Tourist Perspectives on Agricultural Heritage Interpretation—A Case Study of the Qingtian Rice-Fish System

Mingming Su, Menghan Wang, Yehong Sun () and Ying Wang
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Mingming Su: School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Menghan Wang: School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Yehong Sun: Tourism College, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100101, China
Ying Wang: Tourism College, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100101, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-15

Abstract: The interpretation of an agricultural heritage system significantly affects the communication and connection between tourists and heritage sites. Taking the rice-fish system at Qingtian as an example, this study applies field investigations, a tourist questionnaire survey, and face-to-face in-depth interviews to explore agricultural heritage interpretation through the gaze of tourists. A two-dimensional framework integrating interpretation contents and forms for agricultural heritage systems is developed and adopted to guide the analysis. Research results show that tourists’ overall recognition of agricultural heritage features of the Qingtian rice-fish system is not high. Regarding interpretation contents, the rice-fish agricultural landscape, traditional cuisine, and biodiversity exhibit higher awareness. Compared to the static and interactive interpretations, participatory interpretations demonstrated high effectiveness in enhancing visitors’ understanding of agricultural heritage systems, thus raising tourist awareness for heritage conservation. Considering the high potential and the current low level of heritage interpretation, theoretical and managerial implications are then discussed to enhance agricultural heritage interpretations in both content and form to support the conservation and sustainable development of such dynamic agricultural heritage systems.

Keywords: heritage interpretation; agricultural heritage system; tourist perception; Qingtian rice-fish system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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