Assessing the Scope of Digital Platform in Tourism Recovery: A Study on Women Entrepreneurs Embedding Intangible Cultural Heritage with Tourism Products

Abstract

Both national and local governments and communities may benefit from preserving their ICH as a tourist attraction. Researchers have a hard time making sense of the influence that ICH data has on the psyches of interacting visitors because of its splintered character. Previous studies have indicated that promoting traditional crafts and craftsmanship as ICH may be beneficial for tourism. The Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is an asset of cultural variety and a guarantee of sustainable development, as
recognized by the Convention for the Protection of the ICH (Marie & Swain, 2021). With the shock and disruption caused by the COVID 19 epidemic, ICH is expected to be the game changer in restorative tourism. Those in the tourist industry were hit the hardest by the pandemic's need for widespread changes in livelihood. As a result of the worldwide transportation shutdown, the  travel sector came to a complete halt. In light of this situation, academics and industry professionals have been probing the potential of the digital space to reach out to visitors and help them work around interruptions. Nonetheless, this phenomenon has been rare and directly correlated to levels of digital literacy, internet penetration, device accessibility, and institutional backing. The purpose of this research is to examine how often used internet platforms are by women entrepreneurs that sell items with local ICH to foreign visitors. The SonajhuriHaat in Santiniketan, West Bengal, was selected as the research location