The Travel & Tourism industry has a tremendous impact on people and on our planet (resources, biodiversity loss, waste, pollution, employment & working conditions, living conditions of the locals…).
This can be regarded as an issue but also as an OPPORTUNITY to make a positive impact by reversing the current adverse trend and implementing life-affirming ecosytems that thrive.
Regenerative Tourism has the power to make travel a force for good by revitalizing our social and environmental ecosystems while offering guests transformational experiences.
Nine regenerative development and design principles have been identified as the most relevant to guide the implementation of this approach to tourism contexts as follows.
Regenerative Tourism Principles:
Wholeness through integration: reconnection between and integration of Self, Others & the World as well as our Inner & Outer worlds.
Mindset shift: Inner transformation that leads to a higher level of consciousness, changing our values and worldviews and ways of being, relating and designing.
Collaborative and Inclusive: regenerative development relies on a co-creative process whereby solutions and projects are co-designed collaboratively by local stakeholders unified by shared core values and common vision and aspirations for their community and Place.
Potential & Capabilities: regenerative development is a developmental process that aims at unlocking the inherent potential in people and places to co-evolve harmoniously, creating the conditions for all life to flourish
Aspirational by nature: it is an ongoing developmental journey of our inner and outer worlds informed by our constant relationships with each other and our environment whereby the journey is more important than the destination.
Community & Place: regenerative development uses a place-based design and strategy that draw from the understanding of the “Sense of Place” i.e. the specific local natural and cultural conditions that shape the identity of the people and place over time. Community and Place become active tourism development stakeholders.
Thrivability: it is a transformational approach that aims to create the conditions for all life to flourish and co-evolve and design with long-term health and well-being of communities and places in mind.
Living-system thinking: we recognize tourism as an interrelated system within the larger ecological living system within which collaboration with nature is central. Our actions consist in nodal interventions on specific acupuncture point that have the greatest potential for systemic change.
Co-Evolutionary: developmental process that occurs through the ongoing exchange of information and energy among stakeholders within a living-system by which everyone learns, adapts and evolves in relationship to the greater context that is constantly changing.
Tangible actions to move toward Regenerative Tourism:
Designing with Nature in Mind
Designing hotel project inspired by nature, using natural material, biophilia and biomimicry principles, to enhance the unique “Sense of the Place” and leave the slightest footprint.
Supply Chain Integration
Operating properties in a way that accounts for the entire hotel supply chain, identifying interactions between stakeholders, to the benefits of the entire ecosystem.
Transformational experiences for the guests
Creating experiences that benefit both the travelers and the location, and prioritizing progress for the benefit of local communities and ecosystems.
Inclusion of Local Communities
Rethinking the role of hotels and envisioning them as “stewards” of the Place, catalysingchange in their local communities, building capabilities for all stakeholders, and enabling the potential of the Place to emerge.
Changing Our Mindsets
Becoming Regenerative requires us to change our worldview and rethink the way we live, lead, operate, and interact with each other, reconnecting with ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Want to apply these principles to your organization? See how I can help you:
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