Using choice experiments to assess tourist values for intangible cultural heritage – the case of Changdao fishermen's work song in China

The conservation and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage is of great significance to local communities and all mankind. Combining intangible cultural heritage with tourism is considered to be a viable mechanism to support and protect the heritage. This study aims to assess tourist preference and willingness to pay for various conservation measures by taking the national intangible cultural heritage of the Changdao fishermen's work song as a case study. Based on 892 respondents, the analysis showed that tourists have a strong preference and high willingness to pay for the performance and inheritance of the Changdao fishermen's work song. This implies that Changdao fishermen's work song may contribute to socioeconomic development. The results provide valuable practical implications for the conservation of intangible cultural heritage. Additionally, the random parameters logit model with error component (RPL-EC) and the latent class (LC) logit model reveal the heterogeneity of respondent preferences, providing empirical support for diversified conservation strategies in practice. Finally, this study further validates the applicability of the choice experiments method in the assessment of intangible cultural heritage.