Navigating Sustainable Business Ecosystems in Tourism Villages

A Multi-Stakeholder and Digital Transformation Perspective in Indonesia

Abstract

This study examines the transformation of community-based tourism (CBT) within the context of multi-stakeholder governance and digitalization, focusing on tourism villages in Jakarta and Yogyakarta. While CBT is widely framed as a pathway to inclusive and sustainable development, its implementation often reveals tensions between local participation and external control. Using a qualitative cross-case approach, this study analyzes how participation, governance, and digital transformation interact in shaping sustainability outcomes. The findings show that community participation remains largely operational, with limited influence over decision-making. Multi-stakeholder governance provides access to resources but reinforces dependency, while digitalization expands market reach yet reproduces inequalities due to uneven capabilities and platform reliance. These dynamics suggest that the evolution of tourism villages reflects not a transition toward empowerment, but a reconfiguration of roles and dependencies. Accordingly, this study proposes the concept of conditionally sustainable systems, where sustainability outcomes are contingent upon the interaction between participation, governance, and digital capacity. This study contributes a critical, process-oriented perspective on CBT transformation and offers implications for more inclusive and adaptive tourism policies.