Abstract
Regenerative tourism is a transformational approach to healing relationships between tourism, places and communities. Several urban rivers are being made swimmable (again) to mitigate against negative climate effects, promote urban health and liveability and contribute to the city’s tourism potential. This paper examines the application of a regenerative tourism conceptual framework (RTCF) to the Swimmable Birrarung/Yarra River (SB2030) initiative in Narrm, Melbourne, Australia and the dynamics among the key initiative stakeholders. Swimming is applied to catalyse regenerative transformations of the city’s main waterway. Tourism’s contributions to regenerating the river and its community are examined. The RTCF is tested for the development and implementation of a transdisciplinary action research project involving the river, civil society, academic, Indigenous, business, and government actors. Analysis of the SB2030 initiative shows that extractive approaches dominate tourism’s approach to the river but also that tourism can play a critical role in supporting the regenerative development of the river and its community. Rather than a type of tourism, it positions tourism’s core purpose as a contributor to the regeneration of social-ecological systems. Evidently, other sectors must create conditions suitable for tourism to support the multi-systems urban river regeneration impetus. This paper contributes to the discursive developments of regenerative tourism applications and informs urban regenerative development transformations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1361-1380 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Tourism Geographies |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Early online date | 30 May 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Funding
Firstly, we would like to acknowledge the unceded Kulin Nation lands and waterways of the Birrarung/Yarra River on which this study was undertaken. We recognise the Traditional Custodians who have continuously stewarded the Birrarung as one integrated and living entity for thousands of years. This paper was supported by Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, through the Swinburne University Postgraduate Research Award (SUPRA). We acknowledge the contribution of Dr Andrew Peters, an Indigenous academic from Victoria, Australia. Dr Peters provided cultural advice for this paper and was an associate investigator in this study. In addition, we wish to recognise the insightful contributions of our anonymous peer reviewers. Ethics approval by Swinburne University was obtained to undertake the case study research (Ref: 20215736-6717). We also acknowledge the significant contributions of our research collaborator, Matt Sykes SB2030 Project Lead & Regeneration Projects Chief Regen Officer. We wish to thank the other members of the SB2030 alliance for their involvement in this study, including Charlotte Sterrett, Yarra Riverkeeper, Yarra Riverkeeper Association; Karin Traeger, CEO, Yarra Riverkeeper Association; Felicity Watson, SB2030 Alliance member, Yarra Pools; Kaj Loefgren, Strategy Lead, Regen Melbourne. We would like to thank research Project Advisory Group members who shared their wisdom and insights about regenerative approaches to tourism development. They are: Anna Pollock - Founder, Conscious Travel; Matt Sykes - Founder, Regeneration Projects; Sonia Teruel - Co-founder of The RegenLab for Travel; Elke Dens - Global Director of Programmes, The Travel Foundation; Carlos Briceno Fiebig - Co-founder/Creative Director, Global Initiative for Regenerative Tourism & Camina Sostenible; Bill Reed - Principal, Regenesis Group; Laurissa Cooney, Te Ati Haunui-a-P & amacr;p & amacr;rangi iwi descent, Professional Director and Fellow Chartered Accountant, Aotearoa New Zealand; Nora Silva, Founder, regenerated. Finally we would like to sincerely express our gratitude to the research participants who wished to remain anonymous and the following who wish to be named: Tim Bracher, Executive Officer, Yarra River Business Association; Ash Bartley, Specialist, Aboriginal Tourism, Visit Victoria; Diana Morgan, Industry Engagement & Product Development, Visit Victoria; Dr Haya Daghlas, Specialist in Melbourne's Waterways and Maritime matters; Dr Dominique Hes, regenerative practitioner/researcher, author, Chair of the Board of Greenfleet; Nic Cooper, Wild Adventures Melbourne; Chris Chesterfield, Monash University; Nicole Barling-Luke, Regen Melbourne; Kate Rickwood, Victoria Tourism Industry Council; Colin McEvoy, Precinct Operations Manager; Pedro Gallo - formerly Fed Square; Tanya Wolkenberg; Hugh Fitzpatrick, Young Tourism Network; Elizabeth Taylor, Monash University; Robert Molloy, Melbourne Water; Rob Hyatt, Koorie Heritage Trust; Enda Cunningham - Crown Melbourne; Fiona Sweetman - Victorian Tourism Industry Council; Will Slade, Entrepreneur. Local river swimmers who consented to being identified were: Amanda Donohoe; Carmel OBeirne; Carolyn Tate, author Love Stories of the Yarra Birrarung; Katie O'Keeffe; Jedda Bradley; Donna Wheatley; Meg Elkins; and Danella Connors.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Travel Foundation | |
| Fiona Sweetman - Victorian Tourism Industry Council | |
| Carlos Briceño Fiebig | |
| Regen Melbourne | |
| Te Ati Haunui-a-Pāpārangi iwi descent | |
| Kate Rickwood, Victoria Tourism Industry Council | |
| Monash University | |
| Pedro Gallo | |
| Koorie Heritage Trust | |
| Nora Silva | |
| Ash Bartley | |
| Crown Melbourne | |
| Yarra Riverkeeper Association | |
| Board of Greenfleet | |
| Swinburne University of Technology | 20215736-6717 |
| Lead & Regeneration Projects Chief Regen Officer | SB2030 |
Keywords
- regenerative development
- Regenerative tourism
- river regeneration
- swimmable cities
- tourism development
- urban transformations
