A working glossary for regenerative destinations

A glossary is a set of promises about how a publication will use words. This one is deliberately short and will grow with each edition. Where a term has a formal definition owned by an institution, we say so and use theirs; where it is contested, we explain how we use it.

The core terms

Regenerative destination. A place whose visitor economy is organised to leave its ecosystems, cultures and communities in better condition over time — not merely to reduce damage. We use the phrase to describe a direction of travel, never as a status a place has achieved. A destination is not regenerative because it says so.

Destination stewardship. Shared responsibility for a place’s long-term condition among public authorities, residents, businesses, landowners and visitors. Stewardship implies governance: who decides, who pays and who is accountable.

Destination management organisation (DMO). The body, public or public–private, responsible for coordinating a destination’s tourism. Historically focused on marketing; increasingly asked to manage visitor flows, fund conservation and represent residents.

Place-based development. Policy and investment designed around the specific ecology, culture and economy of a territory rather than a generic model imported from elsewhere.

Bioregion. A territory defined by natural boundaries — a watershed, a mountain range, a reef system — rather than administrative ones. Useful because ecological problems rarely respect municipal borders.

Terms we use with care

Nature-positive. A goal of halting and reversing nature loss, measured against a baseline. We use it only when a baseline and a measurement method are stated; otherwise we report it as an aspiration.

Net zero and carbon neutral. Claims about greenhouse-gas balance. We report what is reduced, what is offset and who verified it, and we do not treat offset purchases as reductions.

Overtourism. A popular label for visitor pressure that residents experience as harmful. We prefer to describe the specific pressure — housing, congestion, water, noise — and who reports it.

High value, low volume. A policy aiming to earn more from fewer visitors. We ask who captures the value and whether lower volume is a result or merely a target.

Community-based tourism. Tourism owned or controlled, at least in significant part, by the local community. We look for ownership and decision-making, not only employment.

Living heritage. Cultural practices, knowledge and places that remain in use by the people who carry them — as distinct from heritage preserved mainly for display.

Terms about evidence

Baseline. The measured condition before an intervention. Without one, improvement cannot be shown.

Additionality. Whether an outcome would have happened anyway. A forest that was never at risk does not become “protected” by a new label.

First-party source. Information published by the organisation responsible for an initiative, or by a party with a commercial interest in it. We use such sources and label them.

Independent verification. Confirmation of outcomes by a party with no stake in the result. This is the top of our evidence scale.

Greenwashing and greenhushing. Overstating environmental performance, and its opposite: staying silent about real work for fear of scrutiny. Both make honest comparison harder.

Suggest a term

If a word in our pages is unclear, or used differently in your field, tell us. We would rather revise a definition than leave readers guessing.