Regenerative Tourism
ATLAS Special Interest Group
Regenerative Tourism
The coordinators of this Special Interest Group are:
Sanna-Mari Renfors – Lapland University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Aisling Ward – Munster Technological University, Ireland
Kati Koivunen – Lapland University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Fiona Scott Hayward – Munster Technological University, Ireland
Mary Rose Stafford – Munster Technological University, Ireland
Regenerative tourism seeks to improve the regenerative capacity and the social and ecological wellbeing of places and communities (Bellato et al., 2023; Iddawala & Lee, 2025). Tourism is seen as a living system; it is developed from the unique potential of place and embraces the ecological worldview. Thus, regenerative tourism is about enhancing the mutually beneficial, complex and co-evolving relationship between people and their place, humans and natural systems with a bottom-up approach. Indeed, a mindset shift is underway with new ways of being, knowing and doing, emerging as a necessary transformation towards the regenerative paradigm (Ateljevic, 2020).
There is a growing momentum to rethink the impacts of tourism on destinations. In response to this, regenerative tourism research has accelerated over the last few years with tourism scholars, industry and policymakers examining how it can address related challenges beyond a sustainable tourism approach. This is supported by EU policies and projects seeking to make destinations and SMEs more resilient, adopting regenerative approaches in response to pressures including climate change and overtourism.
This Regenerative Tourism Special Interest Group (SIG) provides an opportunity to respond to the need for more research and to act as a positive force to advance the regenerative tourism mindset. It acts as a platform for researchers and scholars interested in regenerative tourism to contribute to the academic debate on the topic, support governments and tourism industry in regenerative transformation. It aims to foster a comprehensive forum for exploring how embracing an ecological worldview, the regenerative mindset and the principles of regenerative development can be applied to tourism. It enables researchers to build relationships, explore and work together to advance theoretical, methodological and practical knowledge on increasing the regenerative capacity, capability and wellbeing of natural and human living systems in a tourism context.
This SIG drives and accelerates regenerative transformation towards creating conditions and space for nature and communities to thrive.
The overarching aims of this SIG include:
- providing a community for academic collaboration through conferences, seminars, webinars and other information exchange activities advancing regenerative tourism knowledge and understanding
- developing knowledge exchange and collaborative intra-, inter- and multidisciplinary research to support policy makers, DMOS, tourism businesses, educators
- enabling collaborative international funding opportunities and joint research projects as well as co-authored publications among members
contributing to education and capacity building by supporting - curriculum development and student involvement in regenerative tourism research and development activities
- nurturing long-term academic and tourism stakeholder partnerships
ATLAS SIG Soundbite 20 – Regenerative Tourism
In the ATLAS SIG Soundbites series the different ATLAS Special Interest Groups tell about their SIG.
Annual review of activities – 2026
The regenerative tourism special interest group was established in 2026, following a period of planning and consultation with other ATLAS SIGs, and ATLAS coordinators to determine the need for this group in ATLAS.
Regenerative tourism research has accelerated over the past few years with tourism scholars, industry and policymakers examining how it can address related challenges beyond a sustainable tourism approach. It was therefore considered timely to include this SIG in the ATLAS suite of research groups.
The official launch of the SIG was on the 8th of May 2026 in the form of a webinar. Three guest speakers were invited to share their expertise and experience of regenerative tourism practice and strategy implementation: Kaisa Kosonen from the City of Helsinki Tourism Development, Vincent Nijs from Visit Flanders, and Niall and Inez Heenan from Fushcia Lane Farm, Ireland.
A Special Track in regenerative tourism will be held at the annual ATLAS conference in Leeds 23rd – 26th June, 2026. Altogether, 16 presentations approach regenerative tourism from various perspectives at the conference. A range of topics are presented from conceptual theoretical approaches to application of regenerative tourism practices, innovative methodologies and acknowledging the gaps that exist in the literature. The first SIG in-person meeting will also take place during the annual ATLAS conference.
The work will continue with another webinar in autumn 2026 discussing the current state of regenerative tourism in Europe. A survey will be sent to registered members, webinar and special track participants in early autumn to co-create and finalise the yearly plan for the year 2027.