Slow travels: how might we change the nature of the travel industry
I tend to experience travels out of the mainstream. They are unique storytelling hubs where I first-hand experience people, culture, identity, nature, history and flavours.
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Slow travel provides me with a better understanding of the community I have been embracing. Also, the drivers of the significant changes we witness affect how we see and travel the world and make us ask how we might contribute in a way we can give back more than we take from the place we travel.
Amid this environmental and geopolitical turbulence, the community I see myself attempting to change their relationship with how we consume is named the regenizers.
This community of citizens focuses on regeneration, as I mentioned in one of my previous writings (Economy with purpose).
I find it valuable to highlight this community, so I am now introducing how the regenizers use technology, communities and entrepreneurship to entrench the post-ownership ideal in their travels.
Data is everything. Empowered by technology and innovations, we aim to track and change our consumption behaviour by educating ourselves on sustainability and circular economy.
Spending gives us the power to take action by supporting and investing in regenerative brands and businesses serving local communities out of the green-washing. We tend to use this state of upheaval to challenge big brands, unsustainable production and wasteful consumption.
We feel motivated by conscious consumerism, transparency, and “regenerative” travel to facilitate change. Conscious experiences in travel are part of the significant shift in our lifestyles.
But how might we give back more than we take?
While purpose represents the collective end for slow travellers, the means through which this is achieved may initially differ from generation to generation.
The way we, regenizers, book travels will be flexible and seamless, fueled by smart banking anticipating our travel budgets, investing in local communities, and having respectful and authentic experiences.
Ultimately, we aim to produce and contribute, helping ourselves and the local communities progress.
The community is connected, creative, and made by avid cultural explorers. Usually, we tend to be self-motivated and entrepreneurial and believe in brands reflecting such mindsets. Generally, brands express a fluid, collaborative and purpose-driven
Forming the heart of the traveller’s decision-making process, we expect brands to have done their eco-research for them, with “premium” defined by the assumption of sustainability.
Over the next decade, any remaining distinction between premium offerings and sustainability will fade from existence as the two concepts become synonymous with one another.
Slow travel values the journey above everything else, and the connection is crucial. Being a purposeful traveller is nearly synonymous with the journey, the landscape, and the act of travelling.
As a result, I think our focus is on profound, powerful experiences unique to time and place, which are:
- mission-driven with an independent spirit
- honours sense of place
- an ethos of service
- where your travels meet your values
We all have the power to do good.
The only way we will be able to heal the earth is to improve our capability to be in relationship with ourselves and our communities. — Anna pollock, founder of Conscious Travel.
