Public organisation policies supporting the sustainability of intangible cultural heritage as a tourism resource

There is a growing interest in Intangible Cultural Heritage [ICH] from international bodies and national governments because ICH represents cultural authenticity and identity, and can provide a community with a unique selling point in the globally competitive tourism industry. However, little research has investigated cultural heritage from the perspective of public organisations, and this raises questions of the effectiveness of public policies in sustainable tourism resource management. Therefore, this study explores the extent to which public organisations support sustainable development of intangible cultural heritage as a tourism resource, by analysing South Korea as a case study. A qualitative document analysis has been conducted through the combination of content and thematic analysis. The results reveal that public organisations in South Korea have managed ICH through stakeholder collaboration to disseminate its value, developing ICH experiential tourism products and providing educational programs, and thereby enhancing the sustainability of ICH to varying degrees. This paper contributes to the debates about cultural heritage sustainability in heritage tourism by exploring ICH which is different from the much discussed tangible cultural heritage.