Empowering Traditional Tourism through the Activation and Utilization of Intangible Cultural Heritage: New Trends, Mechanisms, and Optimization Paths

As a living carrier of China's excellent traditional culture, Intangible Cultural Heritage (hereinafter referred to as "ICH") embodies the historical memory, cultural genes, and spiritual codes of the nation. Its activation and utilization are deeply intertwined with tourism development, creating a relationship of mutual empowerment. With the deepening integration of culture and tourism and the iterative upgrading of consumer demands, the traditional tourism industry is undergoing a profound transformation: from "sightseeing-oriented" to "experience-oriented," from "singular" to "diversified," and from "traffic-oriented" to "value-oriented." As a core resource possessing cultural, experiential, and unique characteristics, ICH not only injects vibrant cultural connotations into traditional tourism-resolving the dilemma of "homogenized landscapes"-but also drives innovation in business formats, quality improvement, and value reconstruction. Based on the core connotation of ICH activation, this paper systematically analyzes the new changes and characteristics of tourism development in the new era. It focuses on elaborating the empowering role of ICH in traditional tourism, analyzes existing problems in current integrated development through practical cases, and proposes targeted optimization paths. This study aims to provide theoretical references and practical insights for promoting the high-quality development of both ICH activation and the tourism industry.