What attracts tourists to press the shutter in cultural heritage tourism? An analysis of visitor-employed photography and visual attributes: a case study on Japan’s Kairakuen Garden

Tourism behaviour in cultural heritage gardens presents opportunities and challenges for sustainable management. Understanding visitor perceptions and assessments of visual resources in cultural heritage gardens are of great interest to heritage site managers. Using a case study of the Kairakuen Garden in Japan, we collected images (N = 430) and geographic data of tourist photos in the heritage garden through visitor-employed photography technology to analyse what hotspots attract tourists to take photos. We also evaluated the visual attributes of photo hotspots using a questionnaire. The results reveal that the most common elements in tourist images were plant landscapes and human-made structures and that the 12 photo hotspots of the Kairakuen Garden were placed along the officially recommended tour routes, indicating that tourists identify the officially approved scenery. Furthermore, there are four main hotspot areas; they received significant different visual attributes assessments in 'scenic beauty', 'complexity', 'mystery', and 'diversity'. Based on these findings, it is possible to understand tourists' visual perceptions and preferences and to make recommendations for the management of the Kairakuen Garden and other cultural heritage gardens.