Regenerative Tourism in Practice – with Transitionmanager Anouschka Trauschke

Over this column:

What does regenerative tourism really look like, beyond the theory and buzzwords? In this series, Anouschka Trauschke, Transition Manager for Regenerative Tourism at Inholland University of Applied Sciences, shares her experiences from the field. Through the SPRONG project Hospitable Transitions, she explores, together with pioneers, professionals, and communities, how tourism can contribute to positive social and ecological change in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region.

In her columns, Anouschka takes you along on her encounters with frontrunners, her conversations with experts, and her reflections on what regeneration means for places, people, and systems. No blueprints or quick fixes—just observations, questions, and insights from a transition that is very much in motion.

This series is intended as both inspiration and invitation: to look at tourism differently, to highlight existing initiatives, and to collaboratively build new stories about hospitality, area development, and care for people and nature.

Regenerative Tourism in Practice

What does regenerative tourism look like in practice? Over the past few months, I have been exploring this question, talking with experts and visiting pioneers in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region. Through the SPRONG project Hospitable Transitions, we aim to make the transition visible and support pioneers in building a new future.

Steward-owned business models, circular shops, food from regenerative farms — pioneers are showing that an alternative path is possible. This helps to visualise a new future and gives insight into the steps needed to achieve it. At Inholland, we focus on Regenerative Area Development in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region: a place-based approach where the needs of the local community and nature are central. We bring together pioneers from business, education, government, and local communities to explore barriers and opportunities and initiate local actions.

It’s about a new way of thinking

It’s human nature to immediately start thinking about tourist products, but regeneration is primarily a mindset, a way of seeing the world:

• From care and love for people and places: the local community and destination as the starting point
• A living ecosystem where humans and nature are equal: seeing tourism as a network of connections
• A new story we have yet to build together: changing the way we think, travel, and work

It is also important to consider what already exists and to connect with existing initiatives. From this starting point, I began exploring pioneers and frontrunners in the MRA: from campsites restoring biodiversity to hotels offering space for community activities, from farms where you can pick your own food to circularity tours. What do these initiatives have in common? First and foremost, they operate from love — for the earth and care for the places we want to continue visiting.

Regenerative elements among entrepreneurs

But can you recognise or select regenerative entrepreneurs? That proves to be challenging. In interviews with pioneers and experts in the hospitality sector — covering tours, accommodations, restaurants, and activities — several elements kept recurring:

Strengthening connections with/within the community

• Stimulating local entrepreneurship
• Reinforcing culture and identity
• Active nature restoration
• Education and awareness
• Long-term thinking and shared ownership

These elements, and especially how entrepreneurs put them into practice, reveal who is on the path and who is a true regenerative pioneer. Together, we are moving in the right direction — see this inspiration map with over 100 entrepreneurs in the MRA applying multiple regenerative elements in practice.

2026 Programme – Amsterdam Metropolitan Region

How can we make these stories more visible? And how can we further support these pioneers and kick-start the transition of the tourism & recreation sector?

So far, my experience has shown that regenerative tourism can only really be developed locally, in connection with the place and its community. That’s why we are working in different locations across the Metropolitan Region to set up regenerative experiments around Agrotourism, Regenerative Entrepreneurship, and Area Development. To drive broader change, we aim to connect different pioneers within the MRA — to collaborate, exchange knowledge, and build a new system together.

I am looking forward to sharing these stories with ENSUT.