The Bold Leap
Who's ready to take a bold leap of faith?
I'm fed up of talking about how the model is broken, the eternally sick patient. We all know it. Some are well ahead of the cure.
B Corp businesses get it. Being a force for good — driving people, planet and profit with an overarching purpose. And here's the thing: you don't have to be good, just better. B Corp wasn't designed for destinations. But the principle holds - build purpose in from the get-go, not as an afterthought. The shift destinations need is internal to external. Outward looking, not navel gazing. From bottom up.
Copenhagen and Berlin are already there.
It's inspiring to be first. Bonito in Brazil - the first carbon neutral destination - shows what's possible when purpose and ambition combine with action. New Zealand went first with regenerative tourism - a reimagining of what the country wanted from visitors. Then rolled back under political pressure. The leap is one thing, holding steady is another. But you don't have to be first. Just better than before.
And here's the rub, governments change. Brave progressive policies get pulled or watered down. What we need is a decoupling of tourism from political diktat. That's why independent frameworks matter. GSTC. B Corp. SBTi. Standards that are agnostic.
Incremental steps count. Get on the journey - a climate action plan with ESG goals is the starting point, not the finish line. Slow and steady, fast and furious — either way, as long as there's movement. So we need to change the narrative, the mindset, the model. But first we need to collaborate.
RegNext in the Canary Islands shows what's possible when sectors truly collaborate — private sector, national and international bodies, tourism, environment and community — all working toward a shared goal of net positive impact. Going a step beyond sustainable to regenerative.
GSTC has the criteria. B Corp has the movement. How do we bridge the two to get the best of both worlds? How do we parse it all together? Maybe there's an AI for that.
Who's up for some collaboration?