State-Led Sustainability Orchestration in a Rural Tourism Value Chain: Power and Governance Continuity in Silokek, Indonesia

Public authorities use sustainability programmes and recognition schemes to promote rural tourism, yet the governance arrangements established through these initiatives can be difficult to maintain. This article examines how state-led sustainability orchestration interacts with power relations, customary authority and market linkages to shape governance continuity and adaptability in Silokek, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Drawing on 18 core interviews, a focus group discussion, observations and documentary evidence, this qualitative explanatory single-case study uses global value chain governance and sustainability orchestration perspectives to trace the transition from public intervention to local operating responsibilities. Public investment, training and partnerships strengthened tourism capabilities, while customary landholders negotiated management rights and obligations attached to communal resources. However, uneven organisational capacity, fragmented booking channels and disagreements over shared revenue constrained destination-wide coordination. Following road damage in 2023, operators and households adapted selected services through personal networks, while collective management functions remained less adaptable. The findings identify an orchestration-to-operation gap: the mobilisation of sustainability-oriented programmes was not consistently accompanied by the relationships, routines and shared resources needed to sustain implementation. The study further distinguishes service adaptability from collective governance adaptability, showing why continued tourism transactions do not necessarily strengthen destination-wide governance. It highlights the importance of negotiated operating responsibilities and recurrent resources without claiming to measure long-term ecological outcomes.