Profiling Visitors of Four Selected Urban Green Spaces in the City of Tshwane

Abstract

Urban green spaces are important to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants. This exploratory research intends to provide a profile of visitors to four selected urban green spaces (i.e. botanical garden, zoo, nature reserve, and bird park) in the City of Tshwane (South Africa). Visitor motivation, environmental awareness subjective well-being, and revisit intention were investigated. Purposive sampling was used to collect primary data by distributing questionnaires at these spaces during January to February 2020. A sample of 392 questionnaires was obtained. Using descriptive statistics, a visitor profile for the selected urban green spaces was created. Results indicated that the majority of visitors are female and in different age categories. Visitors are mostly higher educated and reside in Gauteng province. Results revealed that rest and relaxation/escape and pleasure seeking/activities ranked the highest for visitor motivation. For environmental awareness, learning/action and commitment ranked high. More attention on environmental awareness is imperative for sustainable urban green spaces. The visitors agreed that their quality of life and general well-being improved after a visit. All visitors agreed to revisit these spaces. Tourism managers may use the information to promote the benefits experienced by visiting urban green spaces.