“Humanistic regeneration”: A pathway to environmental justice and gender equality in community-based rural tourism

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities and paradoxes of the neoliberal structure of capitalism and tourism as a fuel of capitalism. Targeting injustice, inequality, discrimination, and exclusion in the tourism sector is at the heart of the calls for a radical transformation in tourism development models and foundations. This contribution explores the interlink between two transformative values-based approaches valuing equality concerns (humanistic management) and environment concerns (regenerative development) to shape pathways to justice and address injustice in tourism development and management. The pillars of this interlink captured by the novel notion of Humanistic Regeneration have been qualitatively applied to an exemplary community-based rural initiative. While creating conditions for well-being and thriving livelihood, the improvements made by the local community in terms of environmental justice, social equality, and women empowerment may become guidelines to enhance social and environmental justice in similar rural contexts and correct social, economic and environmental inequalities.