Regenerative Tourism: How to Apply Its Principles to Your 2027 Strategy

What exactly is the regenerative economy?

The regenerative economy proposes rethinking how we create value by placing living systems at the heart of economic decisions. While traditional approaches mainly aim to generate financial value, and while the circular economy seeks to limit waste and preserve resources, regenerative thinking aims to help restore ecosystems and strengthen social equilibria.

In other words, it’s not about simply doing less harm, but creating conditions for living systems to regenerate. This approach draws inspiration from agroecology, which strives to restore soil health and natural balances rather than exploiting resources without considering their renewal capacity.

When applied to tourism, this logic invites us to question the very purpose of the activity: what value will it create for travelers (of course!) but also for residents, local economic players and ecosystems?

Tourism sustainable and regenerative: what’s the difference?

• Sustainable tourism aims to reduce the sector’s negative impacts and preserve resources for future generations.

• Regenerative tourism goes further in its ambition: it seeks to actively contribute to the restoration of living beings and the vitality of territories.

The distinction is important. An accommodation that reduces its water and energy use improves its practices, and that’s already great! But if it also collaborates with local actors to restore a fragile natural milieu, while ensuring its activity does not degrade other resources, it can contribute to a regenerative dynamic. And that’s even better!

A small warning, however : regenerative tourism does not replace sustainable tourism. Reducing emissions, waste and resource use remains essential. No greenwashing here: a positive action will not make the negative impacts of the activity disappear.

Why is tourism particularly concerned?

Tourism directly depends on the quality of landscapes, biodiversity, water, heritage and the welcome of local populations. But its activities can also amplify pressure on resources, natural spaces, housing and residents’ living conditions.

Lever 1: Start from the territory’s needs

The first step is to understand the territory’s challenges and engage with those who bring it to life. So we step out of the office and meet its stakeholders! Threatened biodiversity, tensions over water, recruitment difficulties, struggling shops, loss of know-how, or tourism pressure on certain sites — every territory has its own priorities. To identify them, you can hold conversations with residents, associations, local authorities, natural-space managers and local businesses. The aim is to build projects that meet real needs, rather than simply adding a responsible initiative to a to-do list as long as your arm.

An example : before launching a new nature-based activity, a tour operator can consult site managers and local players to identify sensitive zones, periods to avoid and expected benefits for the territory. This approach may also require accepting that the initial project be adjusted, or even abandoned if its consequences could be detrimental…

Lever 2: Restore living

Biodiversity is a cornerstone of regenerative tourism. Yet, we should strive to go beyond symbolic gestures. Planting trees or organizing a beach cleanup is wonderful, but here again the goal isn’t to stop there. Options depend on the territory and available capabilities: wetland restoration, protection of natural habitats, support for conservation projects, reducing pressure on water resources or rehabilitating existing buildings rather than building new spaces.

A concrete example : a lodging located in a sensitive natural area can collaborate with a specialty association to restore a degraded habitat, while reducing its water use, adapting its facilities and informing guests about the fragility of the environment. The key is to rely on appropriate expertise and to monitor results over time. A restored area alone does not guarantee biodiversity return. It’s essential to assess the actual evolution of the environment. And remember, ecological restoration must never become a pretext to symbolically compensate for degradations that could have been avoided. The priority will always be to reduce impacts at the source!

Lever 3: Benefit the local economy from tourism revenues

A territory comprises landscapes, but also its inhabitants, businesses, artisans, producers and know-how. A regenerative approach must also integrate social and economic dimensions. This can include purchasing from local suppliers, fair compensation of partners, using guides from the territory, passing on know-how, and developing sustainable partnerships with local actors.

A quick example : a tour operator can build an offer with independent hoteliers, local guides, artisans and producers. And beyond their inclusion in the program, they will ensure that partners participate in designing the stay, are fairly compensated, and benefit from durable business relations. This logic aligns with the principles of fair tourism, which emphasize local population participation, sharing economic benefits and building balanced partnerships (source: ATES – Association for Fair and Solidarity Tourism).

Lever 4: Rethink the traveler’s experience

In a regenerative approach, travelers can participate in a local dynamic without bearing sole responsibility for the transformation. It’s up to you to offer experiences that foster understanding of ecosystems, encounters with locals, and discovery of local know-how. This can include guided tours by naturalists, meetings with local producers, artisanal workshops or awareness-raising activities designed with local associations. The visitor will thus better understand the landscape, not merely gaze at it. Some stays can also offer participation in ecological restoration projects, as long as these activities are useful, supervised by specialists and desired by local actors! Here, be mindful of the tourist “savior” trap: locals did not wait for travelers to care for their territory. The professional’s role is to support existing or co-created local projects. Avoid instrumentalizing communities to make the experience more appealing.

Lever 5: Evolve your business model

You’ve understood that integrating regenerative tourism principles isn’t about adding responsible activities to an existing offer. It will inevitably lead you to question your business model, how your company grows and creates value. Should you systematically increase capacity? Is developing a new activity relevant given available resources? How can you better distribute tourist flows without shifting pressures to other places or times? What portion of the value created remains on the territory? These questions apply to hoteliers, travel agencies, tour operators, leisure activities and destinations! In some cases, a regenerative strategy may lead to limiting site visitation, as already done in the Calanques National Park or in Thailand, or to giving up a new infrastructure or rethinking an offer that is not compatible with the territory’s capacity.

Now that we’ve said all this, how do we structure our approach?

As usual, there’s no need to overhaul everything overnight. You don’t have a magic wand, so we’ll take it step by step and be transparent with your stakeholders.

1. Take stock: what are the main impacts of your activity? What are the territory’s vulnerabilities and priorities?

2. Engage with stakeholders: residents, employees, suppliers, associations and local authorities can help identify needs and potential actions.

3. Choose one or two priorities: better to have a single, relevant, co-built and followed project than a hundred dispersed initiatives.

4. Define objectives and good indicators: the number of volunteer days or the amount paid to an association does not by itself prove that a territory is regenerating. You should aim to measure real changes, taking into account the local context and, when possible, with expert support. Depending on the project, you could track water consumption, the state of a restored habitat, the share of local purchases, partner remuneration, or the territorial economic impact.

5. Evaluate and adjust: results should be observed over time. If the expected effects are not achieved, you must be able to revise the actions taken.

– Start from the territory’s needs : talk with residents, associations and local players before defining your priorities.

– Go beyond reducing impacts : protecting resources remains essential, but also ask how you can contribute to restoring ecosystems and strengthening local vitality.

– Benefit the local economy from your activity : prioritize local partners, local jobs and fair compensation for providers.

– Don’t turn regenerative into a marketing argument : the coherence of your approach and its real effects are what count.

– Understand regenerative economy : discover the Regenerative Economy Fresque, a collaborative workshop to understand the principles of the regenerative economy and identify action paths at the scale of your company or territory.

– Take stock of biodiversity impacts : consult the biodiversity self-diagnostic tool designed for tourism businesses, created to evaluate pressures, impacts, risks and dependencies related to biodiversity.

– Find tools to take action : explore France Tourisme Durable, the public platform that gathers resources, guides and tools to support professionals in their transition.

– Rethink the management of tourist flows : download the vade-mecum from the Directorate General for Enterprises, which offers ideas to better preserve resources, improve the visitor experience and distribute economic benefits.

Find all articles by Camille Le Guilloux here.

An expert in Responsible Marketing, Camille Le Guilloux has set herself the mission to inspire, equip and guide companies toward more ethical and sustainable marketing practices.

Having become an impact-driven info-preneur and facilitator of various CSR awareness workshops (Climate Fresk, 2 Tonnes Workshop, Ocean Fresk, Fresque des Nouveaux Récits), she now supports companies and business students in implementing effective and responsible strategies!

Website: www.kerezenn.com