Going beyond formal governance: indigenous social structure as a mediator of Pentahelix collaboration in the development of community-based cultural tourism, typical of the Indonesian Tengger Tribe

This research explores the development of culture-based tourism villages among the Tengger Tribe that implement Community-Based Tourism (CBT) through the Pentahelix approach, grounded in Indigenous social structures. Unlike the formal-bureaucratic model, collaboration among stakeholders, government, academia, business, society, and the media is constrained by moral-spiritual legitimacy, which is guarded by traditional leaders (Dukun Pandita) who serve as gatekeepers of communication. With communication ethnography, this study explores how the values of harmony, ritual, and local wisdom mediate tourism governance. The findings show a hybrid communication strategy that blends tradition and digital technology, while maintaining cultural sacredness. This model also addresses the paradox of cultural commodification by maintaining authentic rituals such as Yadnya Kasada, Karo, and Unan-unan, and by presenting the concept of “spiritual homestay” and contemplative paths as cross-cultural educational spaces. This study enriches the Southeast Asian tourism literature by offering a model of a meaningful, transformative, and spiritually rooted relationship between tourists and the Tengger Indigenous community.