Differentiated Paths and Digital Collaborative Mechanisms of the Integration of Intangible Cultural Heritage with Cultural Tourism and MICE Industry—A Comparative Study Based on Multiple Cases

Abstract

The in-depth integration of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) with the MICE industry and cultural tourism has become an important path to promote cultural inheritance and industrial upgrading, yet it currently faces challenges such as homogenized paths and insufficient technological empowerment. Based on the theories of industrial integration, cultural ecology, and collaborative governance, this paper constructs an analytical framework of “resources—paths—technology—collaboration—effectiveness.” Through a comparative study of multiple cases, including the Zhejiang ICH Exhibition, Chengdu International Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival, and Jilin Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival, it explores the differentiated integration paths and digital collaborative mechanisms of ICH cultural tourism and MICE. The study finds that differentiated paths rely on the triple coupling of ICH endowments, MICE positioning, and tourism market demand; digitalization provides support through efficiency, experience, and collaboration, while current obstacles include technology-content disjuncture and online-offline fragmentation. Accordingly, optimization strategies are proposed from the perspectives of content adaptation, scenario linkage, and talent cultivation, to facilitate the transformation of ICH cultural tourism and MICE integration from “formal integration” to “substantive integration.”