Sustainable Management of Intangible Cultural Heritage—Tourism Partnership: Suggesting an Approach to Improving Contribution and Assessing Performance
摘要
Success and sustainability in cultural heritage tourism, particularly in Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), require careful planning, effective management, and adequate resources. The whole field should be approached as a sustainable management strategy, creating value for all local stakeholders. This paper argues that the disciplines of management (strategic and sustainable management) and related theories significantly contribute to improving cultural heritage management for growth and sustainability. The main aim was to suggest a framework that would enhance the consideration and approach of the pairing between ICH and tourism in an integrative way, drawing on the foundations of sustainability, stakeholder theory, and principles of sustainable management. This study capitalizes on extant literature and draws on extensive desk research to suggest an integrative approach to pairing ICH and tourism for successful partnerships. The outcome is a framework for ESG performance measurement and reporting on ICH and tourism partnerships encompassing specific issues and criteria in the form of Key Performance Areas. The study’s implications are twofold. From an academic perspective, the crafted framework for assessing the ESG performance is a novel approach that allows tourism organizations and stakeholders to demonstrate their impact on ESG and how they do so. From a practical standpoint, all stakeholders could and should provide evidence of the plans and actions to address sustainability issues in four pillars: their performance and contribution to the ICH and tourism partnership. They must adopt and integrate sustainability and ESG efforts into their strategies and processes. The task is to select the right ESG-related KPIs. The outcome should be an improvement in effectiveness in this domain.