What if you moved through the world as a participant, rather than a visitor? What if your journey became part of the planet’s healing, restoring habitats, uplifting communities and acting as a force for renewal?
That is what regenerative travel offers you; it invites you to go beyond observing the world into helping it thrive. In the face of the climate crisis and cultural erosion, your travels can leave a legacy of connection, rather than just footprints.
Regenerative Travel vs Sustainable and Eco-Tourism
There are many ways to be more eco-friendly when you travel, but regenerative travel goes one step further. While eco-tourism focuses on nature-based experiences and sustainable tourism aims to minimise harm, regenerative travel is about leaving a place better than you found it.
Protecting biodiversity is vital, but actively reviving it is a chance to leave the world richer than you found it. Through environmental restoration, cultural renewal and local empowerment, you can transform travel into a net-positive force. So before you embark on your next journey, ask yourself: How can I contribute to healing this place?
Key Principles
The following principles make up regenerative travel:
Restoration – Renew land, culture and community.
Reciprocity – Guests and hosts benefit equally, with locals leading the way.
Place-based action – Respond to the unique needs and context of each destination.
Continuous learning – Treat regeneration as a living process that evolves with feedback and change.
Why Regenerative Travel Matters Now
Tourism contributes to roughly 6.5% of global emissions, with numbers rising fast. When unmanaged, mass travel places severe strain on ecosystems, from rising carbon footprints to biodiversity loss and cultural erosion. But a shift is underway.
A growing number of travellers are now placing more responsibility on their journeys. When more of us seek not only to minimise harm but deliver tangible benefits to the communities and nature we visit, there is hope for our planet’s future. New frameworks and certifications, such as B Corp and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, help separate marketing spin from impact.
This is a reimagining of what travel can be: collaborative, courageous and rooted in empathy.
What Regenerative Travel Looks Like in Practice
Knepp Estate
Knepp Estate in West Sussex, United Kingdom, was once intensively farmed. Now it is a beacon of rewilding. Across 3,500 acres, cattle, ponies, pigs and deer graze across a mosaic of scrub, woodland, wetland and meadows. Their free roaming mimics ancient grazing patterns and contributes to handing the site back to nature.
Visitors can stay in wildflower-dotted glampsites and take part in wildlife safaris to experience the flourishing biodiversity here, supporting a thriving rural economy built around regeneration. They can also join restoration projects that contribute to the astonishing return of rare and endangered species like beavers, turtle doves, nightingales and purple emperor butterflies.
Tierra Atacama
Tierra Atacama in Chile‘s Atacama Desert collaborates with the Indigenous Lickanantay community to celebrate and restore both land and culture. Set against the Licancabur Volcano, this lodge weaves regenerative principles into its design and ethos, from thoughtful environmental practices to cultural continuity and fair employment.
Guests stay in adobe lodges built using ancestral techniques and local materials like Travertine Marble and alpaca textiles crafted by Atacameño artisans. Experiences include sacred ceremonies, traditional agricultural workshops and stargazing under protected desert skies, all deepening your connection to Pachamama (Mother Earth).
Tierra Atacama offers a meaningful model for tourism that respects Indigenous knowledge, sustains livelihoods and nurtures the long-term stewardship of this fragile landscape.
Seychelles
There is a nation-scale example of regenerative travel in action: Seychelles. Protecting and restoring nature is at the foundation of how these islands welcome visitors; travellers help fund and take part in ongoing regeneration projects, from coral reef restoration and turtle monitoring to managing habitats that support rare species like parrots and manta rays.
Seychelles legally safeguards over 30% of its marine territory and 40% of its land. Tourism revenue and hands-on involvement help maintain these protections, strengthen local fisheries, create conservation jobs and preserve cultural traditions tied to the ocean. By aligning visitor activity with long-term ecological goals, Seychelles shows how regenerative travel can restore ecosystems, sustain livelihoods and build climate resilience across an entire nation.
How to Travel Regeneratively
Choose Regenerative Providers
Look past greenwashed promises to find businesses that work in meaningful partnership with local communities and nature. Certifications like B Corp, GSTC or membership in the Regenerative Travel alliance signal genuine commitment.
Prioritise Transparency and Impact
Ask questions and be wary of vague claims. Reputable providers share annual impact reports, support Indigenous leadership and reinvest profits locally with a measurable impact.
Adjust Your Mindset
Think about how you show up, not just what you do. Engage deeply with places and people, travel as a guest, not a spectator and leave knowledge, restoration and relationships behind.
Regeneration Begins With You
When you slow down, look closer and become a collaborator in the story of a place, you take part in a revolution in how we explore, engage and give back. Regenerative travel is a turning point.
You don’t need to plant a forest or fund a project to begin. You need to listen deeply, tread lightly and show up with intention so your journey becomes part of a future where travel heals rather than harms.
Interested in Regenerative Travel?
Journeys With Purpose offers private, conservation-focused adventures, with tailor-made itineraries built around your passions. We also plan hosted journeys – get in touch with our expert travel specialists today on +44 20 8044 9538 or at connect@journeyswithpurpose.org.
