Social Bonds in the Formation of Cibuntu as Sustainable Tourism Village

Abstract

Although kinship, cultural norms, and community leadership are recognised as important resources in tourism village development, how these existing social relationships are mobilised into collective tourism action remains insufficiently understood. This study examines how community leadership mobilises social bonds in Cibuntu Tourism Village, Kuningan, West Java, Indonesia. Kinship creates a distinctive community ethic characterised by emotional attachment to the land and respect for local traditions, which help sustain collective identity and community relationships. Data were collected through interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), observation, and document analysis. Ten informants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling, and the data were analysed thematically through an iterative process combining deductive categories derived from Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory with inductive codes grounded in participants’ accounts. Source triangulation was used to compare evidence across participants and data sources. The findings suggest that social bonds operate through four interconnected dimensions: attachment, rooted in kinship and emotional ties to the village; commitment, reflected in responsibility towards shared cultural values and tourism development goals; involvement, expressed through participation in collective tourism and cultural activities; and belief, reflected in adherence to shared norms. Community leadership appears to help mobilise these existing relationships into collective action, although the evidence does not establish a direct causal relationship between social bonding and tourism sustainability. The study suggests that recognising local social relationships and leadership practices may help tourism village stakeholders strengthen community participation, while the inclusiveness and long-term sustainability of these arrangements require further assessment.