The Regenerative Travel Summit, Sept 20-22: Harnessing travel to regenerate community and place.
HONG KONG – LONDON – NEW YORK – Regenerative Travel, a benefit corporation, travel planning service and an accredited collection of independent hotels and lodges committed to regenerative hospitality, announce it’s second annual travel summit, The Regenerative Travel Summit 2021, which will take place September 20th – 22rd as part of the Climate Week NYC programming.
Last year’s successful inaugural Summit attracted over 2,000 attendees and hosted 40+ speakers laying out the framework for regenerative tourism, highlighting the need for the travel industry to move beyond sustainability to regeneration, spurring action to address the climate crisis and required systemic change. The 2021 Summit looks to continue that conversation, showcasing how the travel industry can be designed to thrive and serve as a catalyst for change, generating economic, social, and environmental wealth. Staying online for the second year, the virtual summit will bring together diverse perspectives in regeneration – from established thought leaders to emerging innovators – to discuss how we can create this future. Through three days of inspiring content open to media, trade and the general public, the Summit’s aim is to develop attendees' regenerative mindset, educate about practical solutions for the travel industry’s greatest challenges, and highlight tools to unite travel with conscious consumers’ desire to do good.
"Through the 2021 Summit we are looking to the future of tourism and our collective responsibility to not just ‘future proof’ but to ensure we harness the industry’s potential to contribute positively to the economic, social, and environmental wealth of destinations through transitioning to regenerative models. We will be providing a platform to individuals driving change, showcasing tangible solutions, decoding the language of regeneration & ‘whole-systems thinking’ and inspiring a move beyond tokenism to real activism that creates abundance for all stakeholders" shares Amanda Ho, Co-founder of Regenerative Travel.
Format & Topics
Each day’s content works to address a timely theme related to regeneration with a focus on showcasing practical solutions and tools to move the industry forward and embrace the potential to co-evolve with other sectors. There will be a mix of engaging keynotes, panels and ‘fireside’ chats, spread across the three days.
O’Shannon Burns, Ecosystem Steward for Regenerative Travel, adds that "it is a critical moment for the tourism industry, with more people than ever before interested in the regenerative travel movement. Through the 2021 Summit, we want to embrace this growing community, highlight the wonderful diversity of perspectives on regeneration, and encourage action. Our hope is that by empowering changemakers and focusing on useful tools that can move our industry forward, we can continue to shift the traditional way of thinking about travel to more regenerative models."
Open to both the general public and industry stakeholders, each day expands upon the principles highlighted in Regenerative Travel’s white paper Regenerative Principles for Hospitality:
- Whole Systems Thinking- September 20: We explore how travel is linked to life on earth and how holistic thinking can help to uncover opportunities for tourism to benefit local communities, support conservation, address the climate and biodiversity crises, elevate critical perspectives, and redistribute power.
- Honoring Sense of Place- September 21: We uncover how tourism can both reflect and benefit a place through regenerative design, community-centred initiatives, and policy.
- Continual Coevolution- September 22: The final day will focus on moving the travel industry forward to more regenerative models, focusing on destinations – the heart of travel – and showcasing inspiring examples of regenerative leadership.
Speakers
The summit will host some of the world’s foremost voices on regeneration and trailblazing innovators over the three days. Speakers already confirmed include the following with many more to be announced in the coming weeks
- Alex Reynolds – Founder of Lost with Purpose, co-founder Decolonizing Travel
- Amanda Ho – Co-Founder Regenerative Travel
- Anna Pollock – Founder of ConsciousTravel
- Anthony Myint – Co-Founder of Zero Foodprint
- Aziz Abu Sarah – Peacebuilder, Author, Entrepreneur, Cultural Educator & Founder of Mejdi Tours
- Beks Ndlovu – Founder of African Bush Camps
- Bill Reed – Principle of Regenesis Inc, founder of IDC
- David Leventhal – Co-Founder Regenerative Travel & Founder of Playa Viva
- Holly Tuppen – Sustainable Travel Journalist & Author
- Jeremy Jauncey – Founder & CEO of Beautiful Destinations
- Julia Watson – Designer & Author of Lo—TEK
- Juliet Kinsman – Sustainability Editor at Conde Nast Traveller
- Katharine Millonzi – Program Development Regenerative Travel
- Katherine Lo – Founder, Eaton Workshop
- Kyle & Katina Connaughton – Co-owners of SingleThread Farm-Restaurant-Inn
- O’Shannon Burns – Ecosystem Steward Regenerative Travel
- Portia Hart – Founder of Blue Apple Beach
- Prashant Ashoka – Designer & Owner of Casa Eterea
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
