Regenerative Tourism: Context and Conceptualisations

Despite the proliferation of interest in regenerative tourism among tourism scholars, the concept remains shrouded in ambiguity, hindering the adaptation of regenerative tourism approaches within tourism planning globally. Through a semi-systematic literature review approach, this study explores the contextual landscape of regenerative tourism literature and consolidates its existing conceptualisations to create a shared sense of understanding of the regenerative tourism paradigm. The review findings suggest that the conceptual pillars of community centrism, possessing an ecological worldview and viewing tourism as a living system, meaningful multi-stakeholder collaboration, and creating net positive effects are fundamental in a regenerative tourism approach. However, the geographical distribution of existing regenerative tourism studies showcases discrepancies, revealing the need for further research from developing countries to facilitate the concept’s scholarly progression globally. The study further synthesises the review findings to develop a conceptual framework charting a pathway towards interlinking regenerative tourism theory within tourism planning.