A study on tourists tendency towards intangible cultural heritage as an attraction (case study: Isfahan, Iran)

Human civilization is a set of material and immaterial achievements, none of which was produced without the other. Intangible cultural heritage and spiritual heritage are part of the achievements of human civilizations that give them identity. Isfahan is a city known for its tangible cultural attractions such as Islamic architecture, handicrafts, palaces, Persian gardens, etc. However, it has much intangible cultural heritage that tourists are not familiar with and which is not considered as a tourist attraction. This paper s concern is to study intangible cultural heritage of the city of Isfahan (Iran)as a new tourist attraction. Moreover, this research has three major purposes: 1)to investigate the tendency of tourists towards intangible heritage; 2)to measure tourists awareness of intangible heritage; and 3)to determine the priority of intangible heritage attractions and activities from the domestic tourists perspective. On the basis of the results of this study it can be concluded that domestic tourists are not familiar with the concept of intangible cultural heritage. However, tourists are interested in intangible heritage attractions and activities, especially in cooking and tasting local foods, making and tasting local sweets, traditional medicine and medicinal plants and gaining a certain level of skill in producing traditional crafts.