Regenerative tourism is the new buzz phrase touted as the solution to Tourism Aotearoa’s image problem. Nikki Macdonald asks what that would actually look like, and talks to businesses trying to walk the talk.
Growing up on the doorstep of Abel Tasman National Park, Johny O’Donnell remembers his dad and rival boat skippers racing up the bays to be first to unload their tourist cargo.
“The best skipper was the one who could get you up the park the fastest.”
That attitude had to go when O’Donnell worked with Abel Tasman’s biggest tourism operators, the Alborn family, to reduce their carbon footprint.
Fuel was a major emitter for the enterprise, which includes a campground, sea kayak and water taxi business.
