Developing interpretation plans to promote traditional rural buildings as Built Heritage Attractions

The present study suggests an innovative method that could be applied by local authorities to develop heritage interpretation plans aimed at promoting traditional rural buildings (TRBs) as built heritage attractions, while preserving their original features. Cultural heritage interpretation (CHI) methods and tools were used. They offer the advantage to create a kind of ‘understanding’ that would lead tourists and local communities to protect TRBs from inappropriate alterations and modifications that often occur when TRBs are reused also for tourism purposes. The proposed method was applied to TRBs located in an area of the South-Eastern Sicily (Italy).