What Exactly Is Regenerative Tourism?

But today we're not going to talk about overtourism , we're going to pivot a little bit and talk about something called regenerative tourism and that term has also been around over the last four or five years . The pandemic . It kind of kind of the awareness of it really shot through the roof .

Nobody can really come to a consensus on what it is exactly , but the general contours of regenerative tourism seem to be . It focuses on giving back , supporting local economies , preserving culture , protecting the environment . It can include activities like reforestation or volunteering on community projects .

It might have a component of engaging with local cultures through workshops and festivals and farm-to-table dining and artisan experiences and all of these things are great and they mediate , but they don't totally get rid of the idea of kind of all-out extractive tourism , and that model has been around for a long time .

With regenerative tourism you're basically saying you want to have a mindset to leave a destination better than it was before you arrived , and you want to have experiences that go beyond a traditional vacation . Jeff , is that ?

Others that I've heard travel it gives back . You said that travel invests in the environment and local communities . Travel it makes a difference . My first take on this and , matt , I think I'm more the cynic of our duo you are we're doing so well as a society solving sustainability .

Let's just add a few more major obstacles and challenges , right , like cultural preservation and other lofty ideas under do-gooder-y . Sustainability is , in many ways , about preventing harm , so let's just add on to that also doing positive , like world hunger , peace in the Middle East . Let's just go ahead , matt , and create Project Utopia .

Is that what we're doing here ?

What I like about regenerative , at least for now , is this practical intent behind actions . There's this statement of intent that can inform your planning and thinking of trips .

Carbon neutral is great , but a lot of these are just kind of lifestyle brands going for rich travelers . It feels like a marketing pitch for guilting rich people , which is okay too . I have no problem with that . Rich people need more guilt , and there are certainly best intentions behind a lot of it . But , man , it just feels like kind of more the same .

You know , like we're putting on a shiny new paint to a very old model , which is the Grand Tour . We're going to take rich people out to see the world , and the vast majority of American tourists are not going to go on these luxury safaris .

And instead of decimating the population , they are , through their tourist dollars , providing the local economy with an alternative means to killing those animals , instead protecting and elevating them within our society . Maybe there's a little hypocrisy somewhere in the middle , but doesn't the end justify the means there ?

Hawaii has struggled mightily with its relationship to travel from the world , travel from mainland US . That is a complicated relationship , to say the least .

But examples of regenerative tourism in Hawaii have included replanting native tree species to offset the carbon footprint that is often produced by well , not often it is produced by flying to Hawaii , People going out there , staying in a cool place , enjoying some beach time , but then also taking part of their time to help remove invasive plant species off hiking trails

, to remove plastic and abandoned fishing nets off beaches . The general vibe amongst the Hawaiians , at least in this survey , was that that's better , that that's at least more connected to the place , versus you're going to come , stay in a hotel , go to the restaurant , litter and then take off . You've got another company called Byway . It's a UK company .

Their whole deal is to make flight-free holidays a mainstream holiday choice , which might be a little bit easier in Europe than it is here , Maybe not , though they're prioritizing overland travel across the British Isles and Europe . More stops , more communities , more passengers per trip , less jet fuel .

I don't know how the carbon footprint balances out with that , but the idea is that you are connecting more to yourself , to the scenery , to the community , when you are embracing slow travel .

I saw another study that says 73% of millennials are willing to pay more for sustainable goods , including eco-friendly travel , so there's definitely non-bougie stuff out there that I think works in the context of what regenerative travel is .

And the last thing you mentioned , or one of the last , was that around millennials , engaging a 75% say they would pay more to have carbon neutral travel . You said something to that effect , but the difference here is in surveys you hear that , but what travelers regularly rate sustainability as a top five criteria in making travel decisions ?

Their buying behavior tells a very different story , and so , as we're giving these examples regularly rate sustainability as a top five criteria in making travel decisions . Their buying behavior tells a very different story .

And so , as we're giving these examples , it kind of takes me back to the top where I'm saying how do you build on top of sustainability and even more ambitious idea , when the reality is people aren't fully engaged , don't fully accept that sustainable travel , regenerative travel , it's going to cost them more .

It's going to cost them more in the real currency , no matter where they're from , and it's going to cost them more in time and comfort , most likely .

. Travel experts have linked some of their studies to how people view traffic . Like how people view all travel , I guess , but like I will be the one who figures out my commute . No , the traffic this Friday . If we're getting out of the city , it won't affect us . I think if we leave at 205 versus 215 , it'll save us and it never ever saves you .

I think this is an example of where you describe the consumer is just . There is a disposition from the very beginning that says I'm going to buy the lowest price . If the tool that presents your options is pre-filtered to only give you certain selections , then I think that's going to make a meaningful step forward .

Like this , amex enhancement has the opportunity to really truly make the choice for the customer by not showing them choices that their company says are not options for them . That doesn't help your individual trail , I think , most when it comes to sustainable . You can talk a lot about corporate input , right , our travelers will only X Y , z .

When it comes to leisure travel and you make that decision for yourself , regenerative is probably more in the leisure than the business space , because you're choosing to go do something for a purpose that suits your own , the things you care about individually , and you're probably not going to be filtered , like Amex would , when a company says only show my business

travelers these options . So I think that's going to be a challenge . New Zealand the country's official tourism body , has what they call the Taiki promise .

I don't know if I'm pronouncing that properly , but it's a promise to care for New Zealand , and when people arrive , they take a pledge that reads while traveling in New Zealand , I will care for the land , sea and nature , treading lightly and leaving no trace , travel safely , showing care and consideration for all , respect , culture , traveling with an open heart and

mind . That makes me want to go to New Zealand even more . At the same time , though , matt , does a pledge have any real world impact , and I think that's the rub here . Just again , like these really lofty ideas that we want to care and do good , does taking a pledge upon entry before you hit my passport stamp my passport got to take the pledge .

Will I really do anything in New Zealand that is different ? I don't think the pledge is going to get you there . Boracay in the Philippines does something similar . It's difficult . I mean , let's just put it easy . I don't have the solutions and I'm not trying to throw barbs at those who've tried .

You know , environmental restoration is a big part of regenerative tourism , but I kind of like a broader definition of environment , and that broader definition would actually include some of these tactical things , and I'm not sure what I'm thinking about here is classified as regenerative as such . But I'd like to include some of this stuff that's closer to home .

For instance , as you're planning a trip , are you staying in a locally owned lodging option versus a chain Ditto for restaurants ? Are you packing intentionally ? Are you packing a reusable water bottle and cutlery ? Are you buying responsibly sourced clothing ? Are you buying used gear ? Are you buying local souvenirs ?

Are you using interesting tour guides who aren't part of some kind of national company ? Are they kind of locals who are doing this ? Are you going to off track locations ? You know , and cultural festivals oftentimes come up as an option for tourists who want to kind of go down the regenerative arc . And one of the things that I would always tell people .

You know I grew up in Louisiana . One of the things I always tell people is , if you want to go to Mardi Gras , don't go to New Orleans . Do not go to New Orleans . It'll be crowded , you'll pay a billion dollars to stay there , everybody will be drunk by eight o'clock and if you really want a Mardi Gras experience , you should go out .

You should go two hours out into Cajun country . It doesn't even have to be some small town , but it could be like a little city and that Mardi Gras parade and festival is exactly maximum Louisiana and you will get a tourist experience you will never forget , and I think that applies to so many many places .

I like those things as under the regenerative umbrella and I think of them as environmental as any of these other exercises .

But the other thing that you kind of reminded me of is that , thankfully , probably nobody takes my advice on where to go . Foreigners coming to the US Europeans , asians they all want to go to New York , la , san Francisco and Miami and I encourage every one of them . If you want to see the United States , go to Cincinnati , go to Detroit , go to Des Moines .

These are the places that this is real America . It's not going to be the photo op , it's not going to be the selfie you're looking for . It's not going to be the photo op . It's not going to be the selfie you're looking for , but you're going to get a flavor of the culture in a way that is far more genuine than Times Square , south Beach and Hollywood .

Nobody's going to want to take , especially if convenience and cost are part of it , because this is your vacation . I deal with matters of convenience and cost in every other part of my life . The very idea of going on vacation is that I don't want to deal with that .

And now you're making me work , and I can imagine , even for a lot of people who have great intention , that for this week out of the year , I just want to go stay in a luxury hotel and I don't want to think about problems and people , and I get that , and that is also a very luxurious way to think of the world , and one that I think we need to reframe

and reframe soon .

Skift research analyst Robert Gilbert Jones said on a podcast that I listened to that hardcore greenwashers have not yet caught on to the use of regenerative as a term .

It still doesn't have a commercial label that resonates with people , so it's not really being abused yet , and I think there's reason for optimism just in that , as the entire travel industry moves to a more central focus on experiences and their reason for travel , the purpose regenerative , socially minded , could really become trendy .

Instead of sending a selfie on a beach in Panama with a cocktail , what if the trend on social media becomes photos of helping turtles or clean up trash ? To me , that's where regenerative has an opportunity to be meaningful . I genuinely , desperately hope I'm right In closing .

As a committed American traveler , I think of it often like buying groceries . You know , everybody shops at Trader Joe's these days to kind of keep costs down . Or Aldi , and you know big part of our grocery shop is that . The other big part of it is , you know we do our staples there .

But then the other big part of it is community market , and so I'm going to allow in my life for us to go . We'll spend money on the cheaper option , and it's this big company with branches everywhere , and then we're also going to be committed to spending a chunk of that expense towards the local farmer that we know and want to support .

I think that's how Americans deal with a lot of their lives , especially since everything is a chain these days .

But I think looking for ways to stay connected to community and stay connected to local commerce is really what the ask is from Regenerative and it's one that I think , when you frame it like that , it can kind of get people motivated in ways that doing something that's maybe a little more of a high-minded statement isn't .

I'm hoping that we keep it real , keep it local . I have a mystery question for you . You want it , bring it . So we discussed Mardi Gras . Have you ever attended an offbeat weirdo festival somewhere ? It cannot be . Bonnaroo Can't be like I'm thinking like all the music festivals .

No , look this up , it is on my short end of the bucket list is to attend

this . It's every June in Florence , where the four quadrants of the city . This event goes back 500 years and it's a full combat version of rugby , american football and MMA . In this old town piazza they put up stands and the four quadrants of the town they face off against one another for bragging rights for the next year .

And as the game begins , one team has possession of the ball what you would think of in like rugby or American football , as kind of an offensive line , or the guys who are going to kind of protect and block for the guy who's trying to advance the ball , except that protection and blocking is straight up street fighting . Like no rules , I think .

Like you know , no groin punches , but headbutting is still allowed , like it is an absolute bloodbath . The fighters don't even tell their families they're involved . It's such a dangerous sport , but they represent their part of town and it's like pure gang warfare with a football in the middle . That's one I can't wait to go to .