Multidimensional perceptions and dynamic attractiveness in unlisted traditional villages: the case of Chengyang Village, China

Traditional villages not included in official registers – hereafter referred to as unlisted traditional villages – often have relatively limited tangible cultural landscape resources, making their attractiveness difficult to explain through the single pathway of conventional heritage-resource endowment. Taking Chengyang Village as a case, this study analyzes tourist reviews from Dianping.com (n = 307) through content analysis to identify the perceptual dimensions of unlisted traditional villages, supplemented by interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to examine the meanings these perceptions hold for visitors. Four dimensions are identified: cultural landscapes, spatiotemporal perception, services and management, and planning and design. Within the cultural landscape dimension, natural landscapes and the servicescape are reconfigured as experiential attractions, emerging as the most salient sources of perceived attractiveness while showing marked dynamism and uncertainty. Their perceived value is also interpreted in multiple ways by tourists. The findings suggest that the attractiveness of resource-constrained rural destinations lies not only in resources themselves, but in transforming ordinary rural resources into tourism experiences that enable staying, participation, and sharing. Planning and design should prioritize destination experience, strengthen public participation in service operations, and enhance visual distinctiveness through place-based narratives. This study offers insights into the systematic analysis of tourist perceptions in resource-constrained rural destinations.