Regenerative Tourism has shifted from the fringes to corporate mainstream in a short number of years. Countless destinations are now billing themselves as regenerative and public policy is following the trend.
The challenge, however, is that I still haven’t heard a compelling answer to this question:
“What exactly is regenerative tourism?”
Or indeed:
– “What makes tourism regenerative?”
Taken from a narrow-boundary perspective regenerative tourism (say an immersive stay on a local regenerative farm) has the potential to be a positive beacon for local ecosystems and community.
To get a proper perspective, however, we need to take a broader view and acknowledge the infrastructure (air and ground transportation for starters) and supply chains needed to enable most guests to come and stay.
The reason this is critical is because, whilst having ever-more regenerative tourist destinations sounds great, if that leads to ever more emissions-laden tourism and other negative ecological impacts can the outcome be classified as regenerative?
My sole intent is to strengthen the roots of Regenerative Tourism so that it will thrive over the long-term. For this to happen, I would suggest that we need to acknowledge “What is” and start imagining “What might be”.
