A New Approach to the Interpretation of Geotourism Texts

Abstract The importance given to geotourism reflects public awareness of the urgency of environmental conservation that includes geomorphological, ecological, and cultural knowledge. The recent growth of geotourism has increased the demand for high-quality geotourism interpretation to ensure accurate data communication. Nonetheless, the lack of systematic theoretical guidance has meant interpreters frequently resort to haphazard and ineffective interpretation strategies. Therefore, to enhance interpretation, (Geoheritage 14:1-24, 2022b, Geoheritage 14:1-20, 2022c and J Sustain Tourism 2024) established the S emantic, S tyle and C ultural (SSC) equivalence Model and the taxonomy of geotourism interpretation strategies (hereafter, Taxonomy) based on a corpus-based method and the theoretical framework of Hu’s (Perspectives 11:283-291, 2003) Eco-Translatology. Since this research is so recent it remains untested in the field. This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of these models using new geotourism data concerning Abiotic, Biotic and Cultural elements from three Chinese UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGps)—Fangshan, Xiangxi, and Mount Kunlun, the corpus-based method and Eco-Translatology. Quantitative and qualitative analysis findings support the validity of both the SSC Model and the Taxonomy. Firstly, we found that most of the geotourism interpretation strategies employed to interpret geodata were derived from the Taxonomy in alignment with principles of Eco-Translatology to attain the SSC equivalence. Secondly, with the new data, we were able to find usage patterns that were previously missing in Li et al.’s (Geoheritage 14:1-24, 2022b; J Sustain Tourism 2024) Taxonomy. Thirdly, we identified a completely new strategy used in interpreting geological processes. Finally, this paper further illustrated how potentially ineffective geotourism interpretations can be optimised by effective interpretation strategies from Li et al.’s Taxonomy (Geoheritage 14:1-24, 2022b; J Sustain Tourism 2024 to achieve SSC equivalence.