Arts and Design Studies www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-6061 (Paper) ISSN 2225-059X (Online) Vol.77, 2019 70 Sustainable Local Weaving Ecosystem for Cultural Tourism (Study of Toba Sibandang Traditional Weaving in Muara District, North Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra) Soni Sadono¹, Catur Nugroho² ¹Telkom University, Bandung, Indonesia, sonisadono66@gmail.com, 082186628004. Lecturer at Creative Industry of Telkom University Bandung. Doctor of Cultural Studies from Padjajaran University Bandung. Since 2012 to 2017, Sadono active as Student Manager Telkom University. ²Telkom University, Bandung, Indonesia, mas_pires@yahoo.com, 085228191449. Since joining the Telkom University in 2014, Nugroho has been involved with studies related Media and Cultural Studies, and also the studies of Gender and Democracy. Before joining University, Nugroho worked at a education company as a branch manager. Since 2013 Nugroho worked as a lecturer of FISIP Unsera, Banten, Indonesia. Catur also active in Digital Literacy National Movement Siberkreasi since 2017 as Coordinator of Research Team. Abstract This paper is based on the traditional weaving as one of the handicrafts of the people in the area is believed to be able to take a role in it. The scope of tourism is chosen because tourism is an industrial sector that is quick yielding and opens up new opportunities for the tourism industry in the Lake Toba region, which has only focused on nature tourism. The approach used in this study is a Cultural Resources Management (CRM) with the mindset that traditional weaving and inheritance aspects are aimed at empowering the economy in order to provide sustainable community benefits. The analysis was carried out qualitatively with an ethnographic study approach. This study seeks to see and reveal whether traditional weaving-based cultural tourism has economic value, because it contains the concept of preservation and cultural inheritance, economics, education, and based on community empowerment. This research also see the weaving potential mapped in its distribution correlated with tourist objects that have been seeded by the North Tapanuli Regional Government resulting in clusters that can be developed into tourism packages oriented to market demand, without ignoring the empowerment of local communities. Although weaving is believed to be able to increase the tourism market in Sibandang Island, there are still a number of obstacles, namely in the fields of promotion, strengthening of weaving crafts, and the creation of tourism conscious communities. The root of the problem of the three obstacles is the lack of public awareness of the Ulos Sibandang weaving as one of the cultural artifacts that has been passed down for hundreds of years. Keywords: cultural tourism, ecosystems, traditional weaving, Cultural Resources Management DOI: 10.7176/ADS/77-09 Publication date:October 31 st 2019 1. INTRODUCTION Sibandang Island is located in the north of Muara District, consisting of three villages with an area of approximately 850 hectares, surrounded by Lake Toba, directly adjacent to Samosir Island, and Humbang Hasundutan District (Humbahas). The natural beauty of Sibandang Island with its cool climate and natural beauty is very potential for tourism development. Tourism potential on Sibandang Island in addition to its natural beauty also has several potentials in the cultural sector, especially the Ulos woven handicrafts that have existed since hundreds years ago. The potential of the original craft Sibandang, if combined with good natural tourism, can be an attractive tour package for national and international tourists. The uniqueness of Sibandang traditional weaving is the manufacturing process which is still manual and passed down from generation to generation. Sibandang traditional weaving crafts become a very interesting cultural attraction. Weaving that can be found in Papande village, Sibandang Island, Muara Subdistrict, North Tapanuli Regency has high value potential, both in terms of material and its intellectual value. Collectively, tradition and the lives of people on Sibandang Island condition sustainability and traditional weaving inheritance. However, a number of issues that are feared to affect the sustainability of these ulos weaving handicrafts are also found, among others, that Sibandang traditional weaving does not provide economic benefits (profit) for the craftsmen community. In fact, its own creation requires working capital that is not small and quite a long time. In addition, Sibandang ulos weaving is one of the fields that can create employment for local residents. One form of utilization of Sibandang traditional weaving resources that is in line with its potential and condition is to place it