Skift Take

Many feel regenerative tourism has the potential to transform the industry. But the continued resistance to a clear definition or measurement criteria may hinder its potential.

Robin Gilbert-Jones, Skift

In the first entry in our Fact from Fiction series on sustainability issues in tourism, we tackled the emergence of “regenerative tourism” and applied a critical lens that highlighted some of the opportunities and risks.

We summarized it as a leap forward  from sustainable tourism in that it seeks to maximize positive impacts rather than merely minimizing harms. That's a common definition but one that is not fully agreed upon within the regenerative movement. 

Following the publication of the report and the subsequent podcast and LinkedIn Live session, we received wide-ranging feedback. Most of the feedback was positive, but some, particularly from those in the regenerative movement, took issue with the conclusions. Overall, this sparked useful discussion and provided the basis of our newly-published Feedback Report.

A Contentious Topic That Requires Data

Regenerative tourism is sometimes regarded as a puzzle for the industry, described by one commenter on LinkedIn as a “beast of a topic.” 

In revis