Sustainable governance in traditional village tourism: a study of post revitalisation project in Huta Siallagan, Indonesia

Abstract

The Indonesian government has allocated 30 billion rupiahs in 2020 to revitalise Huta Siallagan, a traditional village on the borderline of Lake Toba, in order to support the national development agenda. The revitalisation is carried out to increase the attractiveness of the destination by reorganising the area and improving the facilities. Traditional villages in Lake Toba are typically acres of land owned and lived on by a single-family clan, which manages tourism activities through family members. As Huta Siallagan receives significant attention from the government, this study seeks to examine the managerial modifications and adjustments following the finished revitalisation project. This study employs a sustainable tourism framework from the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). The findings are juxtaposed with the model of sustainable traditional village revitalisation that has been widely used as the basis for integrating rural tourism into tourism growth. The result of this study provides knowledge in the sustainable tourism literature, particularly in the context of village revitalisation for tourism purposes. It also highlights, from a practical standpoint, the subsequent challenges that arise in traditional village revitalisation projects. The study then identifies solutions to minimise internal and external conflicts in tourism governance.