The Use of Cultural Activities as a Vehicle for Sustainable Heritage Communication of Longmen Grottoes: An Exploratory Study

Cultural activities play an important role in heritage communication, providing opportunities to convey heritage values, engage visitors and promote conservation awareness. However, limited research has examined how diverse cultural activities can function as interpretative tools for communicating heritage values in a sustainable way. To address this gap, this study examines the role of cultural activities in sustainable heritage communication at the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, China. In the first stage, the heritage components of the Longmen Grottoes were identified, and activities relevant to Longmen Grottoes were elaborated. In the second stage, deductive qualitative analysis was conducted to analyse the collected data, and a creative cultural activities strategy for the Longmen Grottoes was then developed. The holistic scheme developed through adaptive design provides a feasible interpretive pathway for balancing heritage interpretation, tourist satisfaction and sustainable heritage management. It can be anticipated that the outcome of sustainable heritage communication will extend beyond any single dimension of sustainability.