'Good things come to those who wait': Sustainable tourism and timed entry at Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Kent

For the last ten years tourism literature has been dominated by the use of the concept of sustainability as a means by which tourism growth might be examined, evaluated and managed. However, there has been little work produced on the limits of use that this concept must, by definition, set. It is the purpose of this paper to present a case study from Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent, England, where the management has set limits of visitation based on an intuitive knowledge of what is sustainable both physically and perceptually. A recent visitor survey shows that the limits to visitation have a beneficial effect on the long-term marketing and, thus, the commercial viability of the garden. It concludes that, in this case, some form of control was more effective than management by self-regulation.