The theme of our 2022 Tourism Forum was regenerative tourism

Our Tourism Forum on 13 October 2022 at Melmerby village hall

As part of the forum, breakout group sessions invited participants to further explore how regenerative tourism could be applied to the North Pennines AONB. Three groups looked at three different themes – destination regeneration, slow trails, and sense of place.

For each group, a head, heart, and feet approach was followed to consider different perspectives, with participants adding words or statements into the outline of a person. Starting with the head, various statements were used to generate discussions around what a regenerative approach might look like within each of the theme areas. The heart then explored how various stakeholders might feel about this approach. Finally, the legs and feet encouraged participants to consider ways of getting there and what steps might be needed to achieve the head and heart outcomes within the North Pennines AONB. A collection of participant quotes from each of the themes are shown below.

Destination Regeneration

Head – What does a regenerative tourism approach look like for the North Pennines?

• Local community sees the ‘value’ of tourism and visitors – both economically and environmentally – they see that it can have a positive, regenerative impact
• Have clear values, articulate them well, defend them
• See tourism as a collaborative, not competitive, venture
• Lead with distinctiveness of place

Heart – How would we like people to feel about a regenerative approach within this landscape?

• Love it, share it, be involved in it, and care for it
• Our hearts are in this place
• I go to the North Pennines because I experience tranquillity, slowness, nature and peace
• Visitors coming back time and time again because they realise that there is so much to see, do, and care about – they feel vested in the area

Legs and feet – What steps do we need to take to create this approach and achieve the head and heart outcomes?

• Maintain traditional skills – stone masons, farming practices, cultural crafts, and heritage traditions
• Protect/enhance the assets – nature, beauty, community – there is no tourism without those
• Create places where people can stop, look, listen, and appreciate
• Join up local tourism businesses that can complement each other
• Develop product based on special qualities and encourage an emotional connection with them/it

Slow Trails

Head – What do the slow trails look like (from a visitor and business perspective)?

• Attract a wider spectrum of people, for example non-walkers and people with disabilities
• Learn about the place
• Appreciate the heritage and nature
• Contribute to local communities and environment

Heart – How do we want the slow trails to make the local community, visitor businesses, and visitors feel?

• Peaceful
• Perspective
• Relaxation
• Confidence

Legs and feet – What steps do we need to take to create this approach and achieve the head and heart outcomes?

• Rank the routes in terms of challenge and accessibility – which route is best for you
• Encourage connection to history, culture, and nature through clear and simple language in the interpretation
• Encourage respect for place and nature through developing understanding
• Positive messages, interactive, engaging senses – stop, look, and see

Sense of Place

Head – What does sense of place look like in the North Pennines AONB?

• Depth of landscape
• Silence, quiet, space
• Regenerative farming – supporting and helping wildlife
• Limestone and red sandstone – built character, vernacular architecture
• Wildlife – unique flora, upland birds, sights and sounds

Heart –How can sense of place strengthen the connection between people and places in the North Pennines?

• A place to make you stop, slow down
• Feel you can strike up a conversation with people
• Fall in love with nature – they will go home and tell their friends and family
• Feel curious

Legs and feet –How might meaningful engagement with sense of place be encouraged through tourism?

• Arts are great to inspire thoughts are feelings and sharing between communities
• Collect oral histories and contemporary conversations
• Encourage events across communities – grown from communities and organisations coming in
• Encourage locals to welcome visitors, talk to them, and share places and stories

Sense of place breakout group paper person

The paper people were hung around Melmerby village hall for the rest of the day, inviting participants to look at what the other breakout groups had created for each theme, and comment or add to. The North Pennines AONB Partnership will look at ways of capturing and taking forward the outcomes of these breakout groups, both on a strategic level and within specific projects, such as Fellfoot Forward’s Slow Trails project, Welcome (tourism) project and encourage people to think about creative projects to take forward to the scheme’s Environment and Community Grants.

Thanks to all the tourism forum attendees who participated in these breakout group sessions for creatively and thoughtfully sharing ideas and perspectives.

You can sign up to North Pennines AONB Partnership’s sustainable tourism newsletter here for tourism related updates and events, and also to the North Pennines Tourism Toolkit.