Abstract: The protection of cultural relics, and their development and utilization bear such a relations as the former the basic premise of the latter, while the latter an effective approach to the former. There have still encountered some problems in protecting the cultural relics in the Yellow River Basin, heritage with long history, wide distribution, large number and great variety, and prominent status, such as unclear boundary, uncertain objects, backward regional comprehensive development, underdeveloped methods, weak joint force, and uncoordinated management system and mechanism. In view of this, a new approach, an integration of culture and tourism is proposed and it brings new impetus, new mechanism, new carrier and new challenges to the protection and utilization of cultural relics in the region which in turn brings forth new models, new scenes, new ecology and new opportunities to the integration. The basic innovation steps in the protection and utilization of cultural relics can be summarized as follows: innovating the construction of system design so as to strengthen policy support; building a collaborative system and mechanism so as to improve the ability of overall planning; improving the efficiency of cultural relics management so as to build a modern management system; implementing the integration of cultural relics with science and technology so as to promote cross-border cooperation in cultural relics; highlighting the function of cultural relics education so as to create a cultural education model; laying stress on the promotion and exchange of cultural relics so as to build a modern communication system.

Key words: integration of culture and tourism, protection and utilization of cultural relics, the Yellow River Basin, innovative paths, cultural relics in sound