REGENERATIVE TOURISM
Unlike traditional tourism, which often prioritizes visitor experience above all else, or sustainable tourism, which focuses on mitigating tourism’s impact on the natural environment, regenerative tourism asks a deeper question:
Regenerative tourism is a growing global movement - and Hawaiʻi is helping lead the way.
How can tourism make places stronger, healthier, and more resilient - for residents, visitors, and future generations?
It’s not a new idea - it’s a return to relationship, care, and responsibility. It’s about re-centering local voices, ecosystems, and cultural practices in how we design and experience travel.
WHAT DOES REGENERATIVE TOURISM LOOK LIKE?
It depends on place—but here are a few principles you’ll often see:
RECIPROCITY
ENVIRONMENT CARE
Visitors are encouraged to give back, not just take.
Tourism supports health of ʻāina (land) and kai (sea).
CULTURAL INTEGRITY
Experiences are rooted in place-based authenticity.
LOCAL LEADERSHIP
INTENTIONAL DESIGN
Communities guide how tourism looks and feels.
Businesses align with values, not just profits.
Regenerative tourism draws from Indigenous worldviews, systems thinking, and dissatisfaction with the limits of sustainability. Instead of simply maintaining the status quo, regeneration aims to restore what’s been lost and grow what’s been harmed.
Around the world, destinations are adopting this mindset:
In New Zealand, Māori values of guardianship (kaitiakitanga) shape how visitors engage with land and community. [Learn more about the Tiaki Promise.]
In Costa Rica, community-based ecotourism supports conservation and local livelihoods. [Explore Costa Rica’s commitment to people and place.]
In Iceland, a wave of small tourism businesses is reimagining their role in regeneration - from hosts to healers of land and culture. [See how regeneration is reshaping travel across the North.]
Hawaiʻi brings its own deep foundation of ancestral values - like mālama, aloha, kuleana, and pilina - to this global conversation.
A GLOBAL MOVEMENT WITH LOCAL ROOTS
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE & CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMS BY
To support development of a more regenerative tourism industry, the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority introduced a suite of three new programs in 2024, collectively known as the Technical Assistance & Capacity Building (TACB) programs. Click below to learn more about how these programs are impacting businesses and nonprofits across Hawaiʻi.
The Foundational Technical Assistance program seeks to connect local businesses and nonprofits with foundational knowledge and connections with the visitor industry through a series of free, public panels, workshops, and seminars held across Hawaiʻi and streamed virtually.
The Community Stewardship program is a cohort based initiative aiming to assist local nonprofits that care for ʻāina and wahi pana (sacred places) taxed by tourism by connecting them with the visitor industry, expert assistance, and increased ʻike (knowledge) to build their internal capacity.
The Regenerative Experiences program is a cohort based initiative that aims to expand Hawaiʻi’s regenerative visitor industry by working with local businesses and nonprofits to develop more culturally-based, sustainable experiences for visitors that support local communities.
CONTACT US
Hoping to learning more about the move toward a more regenerative visitor industry for Hawaiʻi?
Interested in joining one of HTA’s cohort programs, or learning more about upcoming Foundational Technical Assistance workshops?
Fill out the contact form to the right, and we will be in touch soon.