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Year on year many countries strive to get their most outstanding heritage jewels inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List, which should ensure a sustainable protection and promote tourism. Nevertheless, gaining access to this exclusive list is just the onset of a long dynamic process, most remarkably in the case of cultural itineraries. Indeed, any cultural route requires a plan of action to guarantee a thriving cultural and economic vitality.The subject of this research is a heritage route listed by UNESCO, “Silk Roads: The Routes Network of Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor”. The assessment and analysis focus on the state of protection and management of heritage, and rely thereupon on field research, interviews, documentary review and comparative analysis of cases. DAFA has been chosen as a tool for integrating advantages, disadvantages, opportunities and dangers concerning the heritage. On an ensuing stage it is complemented identifying goals and seeking an adequate course of measures. This shall contribute to a sustainable protection and promotion of tourism.The results of the research show that as long as the Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor is concerned, in spite of being a heritage route, the protection and management of its constituent elements are implemented with an individual approach, resulting in an obvious lack of real integration. This leads not only to a deficient exploitation of the strengths of the heritage route, but also to a misleading and debased judgement about the exceptional value of the route, that is therefore under threat of extinction as such.This research has identified systemic weaknesses in the key areas of weak coordination, lack of laws, and personnel who has not been specifically trained on the protection and promotion of routes, and therefore the whole system does not convey to the local population a reinforced identification with the heritage route. On the other side, there are unquestionable strengths to build upon: the Silk Road is a unique cultural symbol, encompasses an immense tangible and intangible heritage, and the protection of each individual site has received attention by local and national governments. This balance of weaknesses and strengths is submitted to a detailed analysis and allows the research to set up a course of action in an attempt to override the malfunctions and bring to a next level of efficiency the heritage protection and management of an route.This study takes into account the management and legal frame in present China, and in adaptation to this heritage system looks for ways of enhancing functionalities, such as the implementation of a museum network and the connection of scattered sites. All in all, a better overview of the route as an entity must be provided. It is as well necessary to design a specific plan to combine all participating partners, products, experiences and services in the realm of tourism, which thereupon should be submitted to monitoring procedures and financial recommendations. This would enable the establishment of methods and tools vying for the sustainability and visibility of the route.In a broad sense, this research explores adequacy and efficiency of methods and strategies for a global and transregional well-linked management. The Silk Road is a paramount example of this dimension of cultural itineraries. Its universal value requires a promotion that transcends national laws, as it is the case in China, which actually goes to great lengths in the safeguarding of heritage sites, but still has a way to go in the build-up of programmes and measures concerning the mindset “heritage route”.