Moving us towards a regenerative tourism futureYOURWORD

• Published date: 08 July 2021
• Date: 08 July 2021

But this uncertainty and global lull in tourism has also created an opportunity to rethink our purpose, how we operate and how we measure success, so we can begin making change before international demand returns.

While this may seem counter-intuitive right now, particularly with the recent pause to quarantine-free travel, our community as a whole has a chance to shape tourism in a way that fits more cohesively with our place and our people.

A tourism industry which fosters reciprocal benefits to the community, the visitor, and the environment.

Pre-Covid, tourism commentary often included pressures on our environment and community as well as on local infrastructure, facilities, and roads.

Post-lockdown, the conversation has shifted to how this core industry should look if, and when, international travel returns in scale.

So, here’s the big question we need your help with:

How can the visitor economy be in the service of, and adding value to the district, its living ecosystems and its communities in a way that also delivers appropriate financial benefits and a thriving economy?

The visitor economy is critical to our region, so what we do matters, as the residents, business owners and workers who make up this community.

For some time, Destination Queenstown (DQ) and Lake Wanaka Tourism (LWT) have been signalling our intention to work on a regenerative approach to tourism, and we’re now kicking off the project.

Given the Covid-impacted environment, the government has made funding available to regional tourism organisations around New Zealand to start moving the industry in a regenerative direction and create future resilience.

So what is regenerative?

It’s a shift in mindset and more than sustainability, which is focused on minimising tourism impacts, or doing no harm.

‘Regenerative’ refers to a visitor industry that creates value in a way that ultimately makes our home a better place.

It’s also good business practice.

As travellers ourselves, we know that no one wants to go to a place if it’s degraded and a poor-quality experience.

This is a new era of thinking to evolve and future-proof tourism, so it’s important we take a collaborative, district-wide approach to guiding decision-making and planning (also noting work is underway on creating economic diversification across the district).

To that end, DQ and LWT have formed a partnership with the Queenstown Lakes District Council.

Over the next six months we will work with the community, visitor industry and...