Restoration, regeneration and rewilding in sustainable tourism content
Restoration, regeneration and rewilding are all fast becoming central to the sustainable tourism industry, and yet it’s surprising how many travel organizations are being slow to do one thing about these themes - relaying them. It’s time to really dig deep into your destination’s natural offerings, biodiversity and education around ecosystems.
Here are our top tips on some of the ways we recommend you can restore your sustainable tourism content to help restore our Earth, with some exemplary case studies of places that are relaying the message, on brand and on point.
Connect with those on the ground
There are people worldwide with stories to tell about what they are doing to restore our Earth. They are in your communities but you may not know it, or it’s possible you have thought them so niche that you only reach out for global days such as Earth Day. But the worm has turned and, thankfully, niche is now the norm. So it’s time to dig out their stories, craft them into quality content and make them prominent on your website and social media. Are there beach clean up groups, or reforestation movements in your area? Are there agritourism enterprises specializing in regenerative agriculture? Don’t always reach out to the one prolific pioneer of environmental change in your destination but invest time in seeking out all the changemakers. They all have important stories to tell for your destination.
Example of good practice
Elephant trainers committed to responsible tourism are working hand in hand with the Thai tourism authorities now, who are promoting their stories of ethical elephant handling.
“ I grew up with elephants from a young age. Elephants are cute, caring animals. They depend on each other and help each other out...we focus more on elephant healthcare based practices.” Chertchai Pongpathapi, Head Mahout, ChangChill, working in partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Don’t confuse outdoor with restore
Outdoor tourism and tourism that focuses on restoring Earth’s natural properties are not the same thing. Just because your visitors love to climb, cycle or canoe does not mean that your destination is protecting the environment. In many cases, outdoor tourism can exploit the Earth’s resources such as the overuse of groundwater in the skiing industry, or the erosion of mountain paths by trekking groups. If your destination is promoting charity climbs of celebrated summits, for example, are you also promoting their protection? Do groups have to pay towards path conservation, do they have to limit group numbers, or take alternative routes in order to ease the impacts of erosion?
Example of good practice
A pioneer in ecotourism and sustainable development since 1975, Inkaterra in Peru successfully uses tourism as a vehicle to provide economic opportunities in less-developed areas while simultaneously funding biodiversity research and conservation. We partnered with them to celebrate their 40th anniversary by creating a film that highlighted their pioneering work in species protection and ecotourism.
“Since 1978, Inkaterra has produced flora and fauna inventories. We have over 214 bird species registered within our grounds. We have 372 native orchid species in their habitat, within the hotel. Butterflies, 110 species. Ferns, 98 species. Where else can you find that?!” - José Koechlin, Founder and CEO Inkaterra.
Connect with protected areas
It’s time to break down the divide between protected areas and destination management organizations. National parks, state parks, national forests, nature reserves and conservancies are so often around the same tourism stakeholder table, and yet don’t share the same content or brand mission. However, when it comes to restoring the Earth, there is only one brand and there can also be a united content strategy. The USA’s National Park Service has a wealth of content created by naturalists, conservationists and many other ‘ists’ on their lists. If you have a nature section on your destination website (and if you don’t it’s definitely time to create one), then talk to everyone around the table to see if you can share content resources. Or even better, start pulling resources to create new content that focuses on restoring Earth together.
Example of good (and could be better) practice
When you dig deeply into Yellowstone’s National Park website, for example, there is an array of magnificent content, one being Yellowstone Soundscapes. Here you can hear the call of a bevy of birdlife including from the bald eagle to the common loon. Yet, if you go on nearby destination management websites, these are nowhere to be found. The national park’s wildlife isn’t restricted from traveling thankfully, and so their sounds and stories should be shared amongst the destinations connected with the park. It’s worth noting that Travel Wyoming does have an excellent article on Tens Ways to Love Our Public Lands but with national park content made available to them, or new cooperative content that they can share, they could boost this list to a lot more than ten.
Creating pledges
One of the best outcomes of the pandemic was the coming together of the international tourism community in a group called, quite simply, Future of Tourism. Over two hundred organizations have signed a pledge to commit to an inspiring list of guiding principles for sustainable tourism. Such pledges, if marketed and managed well, do create environmental change and of course they can also provide inspiration for a lot of strong content creation.
Example of good practice
There is a growing list of travel pledges happening right now, such as Iceland, where travelers are invited to sign up to seven pledges on the Visit Iceland website, one of which is “I will take photos to die for, without dying for them.” The Buena Vista and Salida region of Colorado in the USA has an outdoor adventure pledge which, if you sign it, gives you a free Discovery Pass to get discounts on regional activities. One of the best examples of pledges is in Palau, which is printed in your passport on arrival, and you have to sign it before you get in. They also have excellent media images and stories available, enabling this content to be shared far and wide. In fact, this film was one of the winners of GLP’s “Best Sustainable Tourism Films” video contest in 2019. The pledge is addressed, rather brilliantly, to the children of Palau, who helped create the wording for it. This wording includes, "I vow to tread lightly, act kindly and explore mindfully." Out of the mouths of babes.
Don’t wait for awards season
It happens every year at international travel awards ceremonies when a small sustainable tourism organization is put on the world stage by winning an award. Then suddenly the DMOs reach out to congratulate and collaborate. More often than not, these small community-led projects, which might have been replanting indigenous trees, or creating a community nature trail to restore vital flora and fauna, has been vying for national tourism board attention and vital funding for years. So, don’t wait for the awards season. Make it your destination’s business to seek out the stories of restorative and regenerative tourism now, give them the support they deserve, and tell their stories so that travelers can engage with people who have their green fingers on the pulse.
Example of good practice
The Tourism Authority of Thailand featured the exemplary community-based tourism organization in Baan Talae Nok on their website long before any awards came along. This small community, on Thailand’s Andaman Coast, has been foraging for seafood in their mangrove forests for generations and continues to do so in a sustainable way. They also run tours for travelers to see how they live off the sea in this way. We were honored to create video content about this community and their story also went on to win an award, so well done Thailand for getting them on the map ahead of the game.
Promote peace on Earth
When we talk about peace on Earth in this context, we mean the concept of silent tourism. During the pandemic many of us learned to rewire our brains a little and realized that a quieter world was a wonderful world. Tourism organizations need to create marketing content around this, and reach out to travelers who want to keep seeking out silence on their travels. For example, you could have a tab on your website promoting silent sanctuaries such as wildlife reserves, car-free islands or forest trails. These products may already exist on your website in other sections, but you can redirect it to zoom in on the zeitgeist. For more thoughts on silent tourism, read our article ‘Silence is golden, green and sustainable.’
