The dream of ‘Trip22’ was born on a cold January night over two glasses of gin and tonic. No specific plans, just two people in love, dreaming of future adventures.
Fast forward to 2021: the COVID-19 crisis has shaken the world, profoundly affecting the tourism and hospitality industry. For many, the situation became a call for a reset and an opportunity to rethink tourism – but it also highlighted the sector’s fragility.
Like much of the German hospitality industry, we worked for months in Kurzarbeit (short-time work), and eventually lost our jobs when the restaurant we managed was sold. Despite—or perhaps because of—these new circumstances, our plane landed at Banjul Airport in The Gambia in December 2021. A few hours later, we celebrated the New Year on the crowded Senegambia Strip.
The Gambia became the first destination of ‘Trip22’—a seven-month journey across seven countries. Our travels continued to Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Bolivia, Spain, and Portugal. As fireworks lit up the sky in Kololi, I realized that this trip wasn’t about finding answers but about asking the questions waiting to be asked.
Understanding the Negative Impacts of Tourism
In The Gambia, we experienced firsthand how heavily the country relies on tourism. The inspiring Senegambia Craft Market, usually filled with movement and sound, felt tensely quiet. Wooden stalls with colorful crafts and art now stood empty, leaving artisan business owners struggling to survive.
The uncomfortable feeling of realizing that our presence in this market made a difference to someone else’s economic situation raised the first important question: How often do we, as travelers, stop to think about the effect our choices cause?
In the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica, mist curled through the air, and clouds hung low. Walking among giant ancient oak trees and strangler figs tangled in moss and epiphytes, I was awed by the diverse life surrounding me, humbled by the forest’s wisdom of resilience. Yet, the passionate voice of our guide reminded us that a significant percentage of this forest’s biodiversity had already vanished, leaving me to wonder: How can we protect these life-nurturing places before it’s too late?
Visiting the Floating Islands of the Uru at Lake Titicaca, Peru, exposed the delicate balance between sustaining Indigenous traditions and facing the growing demands of tourism. The Uru people welcomed us with warmth and generosity, yet it was clear that tourism shapes their way of life in complex ways – blurring the line between cultural appreciation and the commercialization of their heritage.
While researching real estate in Menorca, locals shared their concerns about the severe housing shortage, especially for essential seasonal workers, a problem exacerbated by the influx of holiday homes and hotels.
A similar contrast exists in Portugal. Low-wage job market and insufficient public health and education systems cause many young Portuguese people to leave the country in search of better opportunities.
Why Unsustainable Tourism Is Failing Ecosystems and Communities
Each destination we visited revealed the privilege of being a traveler and challenged me to reflect on my role in an industry that profoundly shapes landscapes and communities. It’s easy to forget that while we travel to step away from our reality, we enter someone else’s. With each country we stepped into, we uncovered another layer of the complex relationship between travelers and destinations.
This awareness shifts our beloved trips to Bali and Barcelona from personal escapes to experiences that carry responsibility. Whether travelers or industry workers, our choices have real consequences for people’s lives.
- According to the UNWTO, global tourism is heavily concentrated, with over 50% of international travelers visiting Europe and nearly 40% drawn to just 10 popular countries, including France, Spain, and the U.S., while rural and lesser-known regions often remain overlooked despite their rich cultural and natural significance..
- In The Gambia, tourism leakage is a major issue, with 40% to 70% of revenue leaving the local economy due to foreign-owned hotels, airlines, and all-inclusive packages, leaving minimal benefits for local businesses (UNCTAD, 2017; UNEP, 2001).
- Tourism significantly impacts water resources, particularly in water-scarce regions. In destinations like the Mediterranean, studies have shown that tourism can consume over eight times more water per person than the local population, due to the demands of resorts, swimming pools, and other tourist facilities (UNEP, 2001; WWF, 2007)
Yet, research shows hope. A 2022 Expedia report revealed that 90% of consumers look for sustainable travel options, nearly 70% willing to sacrifice convenience to minimize their travel footprint.
Tourism’s Positive Potential for Change
Although the negative aspects of travel can often overshadow its benefits, it is equally valid that tourism has the potential to be a driver of positive change and progress. Responsible travel can support communities, protect nature, encourage transformative connections between people and places, bridge cultures, and broaden our understanding of diversity.
The tourism industry is providing one in ten jobs globally, significantly stimulating economies and infrastructure development. Tourism provides essential funding for conservation efforts, reminding us of the importance of protecting these environments. At its heart, travel connects us with nature and ourselves.
Why Tourism Must Transform for a Sustainable Future
Our current capitalistic system often fails to recognize that our well-being is deeply intertwined with the health of our communities and the planet.
While I believe that adopting more mindful and sustainable travel practices on an individual level is essential, it’s clear that the tourism industry itself requires a fundamental transformation. Travel will only increase as it remains a rapidly growing sector. By 2030, the tourism industry is projected to reach 1.8 billion international tourists.
Knowing that we won’t stop traveling, the pressing question becomes: What does a sustainable future for travel look like?
Rethinking Tourism
We have all seen how the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the vulnerability of tourism and intensified underlying social and ecological problems. Now, in the face of the climate crisis, rising war conflicts, and a growth in right-wing extremism, it is time to redefine the way we move through the world.
A new mindset is emerging—deeply rooted in understanding life’s interconnectedness: At its core, regeneration means restoration, renewal, and the ability to flourish. Inspired by the principles of regenerative agriculture, this approach challenges existing (ecological, social, and economic) systems. It strives to restore balance and revitalize natural life cycles.
Raising above sustainability, regenerative travel aims to actively improve places rather than just trying to reduce the damage. Essentially, it is about leaving places better than we found them.
This means envisioning a future where the benefits of travel outweigh its negative impacts. To achieve this, the tourism industry must shift away from traditional consumption-driven approaches prioritizing consumer comfort and convenience—putting profit over people. The future depends on adopting adaptable, sustainable business models prioritizing long-term benefits for communities and ecosystems.
What is Regenerative Travel
Regeneration means to question.
How can tourism actively contribute to the health and vitality of the places we visit? How can our journeys create more resilient ecosystems, empower local communities, and nurture cultural heritage in a meaningful way?
It challenges us to shift from a mindset of “how can we take less?” to “how can we give back?”
Rooted in Indigenous and ancient knowledge, a regenerative mindset is based on holistic system thinking, which recognizes the interconnected relationships and collective dynamics of a system, rather than examining its parts in isolation.
In praxis, collaboration and partnerships are fundamental to the regenerative movement. All stakeholders—local communities, travelers, operators, agencies, and governments—are challenged to build lasting collaborations. Only through cooperation can we drive the required change.
This is why the inclusion and engagement of local communities in the decision-making processes of tourism development projects is a cornerstone of regenerative tourism. Bringing local voices to the forefront is crucial to reinstate balance.
Regenerative Travel vs. Tourism: What’s the Difference?
Regenerative Tourism and Regenerative Travel are often used interchangeably. However, these two terms have a subtle difference.
Regenerative Travel focuses more on personal responsibility and choices such as buying from local businesses, helping conservation initiatives, and showing respect to the host culture.
Regenerative Tourism looks at the bigger picture. It aims to change the tourism industry by improving business practices, policies, and infrastructures to support the environment, community well-being, and long-term resilience.
Principles of Regenerative Tourism
Important key principles include diversifying local income streams, fair distribution of benefits among local communities, supporting local education, health initiatives, fair wages, and working conditions for tourism industry workers.
As mentioned before, tourism can be a powerful learning tool that brings awareness to issues. For example, our visit to the Monteverde Cloud Forest, one of the world’s 1% of cloud forests, was not only a personal and memorable experience, but my money spent also supported the park’s conservation and education efforts.
Many vital restoration and wildlife protection projects rely on funding generated through tourism, making it an essential resource for preserving these fragile ecosystems.
This makes travelers active participants in the world; rather than just seeing places, a regenerative mindset inspires us to create reciprocal relationships with the places we visit. It calls for a mind shift – observing, reassessing, adapting, stewarding our world gently, and respecting nature and cultures. It emphasizes long-term benefits over short-term gains, fostering a resilient tourism sector.
The Challenges of Regenerative Tourism
Nevertheless, regenerative travel faces challenges, such as difficulty measuring positive impacts and convincing businesses and communities to adopt new practices. As it requires a significant mindset shift, and there is a risk it may be dismissed as just another industry trend word misused for greenwashing. Additionally, many destinations lack the infrastructure, resources, or knowledge to implement regenerative practices effectively. Resistance to change from traditional tourism operators, coupled with the costs of transitioning to more sustainable systems, can further slow down progress.
Moreover, there is an awareness gap surrounding regenerative travel. Many travelers are simply unaware of its existence, making education and storytelling crucial. Without widespread understanding and demand, the movement risks stagnation, which would limit its ability to inspire systemic change. Despite these challenges, regenerative travel holds promise, calling for both personal and collective reflection, as well as visionary efforts to create positive and lasting change in the industry.
Despite these difficulties, regenerative travel offers hope, calling for personal and collective reflection and visionary efforts to create positive, lasting change in the industry.
The Future of Travel: Why Regeneration Is the Way Forward
Can regenerative travel truly transform the future of tourism? I believe it can—but only if we’re willing to take bold steps, rethink the industry’s priorities, and redefine what success looks like. Businesses must put people and the environment before profits, governments must invest in preserving the cultural and natural heritage that makes travel meaningful, and we, as travelers, must take on the role of caretakers—choosing actions that sustain and heal the places we visit.
This kind of change is not instant. It’s a slow, conscious process built on countless small decisions, but each mindful choice gets us closer to a world where travel doesn’t just sustain—it restores.
The good news is that the regenerative movement is growing, and with it comes a hopeful shift in how we think about tourism. Regenerative travel isn’t just a trend—it’s a way forward, a call to action. The question is no longer if this change will happen but how soon we’ll choose to make it a reality.
Exploring regenerative principles has been changing how I ask questions and approach challenges, both in my personal life and in decision-making that impacts other people and the planet. It’s been giving me tools to free myself from paralysis, pessimism, and anxiety when it comes to complex problems and envisioning a future rooted in hope, collaboration, and meaningful action.
A regenerative mindset reminds us of two essential truths: we have agency, and nothing is permanent. Like other ecosystems, we possess the capacity to adapt and evolve, using challenges as opportunities to build healthier futures for humans and all living beings.
🌿 Resources Used in This Article and for Further Exploration
- Regenerative Travel Platform
A resource hub for regenerative travel, connecting conscious travelers with destinations that prioritize ecological and community well-being. - Conscious Travel
Anna Pollock’s work on Conscious Travel provided key insights into regenerative tourism’s principles and how they can transform the industry. - Future of Tourism Coalition
This coalition’s efforts informed the discussion on collaborative strategies for fostering long-term sustainable and regenerative tourism.
