Because that is no longer enough... It is no longer enough just to worry about the impacts we cause when we travel. It is no longer enough to know whether the accommodation we stay in has an environmental policy in place. It is no longer enough to know whether the destination we visit has respect for its history and culture. It is no longer enough to know whether the restaurant where we go uses local and national products.

We have to contribute! We have to leave our positive mark... with REGENERATIVE TOURISM.

Much has been said about sustainability and most of the time, unfortunately, already incorrectly. Or just associated with environmental protection or as a baseless marketing campaign, because what we promote being "green" is anything but what actually happens in everyday life. Sustainability has become a fashion and that is a danger... We start making greenwashing*

When I attended last week the intervention of the President of Tourism of Portugal, Luis Araujo, in Planetiers World Gathering, among many insights that were transmitted to us, I retained the sentence where he commented that Tourism at this moment is considered victim or villain. And frankly, I do not know which of the two roles is the worst.

We do not have to be victims in Tourism... Nobody devalues all the impact that this pandemic is having on the sector, but instead of regretting it, perhaps we should go through a process of reflection: were my management models adequate? Why was I unable to generate enough resources for an emergency? What support can I get now? How can I seek out the very essence of my business, that purpose, and reinvent myself as a company that makes a difference? How can I adapt my business model to a new reality that presents itself?

Yes... WHY WE WILL NOT TRAVEL IN THE SAME WAY

And this is where Tourism comes in as a villain. Let's be true: everything was being too much! I don't like the term "new normal”; it makes no sense. How can we call normality behavior that was destroying the Planet and Humanity? There will be no new normal, but a new consciousness, a blossoming with a new mentality and a new way of living in greater harmony: PEOPLE-PLANET-PROFIT.

Tourism does not need to be a villain, on the contrary. It can, and must, play a fundamental role in the economic recovery with which we will be challenged since it is one of the sectors that drive the economy the most. But its way of acting needs to change and be based on a circular economy and conscious capitalism. In REGENERATIVE TOURISM.

The concept is still very unknown in our country, but it has already been developed mainly by Anna Pollock.

With a systemic vision that covers the relationship of man with himself, with the others, and with nature, Regenerative Tourism proposes a change of values that goes beyond the minimization of damages proposed by sustainability. It is an upgrade to the true concept of Sustainability. Starting from the concept of regenerative development, Regenerative Tourism seeks not only to preserve but also to recover, rescue, regenerate, the various negative impacts that we have already caused on ecosystems, cultures, and individuals as a tourist activity. Once again it considers not only the environmental impacts but also the socio-cultural and economic pillars.

We talk about RESPONSIBLE TOURISM, in which when we travel, we create better places for people to live and visit in this order. There is a respect for the principles of social justice, economic equality, with full respect for the environment and cultures... it recognizes the central role of the local receiving community and its right to be a protagonist in the development of sustainable and socially responsible tourism in its own territory. It operates by fostering positive interaction between the tourism industry, local communities, and tourists.

But enough definitions, the concept to be worked on has to be lived, by all: political entities, institutions, local communities, societies, all tourism agents, and mainly by tourists.

And a warning: we must act now. We must move from words to action NOW!

So that Tourism can be the hero of History...

* It consists of the strategy of promoting speeches, announcements, actions, documents, advertisements and advertising campaigns about being environmentally/ecologically correct, green, sustainable, eco-friendly and relating the image of those who disseminate this information to the protection of the environment, but in fact this is not the case. No real measures are taken to help minimize or solve environmental problems, including often actions taken that even have negative impacts on the environment