal is also part of this phenomenon thanks to its wealth of gardens, particularly historic gardens. Visitors to Portuguese botanical gardens already number more than one million and it is believed that around 4 million people are likely to visit gardens. However, very little is known about this expanding tourist segment.
In order to contribute to the knowledge and discussion about the recreational and tourist dimension of Portuguese historic gardens a survey questionnaire was applied to visitors of three gardens. This chapter explores those findings and presents the socioeconomic and demographic profile of a total of 666 visitors, as well as their interests, motivations, visiting habits and behaviours. Attention is drawn to the differences between gardens and types of visitors and the significance of the evidence for their strategic management.
