As one of the world’s leading consumption sectors, tourism provides many economic benefits, including employment and business opportunities. Far too often, the money does not recirculate in the local economy or benefit local people or the environment. Tourism businesses can grow the local economy by spending on local goods and services and procuring services and products locally.

We are looking for:

• businesses that have local purchasing practices in place and are actively working to create and promote local businesses and sole traders through their own supply chain and encouraging visitors to buy locally produced crafts and souvenirs.
• businesses that have demonstrably upskilled and employed people from the local community, increasing the economic benefit accruing locally

This includes, but is not limited to

• Businesses that have created opportunities for local people as sole traders or SMMEs to profit from tourism, supporting them to start or grow local enterprises to supply their business and tourists.
• Those that have created and encouraged visitors to purchase locally sourced souvenirs, use local services and employ local guides, surf schools and cooking classes are examples of how visitors' spending can improve local people's livelihoods.
• Businesses that implement robust local supply chain policies that minimise economic leakage and support growth in the local economy.

Wildlife and the natural environment are important drivers for travel. The travel and tourism sector depends on nature's beauty to provide its goods and services, yet nature tourism can negatively impact the places we visit.

The tourism sector has a responsibility to help reverse biodiversity loss and protect nature for future generations by promoting a nature-positive approach to tourism – whether that is “non-consumptive” tourism such as photographic safaris or “consumptive” tourism such as hunting safaris.

We are looking for

• businesses of both types of tourism (consumptive and non-consumptive) that act as guardians of biodiversity and which can demonstrate a positive impact on the conservation of the natural environment, and
• conservation organisations, and protected area management organisations which are effectively using tourism, consumptive and non-consumptive, to manage and enhance biodiversity

This includes, but is not limited to:

• Businesses that contribute to rebuilding and replenishing the natural environment and reduce the negative impacts caused by tourism
• Businesses that have developed ways for people to have meaningful and close encounters with wildlife without causing harm to the species or their environment
• Ways of using consumptive tourism to maintain a healthy biodiversity mix with fenced protected areas
• Businesses and protected area managers that ensure that local communities benefit from nature-based tourism and that they, too, can experience its value
• Organisations that educate travellers and raise awareness of the importance of protecting the environment.

Professor Jost Krippendorf, in his seminal book The Holiday Makers, reminded us that “every individual tourist builds up or destroys human values while travelling”.  We all make choices about how we travel and the tours and opportunities we offer our clients and guests.

In the words of the 2022 Responsible Tourism Charter, we are looking for

• Destinations and businesses providing tourists with the opportunities to make “more meaningful connections with local people and a greater understanding of local history and culture, and social and environmental issues”
• and/or offering “culturally sensitive experiences engendering respect between tourists and hosts and building local pride and confidence.”

This includes, but is not limited to:

• Efforts to promote understanding of “the other” and to encourage meaningful connections.
• Tourism experiences designed to include, and benefit excluded or disadvantaged groups.
• Training programmes and employment creation, which demonstrably benefit the economically poor and deprived groups, either through direct employment or developing and marketing economic opportunities through the provision of guiding, activity or other services for sale to or through a tourism business or businesses. 

Human-caused global heating has already raised the average global temperature by `about 1.3°C, and rising sea temperatures are causing coral bleaching and reducing the oceans' ability to absorb CO₂. The Global Tipping Points report published for COP30 in Brazil reveals the scale of the ecological crisis we are causing and living through. 

The travel and tourism industry makes a significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, driving climate change, and suffers the consequences: drought, wildfires, and storms, with consequent damage to infrastructure, natural and cultural heritage and landscapes. Ski resorts are closing, glaciers are retreating, mosquito-borne dengue and West Nile virus are reported in Europe, there is increasing evidence that seasonality is changing as holidaymakers avoid peak temperatures, and cooler destinations are beginning to see higher visitor numbers.

The pace and extent of climate change are now such that, whilst we need to continue to address greenhouse gas emissions, we also need to adapt to the dramatic changes it is causing. This year, we are focusing on adaptation; next year, we shall concentrate again on emissions reduction.

We are looking for destinations and businesses:

• which are actively taking measures to reduce the risks posed by climate change and/or,
• developing accommodation and experiences designed to attract new client groups, possibly at different seasons,
• and destinations working to create more climate change resilience in the travel and tourism sector.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• initiatives to address potable water supply resilience, including water management and desalination, at the destination and business levels.
• Addressing fire risk by creating fire barriers, reducing the flammability of infrastructure, banning campfires and barbecues, and educating locals and visitors about how to avoid causing fires, to be vigilant and to respond if they see a fire breaking out.
• Developing new tourism experiences in former ski areas and attracting visitors to see natural regeneration in wildfire areas.
• Measures to reduce the risks associated with coastal flooding caused by subsidence, erosion, sea level rise, storm surge and surface water flooding. 

Over the last twenty years regenerative travel and regenerative tourism have emerged and are being widely used in the industry and by academics.

Responsible Tourism and regenerative share a common parentage in the recognition that sustainable tourism carries little meaning. Responsible Tourism improves tourism by clarifying which issues are addressed, how they're tackled, who benefits, and what impact results.  Transparency is a core value in these awards.

Regenerative Travel is presented by many as a radical form of Responsible Tourism, restoring, replenishing renewing, reciprocity, healing. It is ambitious in seeking to create a better future for a place and its residents. The concept of regeneration has roots in architecture and urban and economic regeneration and more radically in agriculture and ecosystem regrowth. Regenerative Tourism is ambitious, seeking transformational change, it scales from economic regeneration to radical transformation.   

We are looking for destinations and businesses:

• Where tourism is making a significant contribution to economic regeneration and to the livelihoods of the local community.
• Drawing on its roots in biology, medicine and agriculture the ambition is transformational “regenerative thinking dares us to imagine systems that actively create life, resilience, and beauty — for people, places, and the planet. It’s not the end goal. It’s a design principle. A mindset. A new way of belonging.”

This includes, but is not limited to:

• Closure of marine and terrestrial areas to tourists to facilitate regeneration.
• Tourism businesses and destinations replanting and reintroducing native species
• Tourism contributing to regenerative agriculture
• Docklands and urban areas and historic buildings repurposed and regenerates for or with a major contribution from tourism and the visitor economy

Please note we are not looking for projects where the term regenerative is being used very loosely to differentiate the accommodation or experience from competitors in pursuit of market advantage.  We are also not looking for examples where regenerative is being used as a synonym for sustainable tourism. It is to be expected that many of the looser and unsubstantiated regenerative claims will fall foul of misselling action by regulators.