An analysis of the three contradictions in the tourism development of intangible cultural heritage.

The tourism development of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is one of the hot points in the field of heritage tourism. As a newly developed tourism resource, ICH has a lot of promise in tourism development, and gradually has become one of the important attractions at tourism destinations. Certain development patterns have gradually formed in ICH development. However, what is important is that ICH is a kind of non-renewable resource. Once it is overdeveloped, the irrevocable consequence will do harm to its protection and inheritance. Therefore, with a purpose of protection, this paper attempts to make an analysis of some issues in the development of ICH for tourism. To enter the tourism market, an ICH is supposed to answer three basic questions. First of all, what does ICH mean? What is the relationship between ICH and tourism development? Is ICH a kind of tourism resource? Second, who shoulders the responsibilities of developing ICH, if it is really a kind of tourism resource same as above? Third, which key points should be taken into consideration in the actual development of an ICH? These three questions all point to the following: can the ICH be developed, by whom and how? It is worthwhile to find answers to the three questions above. With a comprehensive critical review at home and abroad as well as China's situation, this paper attempts to further discussions on the three core questions, and then to explore the contradictions in the tourism development of ICH respectively from the three aspects: the contradictions between protection and development, the conflicts between different developers, and the conflicts among the various parties concerned. Co-operation between stakeholders is particularly important for ICH development; however, it is quite difficult to solve the associated problems. Therefore, we conduct multi-dimensional analysis and discussions, hoping to draw widespread attention to ICH, which is of potential significance to the further development of tourism in China. From what have been discussed above, it is concluded that it is necessary to find some possible solutions or tactics to deal with the contradictions and prevent ICH from being lost. When we are faced with precious ICH, tourism plays a significant role in keeping a balance between protection and development. It is very necessary to make full use of the education and publicity functions of tourism development, and combine their values with characteristics in their protective development. In this developmental process, the main actors in different disciplines and industries should break down the barriers between them, and combine theory and practice. Forming a protective development system in which the core actors perform their own functions, and by setting up a coordinating mechanism for ICH, will promote the sustainable development of ICH tourism.