In light of the complex challenges facing local areas and destinations (congestion, traffic, overuse of resources, anti-tourism sentiments, habitat deterioration…), talking about sustainability is no longer enough. A change of perspective is needed in tourism, moving from a commitment limited to reducing environmental impact to a regeneration-focused approach that aims to positively impact local areas and bring value to the environment and the communities involved.

The mission of destination management organizations is less and less to do marketing and more and more to stimulate stewardship, that is, to manage by putting the concept of caring for the land at the centre.

To achieve this result, the REGENERATE project wants to raise awareness in the territories, activating the social fabric and creating a tourism offer that responds to the needs expressed by the community and the surrounding natural environment.

The project envisages the involvement of territorial areas with different approaches and maturity levels of tourism development, particularly Alta Badia, Tarvisiano, Dolomiti Bellunesi in Italy and Nassfeld-Pressegger See, Lesachtal, and Weissensee in Austria.

The intervention logic includes the following:

1. Work on analysis and monitoring of the environmental, socio-economic and cultural impact of tourism policies implemented so far, with specific reflection on changes related to obtaining sustainability certification according to the GSTC standard;
2. Work on the governance of partner destinations through the sharing of best practices, the planning of a shared communication strategy and the development of a “sustainability toolkit” aimed at tourism stakeholders;
3. An innovative capacity-building and co-creation pathway of experiences and services developed according to a regenerative approach to tourism that will see local communities, specifically young people, as the absolute protagonists.

Etifor provides the partnership with consolidated experience and passion in sustainable tourism and local development of mountain and rural territories. In REGENERATE, Etifor will support the entire partnership, and precisely the Dolomiti Bellunesi territory, to :

• Develop the methodology for drafting the monitoring plan for sustainability tourism policies, which take into account the impacts on the environment and socio-economic conditions of local communities; 

• Prepare communication and good practice dissemination tools that can enhance the specificities of the issues addressed by the project; 

• Design the co-design process with local communities to define regenerative experiences. 

In the final phase of the REGENERATE project, we organised a study visit along the Via degli Dei, one of Italy’s most popular walking routes and an interesting case study to reflect on territorial governance in tourism.

The exchange with organisations such as Bologna Welcome and Appennino Slow, combined with direct experience on the route, allowed us – together with project partners and young people from the pilot areas – to explore the ExtraBO model, which promotes tourism beyond the urban perimeter, a unique case in Italy.

What we learned:

• A walking route can become a driver of regeneration for inland areas: villages at risk of depopulation, where businesses and services were closing, have found new vitality thanks to the flow of walkers, leading to the creation of small hotels, B&Bs, local shops, restaurants and pizzerias.
• The route becomes a “longitudinal destination”, where walkers feel welcomed. This is made possible not only by a structured organisation, but also by a social and relational fabric that has developed its own tourism culture.
• In an increasingly attractive city such as Bologna, investing in outdoor activities beyond the city walls has proven to be a strategic choice to distribute visitor flows and enhance the wider territory.

This type of experience is helping to make the tourism services developed within the REGENERATE project more concrete and implementable across the involved territories.