The Routledge Handbook on Regenerative Tourism and Hospitality

Introduction

Willy Legrand, O’Shannon Burns, and Jonathon Day

Part I. The Regenerative Imperative

1. Critical Questions on Regeneration with Anna Pollock: Toward Living Systems Thinking in Tourism

Anna Pollock, Willy Legrand, O’Shannon Burns and Jonathan Day

2. From Sustainability to Regeneration: From Minimizing Harm to Flourishing Systems

Malu Boerwinkel and Catharina Fischer

3. Regeneration as Worldview and Practice: A Curated Dialogue with Bill Reed and Amanda Ho

O’Shannon Burns

4. Why Regeneration Now? A Conversation with David Leventhal 

David Leventhal, Willy Legrand, O’Shannon Burns and Jonathon Day

5. Why Regeneration Now? A Biologist's Perspective

Frauke Fischer

6. Critical Questions on Regeneration with Graham Miller: Pragmatism and Blind Spots 

Graham Miller, Willy Legrand, O’Shannon Burns and Jonathon Day

Part II. Foundations - Wisdom, Place, and Community

7. Regenerative Tourism and Indigenous Peoples: Intersections, Indigenous Autonomy and Possibilities

Bobbie Chew Bigby

8. Beyond Sustainability: Indigenous Reciprocity Models in Contemporary Hospitality Design 

Sandi Lesueur and Rosa Walker

9. Travel to a Thriving Future: Practical Steps to Become a Regenerative Tourism Destination 

Paul Taylor

10. Regenerative Tourism as a Tool for Positive Change: A Practitioner’s View of Development through Tourism

David Ermen

11. Regenerative Outcomes in Community Tourism: Insights from Planeterra’s Global Network

Selene Orellana Sevilla

12. Honouring Place and Community: The case of The Tree of Life

Luciana De Lamare

13. Restoring Culture and Heritage

Brooke Hansen

14. Caring for Cultural Heritage Cities through Regenerative Tourism

Cornelia Dlabaja

15. Power and Participation in Regenerative Tourism: Overcoming Barriers to Locally-Led Transitions

Chloe King

16. Sustainability and Regeneration in Tourism: Destination Management Approaches in Practice

Celine Vadam, Santiago Yñigo, Abby Volkmann, Holley Chant, Hylton Lipkin, Mattias Innocenti, MariaPia Intini and Brandy Collins

17. Critical Questions on Regeneration with Anne-Kathrin Zschiegner: Systems-Thinking and Sphere of Influence

Anne-Kathrin Zschiegner, Willy Legrand, O’Shannon Burns and Jonathan Day

Part III. Systems and Design - Building Regenerative Models

18. Tourism and Regenerative Development. 

Elke Dens

19. Community-Centered Tourism Experience Design through Regenerative Practice. 

Jillian Dickens and Jake Haupert

20. Towards a Regenerative Tourism Future? A Comparative Analysis of

Tourism Policymaking. 

Vanessa Taveras-Dalmau

21. Regenerative Hospitality: Systems Thinking and Design Approaches

Alessandro Inversini and Amélie Keller

22. From Ecosystem to Experience: Designing Regenerative Hospitality

Francesco Allaix and Emma Johansson

23. Circular Supply Chain Management: A Conceptual Framework for the Hospitality Industry

Nicola Zech and Annegret Wittmann-Wurzer

24. Building Circular Hospitality: Design, Operations, Stakeholder Collaboration and Strategy

Katharine Le Quesne

25. From Soil to Service: Designing Regenerative Value in Foodservice

Carlos Martin-Rios and Nicola Gryczka Kirsch

26. Net Positive Hospitality: Defining Impact and Measuring Progress

Glenn Mandziuk

27. Enhancing Biodiversity in Tourism Settings

Chalana Perera and Benigno Glenn Ricaforte

28. Regenerative Tourism: Putting Nature on the Balance Sheet for Biodiversity, Climate Resilience, and Community Well-being

James Crockett

29. Developing Regenerative Frameworks and Integrated Models for Green Transitions and Climate Resilience

Kinga Monica

30. Case Studies of Regenerative Business Transformation

Dominik Isler, Corina Jost and Florian M. Wußmann

Part IV. Experience and Innovation – People at the Center

31. Leadership for Regeneration: Collaboration, Metrics, and Contextual Instinct

Clare Hindley and Magda Sylwestrowicz

32. Meaningful, Ethical and Reciprocal Guest Experiences

Ivana Damnjanović

33. Community License to Operate: Best Practices for Implementing a Community-Led Tourism Framework

Annie Combs and Kat Orellana

34. Hotels as Platforms for Regenerative Social Impact: A Curated Dialogue with Sheldon Scott

O’Shannon Burns

35. Regenerative Tourism and Wellbeing

Celine Vadam, Hylton Lipkin, MariaPia Intini, Abby Volkmann and Holley Chant

36. Designing for Flourishing: XR and Neurodivergent Inclusion in Regenerative Hospitality and Tourism

Malu Boerwinkel and Dai-In Danny Han

37. Designing Regenerative Hospitality with Service Robots

Kimberley van der Heijden and Dai-In Danny Han

38. Integrating Local Communities into Ecotourism for Effective Restoration in San Martín Peruvian Amazonian Region

Nancy Karen Guillén, Pablo Romo, Sandra Zubieta, María José Gómez and Fabiana Villena

39. Wildlife Watching in Northern Peru, a New Sustainable Cluster that Contributes to Nature Conservation and Poverty Alleviation

Pablo Romo, Nancy Karen Guillén, Sandra Zubieta, María José Gómez, Fabiana Franco and Maribel Pacco Suma

40. Seeds of Regenerative Tourism: Emerging Destinations of the Colca Valley, Peru

Jonathon Day, Katherine Pivaral, Beatriz Roldan, Sarah Renkert, Carmen Vanessa Franco Franco, Lady Shirly Concha Díaz, Juan Domingo Banda Cárdenas, María Alejandra Maceda Mogrovejo and Erin Olga Trujillo Medina

41. What Regeneration Asks of Travel and Tourism: Interview with Regenerative Futures Researchers

O’Shannon Burns

Biography

Willy Legrand is a Professor at the IU International University of Applied Sciences in Germany with a specialization in sustainable management. He is a visiting lecturer at ESSEC Business School and École Ducasse in Paris, Institut Lyfe in Lyon and CETT (University of Barcelona). He is the lead author of ‘Sustainability in the Hospitality Industry: Principles of Sustainable Operations’ and of ‘Critical Questions in Sustainability and Hospitality’. Prof Legrand chairs the ‘Hospitality Net World Panel on Sustainability in Hospitality’ where 100+ industry experts regularly interact with the aim is to get sustainability anchored more than ever into the business conversation and decision-making.

O’Shannon Burns is a researcher and regenerative practitioner focused on enabling collective action, systems transformation, well-being-aligned economies, and ecosystems of entrepreneurship. Her work is often at the intersection of climate action, environmental justice, conservation, and sustainable travel and tourism. O’Shannon conducts applied research as part of Cornell University’s Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise, and has facilitated projects on regenerating finance, healthcare, housing and business. She is part of Regenerative Travel where she focuses on embedding regenerative principles into tourism entrepreneurship, and Aurora Collective where she supports women leaders and place-based collective climate action.

Jonathon Day, an Associate Professor in Purdue’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, is committed to ensuring tourism is a force for good in the world. In addition to over 50 academic articles and chapters, he is the author of several books and co-author of “The Tourism System 8th Edition”.  Dr Day’s research interests focus on sustainable tourism, responsible travel, and strategic destination governance within the tourism system. He is the lead researcher and director of the Sustainable Tourism and Responsible Travel Lab and the chair of the Travel With Care Initiative.

“The handbook is a timely and transformative guide for anyone passionate about the future of travel. It highlights the regenerative potential that emerges from the dynamic interplay between theory and practice, blending practitioner’s insights with academic frameworks for real-world impact. A must-read for anyone committed to building a more resilient and regenerative tourism industry.”

Catherine Cheung, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

“Grounded in living systems thinking, this handbook powerfully advances regenerative tourism as a social–ecological practice rooted in place, community, and reciprocity. By integrating Indigenous knowledge, community leadership, and nature-based innovation, it offers a compelling pathway for tourism to actively restore landscapes and livelihoods. A vital contribution to both scholarship and practice.”

Kelly Bricker, Hainan University–Arizona State University International College, Arizona State University, USA