Phillip Island & San Remo
Sustainable & Regenerative Tourism Mentoring Program
Across 2023/2024, we partnered with Destination Phillip Island to design and facilitate a bespoke, layered Sustainable & Regenerative Tourism Mentoring Program for businesses across Millow (Phillip Island), in Victoria.
Renowned for its rugged beaches, enriching landscapes, abundant wildlife encounters, and nostalgic summer getaways, Phillip Island and San Remo has created lasting memories for a diverse mix of visitors from Australia and abroad since the 1880s.
But what really sets this destination apart is the community’s unwavering commitment to environmental regeneration which really forms the essence of their DNA and plays a huge role in how they see success for tourism in their destination.
Given its experience profile, and the vision and values of the community to aspire for a regenerative and sustainable destination for the future, together with Destination Phillip Island, we identified the opportunity to activate a program that supports the industry to elevate and implement a regenerative mindset across business operations and experience design.
Workshop
An workshop was designed to cut through the theory of sustainable and regenerative tourism by providing practical tips & tools backed up by evidence-based case studies for businesses to implement that all lead to tourism for a better future.
Throughout the workshop each business was able to work on their own business positive impact plan by setting short, medium and long-term goals, giving tangible takeaways which could be applied immediately after the workshop and into the future.
Local Impact Learning Tour
Following the workshop, we organised and facilitated an interactive half-day learning tour in partnership with Regeneration Projects for the businesses to become fully immersed in some of the positive impact initiatives that were happening across the island.
During the afternoon the group visited inspiring projects and people, making a difference and showing great examples of council and community coming together to achieve common goals.
The group spent time at a beautiful local regenerative farm project which demonstrated a multi-faceted way of tackling and repurposing waste including making a cup of tea from water boiled using food waste-fuelled methane from an impressive biodigester.<
The second location was at The Gap Road Revegetation Site, part of the biolinks project where thousands of trees are being planted through the Phillip Island Landcare group.
Finally, the group walked through Scenic Estate Conservation Reserve (lovingly cared for by the Phillip Island Conservation Society) which is a success story of land buybacks providing habitat for wildlife, and coastal care with the coastline part of a blue carbon project to regenerate mangroves.
The Local Impact Learning tour helped inspire ideas for each business, as well as generate collaborations and conversations for positive impact action both within individual businesses and the wider Phillip Island region.
One on One Mentoring
Over the following months, 13 businesses undertook one on one mentoring to dive deeper into their own business focussed on goal setting and practical application of sustainable and regenerative learnings for their business.
The mentoring sessions help structure and prioritise each business's objectives so that they can achieve a long-term and continuous positive impact whilst thriving as a business too.
Industry Conference Presentation
In later 2024, we returned to the region, to share an inspiring keynote presentation, sharing quick wins on how businesses could connect and progress their sustainability journey who weren't part of the original workshop, we showcased some of the progress businesses in the program had made over the previous 12 months since the workshop.
Results
Workshop
13 representatives from tourism businesses and organisations across the Phillip Island attended the live workshop at The Nobbies Centre.
At the start and end of the workshop participants were asked “How confident do you feel in your ability to implement regenerative tourism practices in your business”
At start of the workshop survey:
- All of the attendees felt either slightly or fairly confident (50/50).
By the end of the workshop, we asked the same question:
- 43% felt completely confident.
- 57% of attendees now felt completely confident, fairly or somewhat confident.
This outcome demonstrated that the content delivered specific, practical skills that enabled confidence within the learning cohort to implement their learnings into their businesses.
This was further reflected in the robust short and long-term goals participants set from their learning during the session.
One on One Mentoring
Checking in with businesses as of mid 2024, there have been some exciting results from businesses who joined the workshop and mentoring, including Wildlife Coast Cruises and Genesta House below.
The workshop was instrumental in helping me to clarify all the ideas that we had been contemplating, categorising them into practical pillars and setting timeframe goals and an Action Plan.
Recently I participated in the Sustainable and Regenerative Tourism Workshop and subsequent Mentoring Program conducted by Nic Cooper from The Tourism Collective. The mentoring program set us on a path of continuous improvement at Genesta House including waste reduction, efficient business operations, a carbon offset scheme, and open house and garden tour which are just some of the initiatives achieved. I highly recommend this workshop and mentoring program to put into action your ideas and reap the rewards for your business, the wider community and the environment.
The past year has been transformative thanks to the workshop and mentoring received from Nic at the Tourism Collective.
The workshop and toolkit resources have guided us in adopting further sustainable practices, such as reducing office and boat waste and enhancing community outreach and events. The ongoing support and check-ins kept us focused on continuous improvement and played an important role in keeping us accountable and motivated on our path to a better future. We’re excited about the future and grateful for the tools and inspiration that have set us on this continuous path of evolving for the betterment of the environment.