What is regenerative tourism? How can we move towards it? Learnings from Aotearoa New Zealand
Public Lecture by UIBK Guest Professor Susan Houge Mackenzie University of Otago, New Zealand
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Zealand government attempted to fundamentally ‘reset’ the way tourism was practiced in this tourism-dependent nation. A key part of this reset was significantly investing in the development 29 regional “regenerative” destination management plans (DMPs), aimed at reinventing tourism aspirations, strategies, and indicators nation-wide. Led by a wide range of tourism stakeholders across the country, New Zealand was unique globally in having an entire nation directed and resourced to rethink what we wanted from tourism and how to move towards ‘regenerative’ tourism. While regenerative tourism has been increasingly explored and embraced in both within New Zealand and in a range of global destinations, what this approach means in practice has been challenging to define. This presentation will discuss findings from research on the processes, meanings, indicators, and outcomes associated with recent destination management planning across Aotearoa New Zealand, with a focus on key areas of alignment and contention.