“Project Regenerative Tourism” of Sustainability and Resilience Institute (SRI) |Tourism Advisory New Zealand, promotes regenerative tourism research and experience for the visitor’s to engage with the debate of regenerative tourism. The outcome of the “Project Regenerative Tourism” resulted in number of publications and the development of a “Regenerative Tourism Model” and “Regenerative Tourism Framework”.
Regenerative Tourism Model
The ‘regenerative tourism model’ suggests the incorporation of all elements of social-ecological system into a system which is self-organising and embraces uncertainty and change in response of global shocks and trends. The model has also developed the indicators of regenerative tourism to measure the degree to which a tourism product of service is regenerative and sustainable.
Regenerative Tourism Framework
The Regenerative Tourism Framework guides the journey towards regenerative tourism by putting destinations and people at the heart of policymaking. The framework also presents the Indicators of regenerative tourism from both supply and demand side and respective overarching characteristics. Every indicator must ensure the presence of certain characteristics which can be explained with the help of the Likert scale (1-10) to explain the degree to which a tourism product (both supply and demand side) is regenerative.
The project recommends that indigenous knowledge must be taken in its holistic sense rather than adapting an element that answers the current topic under discussion, akin to tourism, and leaving the rest aside. Indigenous knowledge is the way of living where livelihood decisions are dynamic and constitute never-ending adaptive cycles of growth, accumulation, restructuring and renewal of resources. Indigenous wisdom is the process of knowing about things, events, and engagement in a particular context at a particular time and acting as the advocate of the physical, social, and historic environments.
Regenerative Tourism Definition
“Regenerative tourism fosters ongoing rejuvenation and innovation in tourism systems, focusing on restoring and enriching social-ecological systems. It surpasses mere impact reduction, thriving amid changing trends and shocks with a focus on economic stability, minimal social and environmental impact, and the creation of authentic experiences.” Link