This paper will explore EcoTourism tools and their role in supporting the uptake in sustainability in tourism activities. In a world looking to minimise its ecological footprint, will travelling to far flung corners of the world to have... more
This paper will explore EcoTourism tools and their role in supporting the uptake in sustainability in tourism activities. In a world looking to minimise its ecological footprint, will travelling to far flung corners of the world to have the ‘eco’ experience be justifiable, and can tools help with this? Will the EcoTourism offerings need to adapt and offer more than access to pristine mature and minimal impact. With this in mind the benefits and short comings of EcoTourism certification tools are explored with a view of looking towards future development opportunities. This is done in the context of the lessons learned by green building tools such as LEED, BREEAM and GreenStar. Finally this paper asks the question about the ability of rating tools to lead to a sustainable future and makes the argument that a shift to regenerative tourism will provide both a new framework for the rating tools and an offering that justifies our ecological investment.
Creative tourism is a relatively new field of research with most attention directed to creative tourism activities in large cities. Little research has been conducted on creative tourism development strategies in extra-metropolitan... more
Creative tourism is a relatively new field of research with most attention directed to creative tourism activities in large cities. Little research has been conducted on creative tourism development strategies in extra-metropolitan contexts. The CREATOUR project aimed to improve understanding of the processes (under different conditions and situations) through which creative tourism activities can be developed, implemented, and made sustainable. This article reports on a national analysis of approaches developed by the project’s participating organizations to offer creative tourism initiatives. At an organizational level, we found five main models: Stand-alone offers, repeated; series of creative activities and other initiatives under a common theme; localized networks for creative tourism; small-scale festivals that include creative tourism activities; and creative accommodations. At a broader community level, creative tourism initiatives can inspire new ideas and avenues of activi...
Creative tourism is a relatively new field of research with most attention directed to creative tourism activities in large cities. Little research has been conducted on creative tourism development strategies in extra-metropolitan... more
Creative tourism is a relatively new field of research with most attention directed to creative tourism activities in large cities. Little research has been conducted on creative tourism development strategies in extra-metropolitan contexts. The CREATOUR project aimed to improve understanding of the processes (under different conditions and situations) through which creative tourism activities can be developed, implemented, and made sustainable. This article reports on a national analysis of approaches developed by the project’s participating organizations to offer creative tourism initiatives. At an organizational level, we found five main models: Stand-alone offers, repeated; series of creative activities and other initiatives under a common theme; localized networks for creative tourism; small-scale festivals that include creative tourism activities; and creative accommodations. At a broader community level, creative tourism initiatives can inspire new ideas and avenues of activi...
Using case study analysis, this paper aims to examine the application of capacity development perspectives, critical towards urban tourism that is inclusive and regenerative. The study design used a mixed qualitative methods approach... more
Using case study analysis, this paper aims to examine the application of capacity development perspectives, critical towards urban tourism that is inclusive and regenerative. The study design used a mixed qualitative methods approach underpinned by the inclusive tourism development framework following Scheyvens and Biddulph (2017). This comprised in-depth interviews, focus groups and observational research. A community-based approach was adopted in a diverse cultural and socioeconomic field setting. The findings demonstrate that people who are marginalised hold valuable tacit knowledge and unique skills that can complement expert tourism knowledge and contribute to the development of more sustainable places and inclusive communities. This finding challenges claims that capacity development must occur before their participation. Local government, alongside non-government organisations and community groups, were found to have a significant role to play in ensuring that residents and people who are marginalised are included in sustainable tourism development. This study contributes to the burgeoning discourse regarding stakeholder capacity development and readiness for inclusion in urban tourism initiatives. Importantly, regenerative development approaches are applied within the gambit of capacity development making this a unique attempt to integrate stakeholders into the design and implementation of tourism planning processes that uphold inclusive and regenerative priorities. For access to the full paper free of cost, see - https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJTC-08-2020-0167/full/html
Creative tourism is a relatively new field of research with most attention directed to creative tourism activities in large cities. Little research has been conducted on creative tourism development strategies in extra-metropolitan... more
Creative tourism is a relatively new field of research with most attention directed to creative tourism activities in large cities. Little research has been conducted on creative tourism development strategies in extra-metropolitan contexts. The CREATOUR project aimed to improve understanding of the processes (under different conditions and situations) through which creative tourism activities can be developed, implemented, and made sustainable. This article reports on a national analysis of approaches developed by the project’s participating organizations to offer creative tourism initiatives. At an organizational level, we found five main models: Stand-alone offers, repeated; series of creative activities and other initiatives under a common theme; localized networks for creative tourism; small-scale festivals that include creative tourism activities; and creative accommodations. At a broader community level, creative tourism initiatives can inspire new ideas and avenues of activi...
Many critics are beginning to look towards a theory of development that moves beyond sustainability predicated on efficiency, towards sustainability based on active and positive contribution. One such exploration is termed 'Regenerative... more
Many critics are beginning to look towards a theory of development that moves beyond sustainability predicated
on efficiency, towards sustainability based on active and positive contribution. One such exploration is termed 'Regenerative Design'. Regenerative design diverges from this perception of sustainability in three key ways.
Firstly, it shifts the frame of reference from minimal to positive impact. Secondly, it questions human/environment relations based on the Cartesian separation of subject and object. Thirdly it attempts to reconnect environmentalism with a socio-political dimension, which has been lacking in much sustainability discourse.
What does this look like in practice? Can we develop regeneratively? These are the questions explored in this
paper through the lens of a project carried out in the Torres Straight Islands in April 2007. The project team comprised architecture students from the University of Melbourne who visited Moa Island with the aim of designing an ecotourism facility. Extensive research was conducted prior to departure, which assisted the students during the one week intense charrette with community Elders and representatives. The local Kubin community was presented the opportunity to accept and comment on the preliminary designs, before the students returned to Melbourne to develop their ideas.
In Moa, the students learnt first hand about the complex issues surrounding community led design. The main challenge was to establish a clear understanding about what the facility needed to provide, in order for it to make a positive contribution to the entire community. It was initially difficult to gain this understanding as each community representative presented a unique set of problems which had either a social, economical, political or
environmental agenda. This paper introduces the concept of regenerative tourism and reflects on the process of trying to develop architecture that becomes an active participant in its context
