Changemakers: Core Competencies of Social Entrepreneurships in the Context of Regenerative Tourism
Keywords:
Changemaker, Social Entrepreneurships, Transformational leadership, Regenerative Tourism, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)Abstract
The transition of the tourism industry toward the concept of regenerative tourism has positioned changemakers as a crucial driving force in empowering social entrepreneurs to create shared value across the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability. This article aims to synthesize the key competencies of social entrepreneurship within the context of regenerative tourism by employing the concept of changemakers as an analytical framework. A synthesis of literature and case studies from both domestic and international sources reveals that successful changemakers, acting as social entrepreneurs in the regenerative tourism era, possess five core competencies: (1) systems vision — the ability to perceive tourism as an integrated socio-economic-environmental system and to design strategies that restore it; (2) empathic and creative communication that fosters community participation; (3) ability on creating innovation for social and environmental development; (4) participatory community empowerment that enables local ownership of activities and outcomes; and (5) transformational leadership for sustainability. Recommendations for the future of sustainable tourism and the development of changemakers in the tourism business require systematic learning processes, taking action by integrating knowledge across disciplines to promote tourism that restores people, communities and the environment in line with concrete sustainable development goals.
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