LAUSR

ABSTRACT Similar to UNESCO’s World Heritage Site (WHS), the FAO’s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) certification has the potential to draw large numbers of tourists. In the literature, however, there has been no comprehensive assessment of the GIAHS’s contribution to rural development through tourism in comparison to WHSs. Thus, this study compares official documents between WHSs and GIAHSs. Specifically, a comparative analysis was made on their definitions, selection criteria and monitoring, and the official description of actual sites that are designated by both schemes. Through the comparison, some implications are made for rural development through tourism. First, the utilization of local resources as tourist attractions is easier in WHSs than in GIAHSs. Whereas the properties are well defined in WHSs, GIAHSs have abstract aspects. Thus, GIAHS local communities need more creative strategies to characterize their features. Second, in rural areas where handicrafts are made for souvenirs, it is popular to use WHS properties as models. However, in GIAHS sites, it is more difficult to make handicrafts based on the idea of a system itself, unless some popular tangible elements of the system have already been used as symbols.