Sustainable tourism and regenerative tourism

Scroll down for posts that have been tagged with “sus­tain­able tour­ism and regen­er­at­ive tourism”.

Sus­tain­able tour­ism “takes full account of its cur­rent and future eco­nom­ic, social and envir­on­ment­al impacts, address­ing the needs of vis­it­ors, the industry, the envir­on­ment and host com­munit­ies”, accord­ing to the United Nations World Tour­ism Organ­iz­a­tion (UNWTO)Regen­er­at­ive tour­ism chal­lenges and/or extends the concept of sus­tain­able tourism.

The con­cepts of sus­tain­able tour­ism and regen­er­at­ive tour­ism have emerged as a response to the neg­at­ive impacts that tour­ism can have on the envir­on­ment, eco­nomy, and society.

The 1987 Report of the World Com­mis­sion on Envir­on­ment and Devel­op­ment, also known as the Brundtland Report, defined sus­tain­able devel­op­ment as “devel­op­ment that meets the needs of the present without com­prom­ising the abil­ity of future gen­er­a­tions to meet their own needs.”

This idea was later applied to tour­ism. The concept of sus­tain­able tour­ism was born to ensure that tour­ism activ­it­ies are car­ried out in a way that does not deplete nat­ur­al resources or harm loc­al communities.

Regen­er­at­ive tour­ism is a more recent devel­op­ment. It builds upon the prin­ciples of sus­tain­able tour­ism, but goes fur­ther by striv­ing to cre­ate pos­it­ive impact on the envir­on­ment, eco­nomy, and society.

Accord­ing to the book Regen­er­at­ive Tour­ism: Prin­ciples, prac­tices and implic­a­tions by Paul Peeters and Peter Neuwirth, the term ‘regen­er­at­ive tour­ism’ was first intro­duced in 2012. The authors define regen­er­at­ive tour­ism as a “hol­ist­ic approach to tour­ism devel­op­ment that seeks to cre­ate a pos­it­ive impact on the envir­on­ment, eco­nomy and soci­ety, and to regen­er­ate the des­tin­a­tions in which it operates”.

The United Nations World Tour­ism Organ­iz­a­tion (UNWTO) has played a key role in pro­mot­ing sus­tain­able tour­ism through the devel­op­ment of guidelines, policies, and best prac­tices, such as the UNWTO Glob­al Code of Eth­ics for Tour­ism (1999) and the UN Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment Goals (2015)

It’s import­ant to note that these ref­er­ences are not exhaust­ive, as there are many oth­er sources of inform­a­tion on sus­tain­able tour­ism and regen­er­at­ive tour­ism, such as on The “Good Tour­ism” Blog.

At the end of a con­ver­sa­tion in August 2020 about the dif­fer­ences between sus­tain­able tour­ism and regen­er­at­ive tour­ism ― when asked to give the lift (elev­at­or) defin­i­tion of regen­er­at­ive tour­ism ― “Good Tour­ism” Friend Susanne Beck­on said: “Give back more than you take.”

At an eco­tour­ism con­fer­ence in Decem­ber 2020, Anna Pol­lock said there is a jour­ney we must all embark upon if the travel & tour­ism industry is to move from degen­er­at­ive busi­ness-as-usu­al to regen­er­at­ive flour­ish­ing and thriv­ing. The route, she reck­ons, is via notions of “green”, “sus­tain­able”, and “res­tor­at­ive” in that order.

Since August 2020 “GT” has used the same tag for both sus­tain­able tour­ism and regen­er­at­ive tour­ism. Tags are inform­al. The “Good Tour­ism” Blog tries not to get bogged down with ter­min­o­logy and defin­i­tions so you may dis­agree with tags applied (or not applied) to a post. Feel free to com­ment on the post. “GT” encour­ages good-faith debate and discussion.

A ‘year of hell’, pent-up wanderlust, and the supermarket of beautiful places

June 22, 2021
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Supermarket hell? By Melanie Lim (CC0) via Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/246b6c6IeC0

If sus­tain­ab­il­ity is ever going to be more than fantasy, tour­ists and the tour­ism industry need to treat inter­na­tion­al travel as a priv­ilege and value domest­ic des­tin­a­tions much more highly. This is accord­ing to vet­er­an hos­pit­al­ity, mar­ket­ing, and crisis man­age­ment con­sult­ant Bert van Wal­beek. How­ever, as evid­enced by this “Good Tour­ism” Insight, he’s not counting […]

Read More A ‘year of hell’, pent-up wanderlust, and the supermarket of beautiful places

Towards a new paradigm for regenerative tourism and just futures

June 8, 2021
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Regeneration. Image by congerdesign (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/plant-sow-grow-growing-trays-4036131/

The COV­­ID-induced travel & tour­ism depres­sion has caused and exacer­bated suf­fer­ing. In this “Good Tour­ism” Insight, aca­dem­ic Tazim Jamal sum­mar­ises the oppor­tun­it­ies that she sees for ‘heal­ing’, ‘justice’, and ‘equity’ as our industry recov­ers. [Thanks to Joseph M Cheer for invit­ing Dr Jamal to write a “GT” Insight.] Tour­ism is a multi-bil­lion-dol­lar industry. It employs […]

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On the fringes: When the City of Sedona’s tourism policy failed the urban outskirts

May 25, 2021

Loy Butte is to the northwest of Sedona, Arizona. (Oak Creek Canyon is to the north.) There are remarkable rocks and spectacular scenes all around Sedona. By Sunfellow (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/loy-butte-sedona-arizona-hiking-672889/

Ari­zon­a’s great out­doors is a draw for people escap­ing COVID lock­down. While the state’s cit­ies and tour­ist towns reap the eco­nom­ic rewards, some places only see the down­side as the masses pass through. How can tour­ism policy-makers account for the poten­tial neg­at­ive effects of inbound travel on those just out­side a des­tin­a­tion?  It’s a “Good […]

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Is ‘regenerative tourism’ just a rebranding of ‘sustainable tourism’?

May 20, 2021
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Kingia australis, regenerating naturally. Image by TerriAnneAllen (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/kingia-australis-native-flora-4772242/

For those still con­fused about the dif­fer­ence between sus­tain­able tour­ism and regen­er­at­ive tour­ism, PhD can­did­ate Lor­etta Bel­lato offers answers to ques­tions that she is fre­quently asked. It’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight. [Thanks to Joseph M Cheer for invit­ing Ms Bel­lato to write a “GT” Insight.] Emer­ging at the same time as sus­tain­ab­il­ity, regen­er­a­tion has expanded […]

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How virtual tourism can make the travel & tourism industry more sustainable

May 11, 2021
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How virtual tourism can make the travel & tourism industry more sustainable

Many people think that vir­tu­al tour­ism is a tem­por­ary hype; an activ­ity that will quickly fade away as phys­ic­al travel resumes post-pan­­dem­ic. But, accord­ing to tour­ism expert and edu­cat­or Hay­ley Stain­ton, vir­tu­al tour­ism is here to stay and it can help to cre­ate a more sus­tain­able industry. It’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight. [Thanks to Jim Butcher for […]

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How New Zealand’s Tiaki Promise advances regenerative travel & tourism

April 8, 2021
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Dolphin tiaki promise inset within a view from Roy’s Peak, Wanaka, New Zealand. Photo by Jasper van der Meij (CC0) via Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/k7D1O46HPwA

Inde­pend­ent research­er Bron­wyn Hutchis­on takes a look at New Zeal­and’s des­tin­a­tion care pledge, the Tiaki Prom­ise, and its poten­tial for advan­cing regen­er­at­ive travel & tour­ism. It’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight. [Thanks to Regina Scheyvens for invit­ing Ms Hutchis­on to write a “GT” Insight.] The COVID-19 pan­dem­ic has wreaked hav­oc on domest­ic and inter­na­tion­al tour­ism worldwide. […]

Read More How New Zealand’s Tiaki Promise advances regenerative travel & tourism