OPPOSITE PAGE Playa Viva has various room options on the property for all types of travelers, including treehouses, suites, and casitas like the one shown. LEFT A traveler shows off a lucky catch during a fishing excursion at Playa Viva. RIGHT If sleeping in trees is your thing, the Original Jet Treehouse at Playa Viva contains a king-sized bed, a private bathroom, and ocean views for days.
sourced materials. Communal meals come from the resort’s women-run regenerative farm. Owners helped employees create a cooperative bank to fund community entrepreneurial and sustainability projects. All this, plus a dreamy oceanfront location and free yoga and Pilates classes. Some say Playa Viva is one of the most advanced regenerative travel destinations in the world. Definitions of regenerative travel are still developing, but tourism industry leaders generally agree that regenerative travel picks up where sustainable travel (leaving a place the same as it was when you arrived) leaves off. In a perfect world, regenerative travel aims to use tourism to restore a destination, leaving it better than it was before you got there. While that may raise eyebrows—it sure hints of a colonialist mentality—
regenerative travel also aims to take its cues from locals, often indigenous leaders, who create opportunities for visitors to participate in the stewardship of the land while benefiting the local community. In response to jetsetters’ growing desire to feel like their vacations don’t harm the planet, it has become the most buzzed-about travel trend of the post-pandemic age. An Expedia Group Media Solutions survey found that nine out of 10 travelers are looking for sustainable options when planning trips. Many of them have turned toward hotels and experiences offering regenerative travel options— but what, exactly, does that mean? There’s no clear blueprint for what’s truly regenerative and what’s simply greenwashing. One hotel might put a succulent by the bed and call themselves green, while another will
power smart TVs and electric car chargers with the sun and say they’re sustainable. Yet another destination will offer visitors hotel discounts for helping restore an ancient forest and be deemed regenerative. In practice, this type of travel can expect a lot from people simply wanting a vacation. To meet its aims, tourists must select a hotel, restaurant, or activity based on its environmental impact, asking, “How does the property source its water, its food, its building materials?” They should also consider the leadership (do the area’s indigenous people own and run the show?) and the larger community impact (is the property investing in the local economy and land?). In addition, visitors are expected to actively participate in bettering the area—that might look like joining conservation projects to
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