5 Principles to Replenishing Nature through Tourism
[Music]
hi there
my name is amanda ho and i’m the
co-founder of virginia travel
i’m so excited to be here today to share
with you why we must move beyond
sustainability to redemptive travel
in order to protect our planet for
future generations to come
with an increased number of forest fires
floods and natural weather phenomenons
around the world
the climate crisis has come to the
forefront of our society
as a battle of our lifetime then
cover 19 came along and we realized that
the pandemic was just a dress rehearsal
for climate change
as planes ground to a halt and the
travel industry effectively came to a
standstill
we reflected on the basic notion of why
we travel and how we travel
we realized that it was an urgent call
to repair and replenish
the damage that we have done not only to
our environment but our communities
how can we do things better how can we
make the necessary changes to improve
the conditions of life
for all stakeholders the answer
is regenerative travel from a very
simplistic standpoint
being green is about doing less damage
sustainability is reaching a neutral
and regeneration is actually making it
better
when i was working as a travel
journalist just five years ago
i realized it was hard to find hotels
that were truly committed to
environmental and social impact
as i strive to write about properties
that are dedicated to making a positive
change through travel
all my search for these stories i’m a
debbie lementhol
the owner of playa viva in mexico where
i had my first experience
in a 100 off-grid solar hotel where i
was completely immersed in nature
releasing baby sea turtles into the
ocean and eating farm fresh produce
directly sourced from the on-site farm
fast forward just a few years david and
i came together to join forces to create
redundant travel
to make it easy for conscious travelers
to find values-aligned hotels
through a curator’s hotel collection and
effectively make a positive change
wherever they travel
by booking hotels that give back to the
local communities and ecosystems
the travel industry as it currently
operates is not sustainable
we must move beyond sustainability to
regeneration
in order to reverse our negative impact
and move towards a path of overall
improvement
the core five principles of regeneration
say
we have to think differently about how
we exist
by putting these principles into
practice we can begin the path of
regeneration
whole system thinking is the first
principle that recognizes that all
stakeholders
including elements as a physical land
wildlife and people
are considered in every decision as well
as the potential ramifications these
choices have on our actions
for reply aviva in mexico this means
getting people out of their rooms
to the communal area and connecting with
the community that does apply viva
which also includes the staff from there
guests go out to the community and the
farther out they go
the more connected they come to place
through all systems thinking
we can have an all-encompassing approach
that shows everything is interconnected
and ultimately influenced by one another
through our second principle
honoring a sense of place we as a host
can allow the traveler to be fully
immersed in the story of its history
to think upon every aspect of the guest
experience from food
to design honoring sense of place means
to understand its traits and all that to
find it
for fogo island in newfoundland the
honor sense of place
through precise details decided on in
collaborative design
meetings weaving the fabric of its
history throughout the entire guest
experience
from the way they designed their
bathrooms all the way to their culinary
offering in its architecture
they first looked at the inn’s food
offering and encouraged residents to
reactivate the gardens they once
abandoned
so we were returned to ingredients that
they had forgotten and the discovery of
ingredients that their ancestors didn’t
even know were edible
fogo islanders were able to rediscover
what was already on their doorstep
the third principle is community
inclusion and partnership
which is a fundamental cornerstone of
regeneration as its meaning resides in
the community and people that inhabit
the land
four gal oil lodge in sri lanka the
owners established an open dialogue
between gal oil and the indigenous
communities
to offer a chance for all parties to
voice concerns
and become a part of the ongoing
evolution of the space
as a result of continual development and
communication
galion the vedas developed veda walks as
an offering for its guests
these walks offer unique glimpse of a
culture that is rapidly disappearing
by incorporating that community with
this intimate knowledge of the landscape
the potential of the land increases
exponentially and by extension
the need to protect it operating under
this methodology
rewards the traveler with authentic
experiences
the fourth principle of aspiration is
defined as the desire
and the ambition to achieve something
when placed within the regenerative
context
this desire is translated into
actualizing the potential of all
individually and collectively going back
to playa viva
as an example potential rests and what
most would envision as a problem
fly aviva’s at the base of a watershed
and as a result
has a responsibility to look after
whatever goes into it and touches them
so it’s not just looking at the town
next door it’s first looking at the
trash that enters
while implementing environmental
educational waste and waste streams
they can begin to educate the youth and
activate them to clean up
and change their actions they can see
firsthand that waste doesn’t just
disappear
by having the goal to empower them and
make them part of that change
is the essence of aspiration the fifth
and final principle
is of continual coevolution that affirms
that regeneration is not episodic
it evolves continually one has to be
conscious of its evolution
for great plants conservation in kenya
and botswana they were able to transform
a nurse while hunter and poe church
within a leading guide
and eventually a shareholder of the
company a prime example of how
co-evolution of people in place
can ultimately create a successful model
from poaching wildlife
to protecting wildlife for tourism by
implementing these five principles of
our generation
we can begin to transform and develop a
collaborative relationship with nature
in our communities
these principles say we have to think
differently about how we exist
it is ultimately incumbent on the travel
industry hotels
to operators and travel agents to
educate and inspire consumers and
travelers
on how and why they should travel in a
regenerative way
by creating the space for engagement
interaction understanding for travelers
to learn
and experience the vibrancy of a place
is an important first step in inspiring
the paradigm shift
this is just the beginning of the
healing process of our earth
thank you for listening today and we
hope that you will join us in the
journey of generation