Conservation of intangible cultural heritage is important for any rural tourism destination. The rich intangible cultural heritage can be preserved using advanced digital technologies for future generations. Digital technologies provide the means of documenting, recovering, and presenting different components of the intangible cultural heritage of a rural destination. However, one of the challenges is finding appropriate forms, together with efficient methods, to document the ephemeral aspects of rural intangible heritage. Another barrier is finding effective ways to communicate the knowledge inextricably linked to people or communities. This chapter outlines state-of-the-art models, projects, and technical practices that have advanced the digitization lifecycle for intangible cultural heritage resources. The chapter further aims to identify the advancements and gaps in the existing conventions and to envision opportunities for transmitting embodied knowledge in intangible heritage.
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Tourism illustrates an example in the experience economy where participants on both the supply and demand sides of an offering novel experience value from their participation (Paul & Roy, 2017). Tourist attractions are very important to tourism because they provide reasons for a wide range of tourists and locals to visit. Hence tourist destinations must be inventive and provide distinctive and thrilling experiences to stand out in an increasingly competitive market (Lund et al., 2022). Consequently, an added value strategy for destination marketing is the experience that comes from using a good or service, with advantages for both tourists and the destination (Pine II & Gilmore, 2011). The intangible cultural heritage of a destination offers a unique opportunity to provide destination-specific experiences and end tourist search for authenticity, influences their perceptions, and motivates tourists to visit such destination (Lund et al., 2022; Rudan & Stipanović, 2021). The intangible cultural heritage symbolizes the pinnacle of human cultural heritage and is an essential and valuable part of the tourism sector (Ranjan & Chaturvedi, 2022; Zhang et al., 2018). However, the intangible heritage of a destination needs to be preserved prior to destination marketing. Particularly in historical destinations that are in decline or stagnation, where economic rebirth is essential for their revival, tourism growth offers a solid economic reason for the preservation of intangible heritage assets (Paul & Roy, 2017).
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003 was the first global platform highlighting the significance of preserving indigenous and traditional cultural heritage (Melis & Chambers, 2021). Since then, there has been a significant increase in the volume of research and digital approach to conserve and preserve the intangible cultural heritage of a community (Hou et al., 2022). Identifying, preserving, and conserving intangible cultural heritage enables rural communities and researchers to explore cultural authenticity and facilitates a thorough understanding of local rural culture (Zhang & Lee, 2022). Such initiatives strengthen the competitiveness of intangible cultural heritage within the larger context of cultural heritage tourism and generate social and economic benefits for the various stakeholders (Yang Zhang & Lee, 2022). Additionally, to increase the competitiveness of a destination, intangible cultural heritage serves as experiential products that cater to specific niche audiences, such as special interest tourists (Chen, 2022). On the other hand, it is well known that the relationship between tourism and heritage conservation is polarised, with strong complementarities and equally intense conflicts (Paul & Roy, 2017). In addition to various discourses, cultural practices can be considered part of intangible cultural heritage (Zhang & Lee, 2022). Hence, several scholars have shown an incompatibility between tourism and historical conservation, leading to a conflict between preserving the intangible cultural heritage and unjustifiable transformations pushed by market forces linked to tourism growth.