Revitalizing Tourism in the Heritage Land of Toraja: Planning as a Process

Abstract

Toraja in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, is a tourist destination known for its ethnicity as the main attraction. It is located in the northern part of South Sulawesi Province, or about eight hours drive from the province capital, Makassar. The traditional houses of Toraja with their distinctive shape, the ancestral house known as Tongkonan, cliff-hanging, and stone-carved burial sites, and traditional ceremonies such as the death ritual, RambuSolok, were considered interesting for the taste of ethnic tourists. International tourist arrival to Toraja reached its peak in the 1997 but plunged to a low number from 1998 to 2003 when a series of unfortunate situations ranging from economic crises, the fall of New Order regime, to safety issues hit Indonesian tourism sector. International tourist arrival to Toraja continued to fall from 2004 to 2009. In 2013, the number of tourist arrival finally picked up and the revitalization of tourism in Toraja is underway. Through the Indonesian Government Regulation Number 50, 2011 on the National Master Plan for Tourism Development, the government has again designated Toraja as one of national strategic tourism areas to be prioritized in its tourism development plan. This paper will describe the tourism revitalization planning process that was undertaken from July 2014 to December 2014 involving teams of academics from various background, consultants, and local stakeholders, using data collection technics such as observations and site visits, market survey, and focus group discussions (FGD). Some of the objectives identified from this process include diversification of visitor attractions beyond traditional settlements—as expected by the emerging Asian tourists to Toraja; setting quality standards and improving ICT capacity among tourism service providers; and enhancing interpretations and visitor management systems within heritage sites.