Titre : Tangible heritage, intangible heritage and mass tourism in Luang Prabang (Laos): a triangle of incompatibilities? Auteurs : Jacky Buffet, Revue : City and Tourism Numéro : Issue 1 Volume : 1 Date : 2021/04/7 DOI : 10.21494/ISTE.OP.2023.0928 ISSN : 2976-5897 Résumé : In December 1995, Luang Prabang was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Based on a decentralized cooperation agreement with a french city named Chinon, a protection and enhancement program was initiated. In 2008, a report raised the alarm by pointing to the city’s drifts following the explosion of tourism and envisaged its decommissioning on the list of World Heritage in Danger. This article discusses the reasons for this development and takes stock of the current situation. From official documents, archives and minutes of meetings involving various stakeholders, it proposes a review (rereading) of this program, showing that instead of an approach imputing the drifts observed to the lao authorities, an explanation can be found in the lack of consideration, by cooperation providers, of the relationships between tangible and intangible heritage in a living city. While international cooperation targets an architectural and monumental Luang Prabang which sets off its tourist “take-off”, another Luang Prabang, immaterial and intangible, suffers from the tansformation of the structures of opportunity which result from it. Éditeur : ISTE OpenScience