Transforming Territories Through Place-Based Regeneration and Hospitality

Around the world, the travel and tourism sector stands at a historic crossroads. Mounting pressures from climate change, biodiversity loss, overtourism, infrastructure strain, and growing community resistance are exposing the limits of business-as-usual approaches and incremental sustainability strategies. While tourism remains a major engine of economic growth, accounting for around 10 percent of global GDP and more than 330 million jobs, it also carries profound social and environmental risks when poorly designed.

Regenerative hospitality emerges as a response to this challenge. Rather than aiming to “do less harm,” it positions tourism as a catalyst for environmental restoration, community resilience, and net-positive outcomes for people and places. Regenerative hospitality is not a certification or a product, but a way of thinking and operating that honors place-based logic, strengthens living systems, and creates shared value across generations.

The Ibiti Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil, exemplifies this paradigm. Since 1982, Ibiti has regenerated over 6,000 hectares, restored biodiversity, strengthened ties with local communities, and reimagined hospitality as a driver of territorial transformation that integrates nature, culture, well-being, and economic vitality.

Through immersive learning, co-creation, and on-the-ground observation, participants explored how regenerative hospitality works in practice and how it can be adapted to other contexts. The white paper draws on insights from the “Regenerative Hospitality Lab Immersion,” convened in 2025 by Regenopolis, The Regen Studio, and Ibiti Projeto, in which the Igarapé Institute, through its impact initiative, the Green Bridge Facility, participated and co-authored the white paper.

Building on these experiences, offers a forward-looking vision for the field. Its core message is clear: regeneration is already underway. The challenge – and the opportunity – lies in scaling this shift through collaboration, shared learning, and grounded, place-based practice, toward a global constellation of regenerative territories.

 

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