As destinations globally are starting to think about a regenerative approach to destination management, we’re honoured to share the journey that Aotearoa New Zealand’s 31 Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) initiated during the pause of the pandemic. At the request of the NZ government, and with the support of government funding, New Zealand’s RTOs have engaged in destination management planning and many have begun the journey towards a  regenerative approach to tourism.    This episode is the first in a two part mini series, with this episode focusing on a national perspective, and the next episode focusing on a regional perspective.    We speak first with Kiri Goulter, of Regional Tourism New Zealand (RTNZ), a membership based and funded organisation representing the interests of all Regional Tourism Organisations throughout the country. Kiri describes the destination management planning process all 31 RTOs are engaging in, the various stages of planning and implementation across the regions, and the challenges in transitioning to a regenerative approach to destination management planning.   We also speak with Susan Houge Mackenzie, an Associate Professor of Tourism in the University of Otago School of Business, who is working alongside the RTOs researching the process the regions are going through. Susan brings an academic lens to this process and highlights the commitment of all regions to enhancing their communities, the challenges the varying structures of RTOS creates, ongoing funding needs, developing indicators for success, and the need for a long term evolving approach as capabilities develop. Corrections: Kiri Goulter's role with TNZ was supporting the industry to deliver on the 100% PURE brand, not developing it.  The destination management funding provided by the NZ government was in two tranche's - June/July 2020 and June/July 2021.     Join the conversation Join our LinkedIn network of likeminded professionals exploring what a regenerative future for tourism can look like. We'd love to see you there and hear your thoughts on this episode.   Thanks to: Kiri Goulter, Director - Destination Management, Regional Tourism New Zealand Dr Susan Houge Mackenzie, Associate Professor at University of Otago   Show notes and links Regional Tourism New Zealand New Zealand Tourism Sustainability Commitment Te Ūnga Mai Professional Development Programme  New Zealand Aotearoa Government Tourism Strategy 2019 NZ Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment Destination Management Guidelines New Zealand Treasury Four Capitals Framework Indicators Aotearoa New Zealand – Ngā Tūtohu Aotearoa   Glossary: (Our guests will often use words from Te Reo Māori, New Zealand's indigenous language, in their interviews. We welcome and celebrate this, and for listeners outside of New Zealand for whom these may be unfamiliar, we offer an interpretation here to aid your understanding. For more detail, you can reference https://maoridictionary.co.nz/. We also offer explanations of acronyms and other industry terminology used in hope of making GOOD Awaits more accessible.) Aotearoa - New Zealand Te Ao Māori - The Māori world Tangata Whenua - “people of the land”, Māori people local to a particular area Mana Whenua - Māori people who have historic and territorial rights over the land Iwi - tribe, people Mahi - work ____________ Want to explore what regenerative tourism could look like in practice? Join our GOOD Awaits Aotearoa New Zealand Experience in March 2023.  Find out more here: https://www.good-travel.org/good-trips/good-awaits-new-zealand  ____________ Credits GOOD Awaits is hosted by Debbie Clarke and Josie Major. Audio Production and music is by Clarrie Macklin.  Contact us:  josie@good-travel.org debbie@good-travel.org    Special Thanks to NZ National Commission for UNESCO for supporting this 2nd season of our podcast.