Moving beyond sustainability: regenerative tourism from strategy to practice

Over the past year we have seen Europe’s tourism sector reach the depths of despair, yet there is an unmistakable willingness among consumers, travel suppliers and governments to see good arise from this crisis. We all want to see a model for tourism that genuinely works to restore life and livelihoods through regeneration, rather than rumbling onwards in a way that does ‘less bad’. 

Delve into regenerative tourism: crucial background information

On Tuesday 2nd March, TOPOSOPHY partnered with the European Travel Commission to deliver a 60-minute webinar that set out the basics of Regenerative Tourism. We set the scene and cleared up some of the key concepts, and took a look at how certain destinations are already striving to move beyond sustainability. We also brought in friends and partners from forward-thinking organisations that are building regenerative practices into their daily work.

We started by looking at well-established concepts (e.g. responsible and sustainable tourism) and then moved on to understand how the concept of regenerative tourism aims to address contemporary needs. In the post Covid-19 world, destinations will increasingly aim to rejuvenate, nourish and bring net benefits to the environment as well as individuals and communities rather than merely minimising the negative, and maximising the positive, impacts of tourism on the environment, society and the economy.
 

So, how are destinations and tourism businesses around the world putting this into practice? 

To answer this question we started by taking a closer look at consumer sentiment (e.g. the growing passion of consumers to counterbalance the environmental impact of their travel). Backed with evidence from destinations that have updated their tourism strategies post Covid-19, we shed some light on the messages and actions that are signalling a shift in focus to regenerative tourism. 

Crucially, we also saw the opportunities that are arising from major policy initiatives (e.g. EU Green Deal) for those destinations that wish to follow a path to development based on ambitious climate and energy targets.

So, where do we stand now? 

On a global scale, regenerative tourism practices are still at a relatively small scale but there’s no question that they can and must be more widely adopted. The discussion is relatively recent and we look forward to sharing more insights with you in the coming months.

Until then, for all our partners and friends, the video of our webinar with the European Travel Commission is available here, while we’d be glad to hear your thoughts on what you're doing and the challenges you’re facing at info@toposophy.com.