A Bibliometric Analysis of Research on Intangible Cultural Heritage Tourism Using CiteSpace: The Perspective of China

Tourism development is an effective way to protect intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Research on the relationship between these two factors and related issues is of great significance to promoting the sustainable development of ICH. Based on literatures collected from the CNKI database (381 articles) and the Web of Science core collection (545 articles), this study used CiteSpace analysis software to analyze the published volume of ICH tourism research and extract hot keywords and hotspot research topics. Results showed that the number of articles published in Chinese and foreign journals had three stages, namely, steady development, rapid growth, and fluctuating decline. Judging from the research keywords, “cultural tourism”, “authenticity”, “sustainable development” and “protection (or conservation)” are common topics at home and abroad, whereas “loyalty”, “motivation” “conservation” and “quality” are the emerging keywords of foreign journals in recent years. In terms of content, research on the relationship between ICH protection and tourism development, research on the development model, and stakeholder research in tourism development are the focus of Chinese academic circles. This study systematically summarizes the ICH tourism research under different cultural backgrounds and proposes suggestions for the future development of ICH tourism in China.