Effective Principles of Culinary Heritage Tourism Interpretation

Culinary heritage tourism has not received a lot of attention in research, with limited studies from the supply side (i.e., the perspectives of culinary heritage owners and operators). Past interpretation research also focused more on tangible rather than intangible heritage. This study aims to identify the effective principles of interpretation for culinary heritage tourism from the perspective of consumers and suppliers. The principles of heritage interpretation were drawn from past literature to set the ground for comparative analysis, so as to develop a comprehensive framework for culinary heritage tourism interpretation. Using an inductive approach, participant observation of 9 culinary heritage workshops and in-depth interviews with 30 participants and heritage owners/operators were conducted. Five themes of effective interpretation were identified for each group. Participants preferred interpretation that (i) Personalize with heritage owners; (ii) Facilitate post-event sharing; (iii) Assure hands-on experience; (iv) Showcase all possible traditions; (v) Extend to the environment. On the other hand, owners/operators designed interpretation that (i) Connect heritage owners; (ii) Innovate pre-event warm-up; (iii) Facilitate private sharing moment; (iv) Showcase holistic content; (v) Inspire to revitalize