Community-based Tourism (CBT), a concept that focuses on community participation to minimize the costs and maximizes the benefits of tourism development for a community, has been promoted in Indonesia since the 1990s. However, as many CBT initiatives have failed to acquire the desired positive gains, the practicality and usefulness of CBT have been questioned. This study offers case study evidence of the Penglipuran Village CBT initiative, which has received considerable recognition for its natural and cultural protection efforts. Despite its image as Indonesia’s most successful tourism village, little is known about why its CBT is considered a ‘success.’ The village, which serves as a model of CBT in Indonesia, was selected for this study, which aims to investigate how the community has developed itself as a tourism village using CBT processes, and the effects of tourism development on the community.Based on interview with 21 villagers and 6 external stakeholders, findings suggest that the community’s pre-established traditional governance and decision-making mechanism, and its tradition of organizing its members to complete self-initiated natural and cultural protection projects, form the foundation for its CBT operations and management. Easy access and strategic location also have enabled the village to be a competitive tourist destination. The community has played a significant role in producing and selling tourism products and services, sharing tourism benefits among themselves, and independently solving and anticipating tourism-related problems. External support in the form of regulations, marketing and promotion, training, research, advice, and resource support also have contributed to the success of its CBT operations.
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