Botanic Garden visitation hits seven-year high

Adelaide Botanic Garden has welcomed more than one million visitors through its gates for the first time since the 2015/16 financial year.

During the last financial year (2022/23), the number of visitors to the Garden totalled 1,319,379, representing the highest visitation figure in the past seven years.

The increased visitation to the Garden shows that the much-loved CBD site is increasingly becoming a go-to destination for both locals and tourists alike.

Improved visitation numbers can be attributed to the following:

• The Garden's exquisite and interesting living plant collection.
• A compelling public programs calendar, including major art installations and exhibitions such as Light Cycles, Resonate, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Seeing the Invisible, and botanical marvels such as the Titan Arum (Corpse Flower) bloom.
• School holiday initiatives such as the Tiny Summer program and the Australian debut of DinoFest has also driven significant attendance.

The Garden has also positioned itself as a dynamic and versatile festival venue - hosting events for the Adelaide Festival, Adelaide Fringe, Nature Festival and History Festival.

Favourable weather conditions and the end of COVID-19 restrictions have also encouraged visitors to get out in nature and spend time in the Garden.

Quotes attributable to Deputy Premier, Dr Susan Close

It's fantastic to see visitors from South Australia and beyond making important connections to nature, the arts and science within Adelaide Botanic Garden in such large numbers.

There really is something for everyone at the Garden and the large increase in visitation numbers is proof of that.

Quotes attributable to Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium Director, Mr Michael Harvey

We're constantly looking for ways to improve our visitors' experience and we want people to not only enjoy the garden itself but also learn from it and appreciate both its ecological and cultural significance to our state.

These numbers are a testament to not only our staff and volunteers, who do all they can to maintain the Garden's beauty, but also to the people of South Australia who have voted with their feet to visit and support the Garden.

Whole-of-year visitation figures for previous eight financial years at Adelaide Botanic Garden are as follows:

2015/16: 1,378,862
2016/17: 1,152,419
2017/18: 944,340
2018/19: 915,000
2019/20: 835,000
2020/21: 696,600
2021/22: 892,200
2022/23: 1,319,379