Academic Paper
29 September 2026
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Volume 1, Issue 1 (2026)Read More
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- Academic Paper2 September 2026
Regenerative Tourism and Transformative Destination Management: Developing a Framework through the Case of County Offaly
The increasing urgency of climate change, biodiversity loss, and socio-economic transition has generated growing interest in tourism approaches that move beyond sustainability towards more transformative forms of development. While sustainable tourism has become the dominant paradigm within tourism planning and policy, it has been criticised for its emphasis on impact mitigation and its limited capacity to address systemic challenges. In response, regenerative tourism has emerged as an alternative framework that seeks to restore and enhance ecological, social, cultural, and economic systems through tourism activity. This paper explores the potential of regenerative tourism as a framework for transformative destination management. Drawing upon regenerative development theory, systems thinking, and destination management literature, the study develops a Four-Pillar Regenerative Destination Framework comprising ecological regeneration, community-centred development, integrated governance, and transformative visitor experiences. The framework is subsequently applied to the illustrative case of County Offaly, Ireland, a region undergoing significant socio-ecological transition following the decline of peat extraction and the emergence of large-scale peatland restoration. The findings suggest that Offaly possesses many of the characteristics associated with regenerative tourism, including extensive ecological restoration initiatives, emerging opportunities for community-based development, and the potential for transformative nature-based visitor experiences. Furthermore, the study highlights the existence of a strong regional ambition within Ireland's Midlands to become a leading regenerative tourism destination. However, it also identifies a gap between regional regenerative aspirations and local destination management implementation. The paper contributes to the growing regenerative tourism literature by proposing a practical destination management framework and introducing the concept of destinations as ‘living regenerative laboratories’, where ecological restoration, economic transition, governance adaptation, and tourism development interact within broader processes of territorial transformation. The study concludes that regenerative tourism offers a promising pathway for destinations seeking to align tourism development with environmental restoration, community resilience, and long-term regional regeneration.
Current Articles
Most Popular Articles
- Academic Paper22 May 2026
Barriers to the Adoption of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Service Automation (RAISA) for Sustainable Operations: Evidence from the Irish Hotel Sector
Industry 4.0 technologies, such as Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Service Automation (RAISA), can support sustainable operations in hotels and thereby promote circular hospitality. However, their adoption by hotels may be impeded by a significant number of barriers. This mixed-methods study explores the key barriers to the adoption of RAISA technologies by Irish hotels. The data were gathered between May 2024 and May 2025 via an online survey and through 16 semi-structured interviews with hotel managers and operational staff. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, while the qualitative data were analysed using the six steps of reflexive thematic analysis. The study concludes that while Irish hotels recognise the potential of Industry 4.0 technologies to promote sustainability, widespread adoption is constrained by factors such as high costs, skill shortages, and cultural factors. The study makes evidence-based recommendations for all the important stakeholders, such as hotel managers, employees and policy makers, so that a collaborative ecosystem may be created to facilitate the adoption of RAISA by the hotels for sustainable operations. - Academic Paper22 May 2026
Rethinking Luxury in Tourism: Slow Travel, Signature Experiences, Alternative Accommodation and Policy Interaction in the Irish and EU Context
Over the past number of years, luxury tourism is changing as sustainability concerns, shifting consumer values, and new policy frameworks challenge older ideas of extravagance and exclusivity. This paper explores how modern luxury tourism is being shaped by slow travel, meaningful experiences, and stronger connections with local communities, focusing on Ireland and the wider European Union. Using an action-research approach, the study is based on the creation and running of Within the Village, a village-based luxury tourism accommodation in the west of Ireland, founded on the principles of the Italian Albergo Diffuso (scattered hotel) sustainable model. Through repeated cycles of planning, action, and reflection, the research examines how sustainable luxury practices work in real and remote settings like Connemara and how Irish and EU tourism policies are applied at the local level. The findings show a clear move toward forms of luxury based on time, authenticity, sustainability, relationships, and sense of place. The authors contribute new empirical, conceptual, and methodological insights by showcasing how sustainable luxury tourism can function at village scale, while also highlighting ongoing gaps between policy goals and the practical support available to achieve them. - Academic Paper22 May 2026
A Training Needs Analysis for a Sustainable Tourism Destination Management Programme: A Practitioner’s Perspective
While sustainable tourism practices have long been acknowledged for their potential to reduce negative impacts and enhance positive outcomes, their effectiveness is often hindered by several challenges. These include a considerable gap in skills and inadequate collaboration between practitioners and educators. To meet these pressing challenges, it is essential to strengthen awareness, enhance collaboration between industry and educators, and develop the critical skills needed to champion responsible and sustainable tourism in European regions. As the principles of sustainability advocate for equitable management of tourism destinations combined with the upward growth in tourism activity in Europe post pandemic, there is an urgent need for a concerted effort to expand the adoption of sustainable tourism destination management. Specialised education programmes can play a crucial role in developing practical skills and fostering networks that help address the challenges and complexities involved in advancing and innovating sustainable tourism practices across destinations. The WeNaTour Erasmus+ project (The European Alliance for Innovation and Sustainability Education in Welfare, Nature and Tourism) responds to this call through the provision of a dedicated programme designed to empower tourism practitioners and educators to develop innovative approaches to more sustainable and responsible tourism futures. This paper presents the findings of an online questionnaire administered to tourism destination managers, employees, and students across the project’s five partner countries. The results informed a comprehensive Training Needs Analysis (TNA), which subsequently guided the development of the project’s training and networking initiatives. The TNA revealed there is a compelling need for a combination of traditional 'soft' skills such as communication and relationship building, alongside industry-specific skills, including sustainable destination management tools and project management. The findings underscore the significance of ongoing development of tailored sustainable destination management programmes that align to the diverse needs of tourism destination stakeholders. - Academic Paper29 May 2026
From Linear to Circular Transition: A Multi-Level Perspective on Waste Generation and Circularity Potential in Irish Hotels
This study examines how the multi-stream waste composition of Irish hotels aligns with European Union circular economy targets and what this reveals about the sector's position within a linear-to-circular transition. It provides the first multi-stream waste benchmark for the Irish hotel sector and interprets the findings through a socio-technical transition lens. A cross-sectional waste audit was conducted across 30 Irish hotels, collecting full-year data on food waste, recycling, and general waste. Carbon emissions were calculated using life-cycle emission factors, threshold analysis derived empirically grounded typologies, and circularity gaps were quantified against the EU 2030 recycling target (65%). Findings were interpreted using a Multi-Level Perspective (MLP). Irish hotels remain predominantly linear: mean composition is 50.5% general waste, 30.3% food waste, and only 19.1% recycling, leaving a 45.9 percentage-point circularity gap. Four typologies emerged: Circular Pioneers (16.7%), Food Waste Challenged (26.7%), Landfill Dependent (33.3%), and Balanced Operators (23.3%). Carbon emissions averaged 2.45 kg CO₂e per guest-night, with Landfill Dependent hotels emitting 39% more than Circular Pioneers. No significant differences emerged across star ratings, indicating that managerial practice rather than classification drives performance. Examined through MLP, these patterns describe a fragmented, early-stage transition in which niche innovation coexists with regime persistence. Targeted, typology-specific interventions combined with mandatory reporting, landfill tax reform, and Good Samaritan legislation are required to accelerate circular transition. - Academic Paper2 September 2026
Regenerative Tourism and Transformative Destination Management: Developing a Framework through the Case of County Offaly
The increasing urgency of climate change, biodiversity loss, and socio-economic transition has generated growing interest in tourism approaches that move beyond sustainability towards more transformative forms of development. While sustainable tourism has become the dominant paradigm within tourism planning and policy, it has been criticised for its emphasis on impact mitigation and its limited capacity to address systemic challenges. In response, regenerative tourism has emerged as an alternative framework that seeks to restore and enhance ecological, social, cultural, and economic systems through tourism activity. This paper explores the potential of regenerative tourism as a framework for transformative destination management. Drawing upon regenerative development theory, systems thinking, and destination management literature, the study develops a Four-Pillar Regenerative Destination Framework comprising ecological regeneration, community-centred development, integrated governance, and transformative visitor experiences. The framework is subsequently applied to the illustrative case of County Offaly, Ireland, a region undergoing significant socio-ecological transition following the decline of peat extraction and the emergence of large-scale peatland restoration. The findings suggest that Offaly possesses many of the characteristics associated with regenerative tourism, including extensive ecological restoration initiatives, emerging opportunities for community-based development, and the potential for transformative nature-based visitor experiences. Furthermore, the study highlights the existence of a strong regional ambition within Ireland's Midlands to become a leading regenerative tourism destination. However, it also identifies a gap between regional regenerative aspirations and local destination management implementation. The paper contributes to the growing regenerative tourism literature by proposing a practical destination management framework and introducing the concept of destinations as ‘living regenerative laboratories’, where ecological restoration, economic transition, governance adaptation, and tourism development interact within broader processes of territorial transformation. The study concludes that regenerative tourism offers a promising pathway for destinations seeking to align tourism development with environmental restoration, community resilience, and long-term regional regeneration. - Academic Paper3 July 2026
Cocreating Polycentric Tourism Strategies Using Hackathons
Tourism destinations face increasingly complex challenges, including overtourism in core areas, underutilisation of peripheral regions, climate pressures, and fragmented governance. Polycentric tourism offers a promising response by distributing visitor flows, decision-making, and value creation across multiple interconnected destinations. However, despite its conceptual appeal, practical mechanisms for implementing polycentric tourism strategies remain underdeveloped. This paper examines how hackathons can function as governance instruments for co-creating and operationalising polycentric tourism strategies. Drawing on theories of polycentric governance and collaborative innovation, the paper develops a Polycentric Tourism Hackathon (PTH) framework that positions hackathons as structured arenas for distributed decision-making, collective learning, and rapid experimentation. A comparative mixed-methods approach is adopted, combining ethnographic observation, stakeholder surveys, and social network analysis across multiple hackathons delivered within the Interreg Atlantic Areas Polycentric Sustainable Tourism (POST) project. Empirical insights are drawn from flagship cases in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown (Ireland) and the Charente River corridor (France), supplemented by cross-case analysis of additional POST hackathons. Findings indicate that hackathons can enhance inter-organisational coordination, procedural legitimacy, and implementation capacity when supported by formal stewardship structures, inclusive participation, shared data infrastructures, and post-event funding mechanisms. Prototypes generated through the hackathons addressed key polycentric objectives, including balanced spatial visitation, low-impact mobility, distributed hospitality, and circular economy initiatives. The paper contributes a theoretically grounded and empirically informed framework for translating polycentric tourism from a conceptual model into a practical governance pathway, offering actionable insights for destination managers, policymakers, and researchers.