KnE Social Sciences

Published date: Dec 03 2025

Journal Title: KnE Social Sciences

Issue title: The 5th International Conference on Tourism, Gastronomy, and Tourist Destination (TGDIC 2025)

Pages: 148 - 159

DOI: 10.18502/kss.v10i29.20260

Endang Sri WahyuniLombok Tourism Polytechnic, West Nusa Tenggara

Ruwaida Fajriasantiruwaida@ppl.ac.idLombok Tourism Polytechnic, West Nusa Tenggara

Farm-to-table is a form of food tourism that offers opportunities for engaging experiences by connecting visitors to sustainable food production. Effective tourism interpretation is critical for farm-to-table operators to build this connection and eventually enhance visitor understanding and satisfaction. This study assesses the training needs for tourism interpretation among farm-to-table operators in Batu Kumbung Village, West Lombok, an emerging land-based aquaculture tourism destination. A qualitative empirical approach with a circular, flexible process is used in this research, involving surveys to evaluate the operators’ self-perceived interpretive skills, direct observations during a trial program, and in-depth interviews focusing on challenges and training priorities. Findings reveal significant gaps not only in interpretive techniques, thematic content development, and audience engagement strategies but also in fundamental communication skills, including English proficiency. These challenges limit operators’ ability to effectively deliver aquaculture narratives and engage diverse visitor groups. The study contributes to the development of interpretive training foundations in rural tourism by integrating established frameworks (such as Tilden’s principles) with grounded insights from farm-to-table aquaculture context, an area still underexplored in tourism research. It proposes tailored, hands-on training modules that integrate language support with interpretive content, aligned with sustainable tourism principles. By bridging these gaps, the research helps enhancing the capacity of local operators to deliver meaningful and accessible tourism experiences, supporting sustainable development in growing aquaculture tourism destinations.

Keywords: tourism interpretation, training needs assessment, farm-to-table, aquaculture tourism, local tourism operators

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