Call for Case Studies in Regenerative Tourism

Resilience and Regeneration: A Global Study of Nature-based Solutions in Tourism

Please complete the form below no later than July 21st, 2021 to be considered for this opportunity.

As the UN Decade of Ecological Restoration begins in 2021, there is a need to reimagine the tourism industry as a key catalyst for positive social and environmental change. What does it mean for tourism to go beyond “sustaining” a place—but instead actively regenerate ecosystems, improve community well-being, and create better economic opportunities? How are communities and ecosystems made more resilient to crises—from COVID-19 to climate change—when tourism operators embrace nature as the solution? Regenerative travel and tourism—and the way in which you practice it—may hold the answers.

This global study of regenerative tourism practitioners will provide an opportunity for you to showcase your tourism practices to a global network of industry leaders and future visitors. Led by the research team at Solimar International, tourism operators around the world will be benchmarked and assessed against the IUCN Global Standards for Nature-based Solutions, adapted to a tourism context with regenerative tourism practices centered as nature-based solutions. While adopting academically rigorous methodology, this study will also appeal to popular media outlets and audiences around the world utilizing the extensive network and PR experience from the Solimar International team and its collaborators.

Participants in this study will have the opportunity to showcase their work to a global network of tourism practitioners, policymakers, and potential visitors in three key ways:

• A white paper, magazine-style publication co-written by Solimar International and other organizations within the sustainable tourism development space, highlighting case studies and best practices on how to incorporate regenerative nature-based principles into tourism development. This can be distributed to shareholders, guests, or future investors.
• Article features in domestic and international media outlets such as Wanderlust, BBC Travel, National Geographic, and local media publications in your country of operation.
• Episode features on the Sustainable Destinations Podcast developed by Solimar International and its Institute for Sustainable Destinations, launching soon to a network of thousands of tourism industry professionals.
• Case studies and data points in an academic and peer-reviewed publication.

To be eligible to participate in this study, you must represent a tourism business, destination, or organization that is utilizing tourism to finance or facilitate the protection, sustainable management, or restoration of ecosystems (both marine and terrestrial). This is in line with the IUCN definition of nature-based solutions as “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.”

As a participant in this study and showcase, you will be asked for 15 to 60 minutes of your time to complete the following:

• A short 15-minute online questionnaire to gain relevant background information on your business or project;
• An optional 45-minute semi-structured interview to cover relevant tourism practices in-depth; and
• An optional 30-minute interview with more public-facing questions for an opportunity to showcase your work on the Sustainable Destinations Podcast

The Principal Investigator for this project is Chloe King, a sustainable tourism researcher trained in social and marine science techniques with extensive experience conducting research on tourism development in destinations around the world, in collaboration with Solimar International and the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh.

If you are interested in participating, please fill out the interest form below or email Chloe King at [email protected]. The deadline to participate is July 21st; you must fill out the interest form below prior to the deadline.