PROGRESS OF TOURISM INTERPRETATION AT HOME AND ABROAD
WANG Jing1,2, ZHONG Lin-sheng1, CHEN Tian1
1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China;
2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Abstract In recent years, tourism interpretation has gradually become an indispensable part of scenic spots; however, its researches lag far behind the widespread appliance. This paper searched for the international and domestic studies related and concluded the main researches frame. This paper separately reviewed the researches history of inside and outside China. International studies originated from interpretation practice during 1950s when stuff in National Parks attempted to interpret natural resources to tourists. In this thesis were six main subjects including conceptual identity, interpretation media, case design, interpretation system evaluation, interpretation in emerging tourism styles and interdisciplinary theories. Researchers failed to find out the best media for all in 1970s, so modern studies inclined to take advantage of every kind of media and construct a complete interpretation system containing attended service and unattended service. Recently, a lot of attention has been paid to the case design and interpretation system evaluation, especially in China. However, the both main subjects had its weakness in domestic studies. Case design focus too much on a specific scenic spot, lacking of design theories basis and general adaptability. Interpretation system evaluation could divide into three parts, evaluation methods, tourist preference and demand, and comprehensive evaluation, among which, the second one was the hot spot. Interpretation in emerging tourism styles and interdisciplinary theories has been concerned a great deal by international researchers, especially the former one which may require some interpretation different from the traditional tourism. At last, this paper also gave a comparison between international and domestic researches based on subjects, theories, data sources, and analysis methods, leading to the conclusion that the international researches has entered into a relatively mature stage and there are many aspects to improve in the domestic researches.
2015, Vol. 30 
