The Hotel Britomart put sustainable stay at top of mind
The Hotel Britomart, New Zealand’s first hotel to receive a five Green-Star rating, is one of Tāmaki Makaurau’s most stylish properties. It highlights the beauty of Aotearoa at every touchpoint while offering sustainable accommodation and dining in the CBD. Proudly New Zealand owned and operated, the hotel is dedicated to championing sustainability innovation and now offers Auckland’s first hotel-led regenerative travel experience.
The Hotel Britomart is also the first local property to meet the meaningful and regenerative travel trend head-on, with a beautiful new initiative that takes guests into our native bush for an immersive sensory adventure. Meaningful and regenerative travel is a concept recognised by the tourism industry that goes beyond the limits of sustainable travel. While sustainable travel focuses on minimising the negative impacts of tourism, regenerative travel aims to leave a positive impact on the destination. In Intrepid Travel’s recent ‘A Sustainable Future for Travel ’report, ‘People-Positive’ travel is pegged as the successor to sustainable travel. Going forward, regenerative travel will focus on travel being social-led instead of product-led, says the report, with people-positive travel focusing on forging deeper human connections, as well as considering the environmental and social impact.
Inclusivity will also be key, with travel companies focusing on social change through connection. With all of this top of mind, The Hotel Britomart has launched a regenerative half-day/four-hour excursion to a native forest farm — a kind of agroforestry under the banner Nourishing Naturehonouring the key principles and practices associated with regenerative travel: Community Engagement, Environmental Conservation, Cultural Respect, Economic Empowerment and Education and Awareness. Guests make the half-hour journey to Velskov’s native forest farm in an electric van. There, they learn how to forage native foods, about the taste qualities and traditional uses of native herbs and plants, about local customs and culture and plant a native tree to restore the forest, sequester carbon into the future and stand as a lasting marker of their trip to New Zealand. They will also learn about the destination’s history, have the opportunity to support local artisans and foster cultural exchange.
The Hotel Britomart has partnered with Velskov, are generative New Zealand native forest farm located in Huia, 30km west of Auckland’s CBD, to offer the experience Clinton Farley, General Manager at The Hotel Britomart, explains that the primary goal of this unique experience is to educate guests on the significance of regenerating New Zealand forests, which enhances biodiversity and restores native wildlife. “Guests will not only have the opportunity to plant a tree themselves but also immerse in forest cuisine, learning about traditional native herbs and plants, as well as local customs related to regenerative food practices in a biodiverse native forest. Hotels and our wider tourism industry have a crucial part to play in sustainability and regenerative travel is an important space for us. We see it as an opportunity to help our guests learn more about sustainability and give back in a small way to the communities they are visiting. We hope by taking part in this tour, our guests will gain a better understanding of the importance of regenerating native forests and take that knowledge backhome.”
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