New Zealand’s vigorous tourism sector has been dealt a huge blow by an invisible virus. The full extent of its damage remains to be seen. There is no doubt in the sector’s ability to bounce back. Kiwis are resilient and ingenious by nature. The question is not “will tourism recover?” but in what form?
The pause imposed by Covid-19 provides a time to stop and reflect on the root cause of both the pandemic itself and the other change drivers (climate change, biodiversity loss, wealth disparity, etc.) that are nudging us to re-examine our relationship with the rest of life on this planet.
When lockdown is removed, we will stand at a fork in the road.
Without some understanding of the consequences of our choices, we have a tendency to default to the familiar and miss the opportunities that lie within the unknown alternatives. Hence, this online course, Back to Life: Towards a Regenerative Recovery, is designed to present an alternative approach to how we “do” tourism that delivers greater net benefit, adaptability, resilience and productivity.
We believe meaningful, positive change will happen when enough individuals - be they host suppliers, social entrepreneurs, policy-makers, planners, NGOs, marketers, managers and concerned residents - step up as change agents, sense-makers and guides willing to help each other learn and activate a different future.
Participants will share a common desire to blaze a new and different trail to co-design and build a form of tourism that delivers real net benefit to the host communities and nourishes the hearts, souls, minds and bodies of the people touched by it.
Our purpose is to attract such a group into an online community of kindred hearts and minds where they can learn new ideas and practices, share experiences, voice fresh insights, imagine different futures and tap into the intelligence of the group.
To regenerate is to make whole, to heal.
What if we in tourism saw ourselves as a healing profession? What if our core intention were to enable healing for people, communities and landscapes?
It’s a somewhat startling proposition. But what other reasonable response is there once we recognize the damage being done? Once we understand what is truly at stake?
And isn’t this where our roots actually lie - in hospitality, with its shared origins with the word “hospital”? In rest, renewal and re-creation?
Please join us to learn about the emerging field of regenerative tourism, including:
This Learning Journey will combine expert instruction, facilitated conversation and small group projects. Not only will it describe the theory of regenerative tourism; it will offer an experience of the participatory approaches at the heart of the practice.
The outcome will be a connected community of peer learners and practitioners throughout New Zealand who can continue to deepen their understanding together well beyond this ten-week training.
