From Cultural Identity to Tourist Destination: The Representation of Batak Toba Heritage in Harta, Tahta, Boru Ni Raja

This article examines how Batak Toba cultural identity and heritage are represented in Harta, Tahta, Boru Ni Raja (2024), a film produced through a collaboration involving the Lake Toba Authority Agency (BPODT). Rather than treating the film merely as entertainment or a promotional instrument, the article approaches it as a cultural text through which ethnic identity, ancestral connections, and destination imaginaries are articulated. The analysis focuses on the narrative of Jerry Tan, a university student who travels to the Lake Toba region to research the history of national figure D.I. Panjaitan, while confronting his own relationship with his Batak clan identity. Using qualitative film-text analysis and document analysis, the article connects the film’s narrative premise and production context with recent scholarship on film-induced tourism, cultural heritage, destination representation, and tourism development around Lake Toba. It argues that the film creates a representational link between personal identity formation and the tourism value of cultural heritage. This relationship, however, should not be understood as automatically producing community empowerment or sustainable tourism. When cultural identity becomes a resource for destination promotion, questions arise concerning who selects the cultural elements to be represented, whose interpretation becomes authoritative, and how local communities participate in defining the meaning of their heritage. The article contributes to tourism anthropology by examining regional cinema as a site where cultural heritage is translated into destination imagery, while highlighting the tensions between cultural recognition, tourism promotion, and community authority.