Byron Regenerative Tourism Workshop

Regenerative tourism seems like a good fit for Byron as it is an innovative approach to travel that goes beyond sustainability to actively enhance and restore the natural environment and communities that tourists visit. It seeks to create a positive impact on the local economy, social systems, and ecological well-being of a destination, while also providing a meaningful and transformative experience for travellers. Regenerative tourism is based on the principle of giving back more than what is taken, by working with local communities to regenerate degraded ecosystems, support local cultures and economies, and preserve natural resources. It is an exciting and rapidly growing movement that aims to create a more sustainable and equitable future for both travellers and the places they visit.

The Byron Regenerative Tourism Workshop will take place on April 26, 2023, at Crystalbrook Byron, 12:30-4;00pm. The workshop is aimed at exploring regenerative tourism as a means of creating sustainable and resilient tourism for Byron.

The workshop will be facilitated by Dr Dianne Dredge, Director of the Tourism CoLab, Australia’s most notable experts in Regenerative Tourism.  Crystalbrook – Byron have kindly donated the space for the event and kindly donated a $250 voucher for Forest restaurant as a lucky door  prize. 

The workshop includes afternoon tea but not lunch.

Aims:

• To introduce regenerative tourism, its focus on nature-based  outcomes and community-positive solutions using cases from elsewhere.
• To introduce co-design methods by engaging participants in tasks  that explore potential nature based and community solutions. In the  process, we build an appreciation of how to brainstorm and codesign actions.
• Explore the potential of a regenerative tourism approach for the Shire.
• Gauge interest and the identification of next steps (if appropriate)

A regenerative approach to tourism adopts a living systems approach, where travel and tourism are positioned as part of the more complex social, cultural, ecological dynamics of places. A
regenerative approach emphasises holistic stewardship, where travel and tourism contribute to the re-generation of the social, cultural, and ecological systems that sustain communities. When well designed, regenerative approaches can make a positive impact and lead to local prosperity and community health, wealth, and happiness.

Regenerative tourism is more than sustainable. Whereas sustainable tourism focuses on  sustaining a system which is based on a model of resource extraction, regenerative tourism aims
to restore and positively contribute to the health and wellbeing of local communities and nature.

A regenerative approach adopts a three-pronged approach:

•  Actions that attract and engage conscious and responsible travellers who seek to give back, connect, and regenerate the places they visit. In doing so, hearts and minds are transformed,
  and new relationships and responsibilities start to evolve between visitors and the places they visit.
• The adoption of regenerative approaches to destination management that build the capacity of new and existing businesses, community, and environmental groups to deliver regenerative outcomes. These outcomes (e.g. products, experiences, practices, behaviours) establish deeper transformational connections between visitors and hosts. They are designed to regenerate places, people, communities, and nature.
• Shifting the goals of the tourism system so that tourism operates in service to life itself and the  restoration and regeneration of our social, cultural, and ecological systems. Put simply, the existing tourism system is designed on a model of resource extraction. The value that is generated from local communities and nature is often distributed among investors who reside
  elsewhere and with little regard to the long-term sustainability of the place, its people, or  environments. Shifting the goals of the system, to re-invest in local communities and nature,
  requires working both in and on the system to shift goals, mindsets, and cultures.