Yarra Ranges Tourism

Workshop Details

The Why, What & How of Building a Sustainable & Regenerative Tourism Business

The carefully curated 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.

We worked closely with Yarra Ranges Tourism to refine the workshop and ensure key areas were addressed and expectations were exceeded.

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.

 

Content Themes

• Values & Purpose
• Sustainable & Regenerative Tourism Principles
• Practical Implementation Ideas

Key Outcomes for Tourism Business Owners

• Understand what their business purpose is, and how that aligns with Guest's motivations and behaviours
• Understand what sustainability and regenerative means, and why it makes good business sense
• Confidently start thinking about and mapping their sustainability and regenerative journey, with rock solid, practical steps to get started with both short and longer term actions.
• Understand sustainability is an ongoing journey, not a destination (or a tick box exercise!)
• Support their application/rating improvement of their chosen sustainability accreditations (eg. Ecotourism Australia Strive 4 Sustainability Scorecard, BCorp etc)
• Have a network of likeminded businesses who are on the same journey, so they have the local support to continue learning together

Check out more detail on this learning topic >

 

Local Impact Learning Tour

After the morning workshop and a networking lunch, we facilitated an interactive half-day learning tour for the businesses to become fully immersed in some of the positive impact initiatives that were happening in the region.

Learning Tours are a fantastic way for the industry to go behind the scenes of businesses who are leading the way to see positive impact in action.

To begin with, representatives from two councils: Yarra Ranges Council and Nillumbik Shire presented on the sustainability initiatives that have been implemented or are in planning for the region including community grants, EV infrastructure, local food networks, tree strategy, urban design guidelines, integrated water management, resilient land management with traditional owners, and practical support programs.

The afternoon continued with a hosted ‘behind the scenes’ tour of Healesville Sanctuary with the Senior Manager For Environmental Sustainability and Events and tourism Coordinator. Participants were able to see in person how Zoos Victoria became the world's first carbon-neutral zoo and the solutions they have found to reduce waste, increase conservation and environmental education, and other processes in place such as compliance for suppliers and partners they work with.

The final stop of the Local Impact Learning Tour was a visit to Four Pillars Gin Distillery which demonstrated some of their innovative ways to reduce waste, minimise natural resources, and repurpose botanicals to make other products, and collaborate with many local suppliers.

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 Yarra Ranges region.