The Conceptual Core of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Label and Its Impact on the Perception of Tourist Destinations

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) labels represent elements of ICH, highlighting the features and attributes of ICH products or destinations and reflecting optimized ICH tourism resource allocation. However, destinations often misunderstand ICH label implications and mechanisms, leading to issues such as over-commercialization due to a lack of regulation. This study adopts a tourist micro-perspective to deepen the understanding of ICH label connotations and origins, and to explore their impact on destination perception and potential value in cultural and tourism integration and new productive force development. Given the infancy of ICH label research and unclear conceptual understanding, this study sought to explore the relationship between ICH labels and tourist destination perception through in-depth interviews and grounded theory. Based on 25 in-depth interviews, the study clarified the unique essence of ICH labels as geographical indications recognized by local governments based on local culture, integrating intrinsic and extrinsic values, and being both reliable and distinctive. This study also elucidates how ICH labels affect destination perception: cultural empowerment is fundamental to ICH label formation, label value and attributes are key expressions of local cultural empowerment, diverse stakeholders promote sustainable ICH label development and regulate market activities, and online and brand marketing effectively influence tourist perceptions of destinations. The research contributes in three ways. First, it analyzes the relationship between geographical indications and ICH labels, clarifying their connotations and origins, strengthening the link between ICH and local culture, and broadening heritage research perspectives. It deepens the analysis of the cultural factors behind spatial phenomena and enhances the conceptual refinement and framework of heritage tourism theory, emphasizing the role of tourism in dynamic heritage protection. Second, it explores the role of ICH labels as innovative labor material factors, systematically explaining their impact on destination perception. This study found that ICH labels influence perceptions of ICH resources, tourism infrastructure, services, and experiences, reflecting how ICH and inheritor dynamics affect local development and discusses the utility of ICH labels. Third, the essence of ICH is shaped by local and translocal geographical and cultural practices involving diverse actors. This study reveals that the government, ICH inheritors, tourists, and businesses play significant roles in the ICH label mechanism, responding to the ICH and social justice initiative, an important topic at the intersection of ICH and geography, providing a theoretical basis for fairer ICH label development. The detailed insights presented here are intended to guide policymakers, tourism professionals, and cultural heritage managers in their efforts to harness the potential of ICH labels to benefit local communities and the tourism industry.