Willamette Valley Visitors Association is First to Commit to the Transformational Travel Council's Regenerative Places Program

WVVA is one of the first in the nation to become stewards in regenerative practices and sustainable travel

The Willamette Valley Visitors Association (WVVA) recently became the first early adopter to join The Transformational Travel Council's Regenerative Places program. Launched in May 2021, the program helps forward-looking destinations co-create a roadmap using a regenerative tourism process, as well as principles designed to improve the well-being of their communities and environment. "Regenerative tourism" is the idea that tourism should leave a place better than it was before and represents a sustainable way of traveling and discovering new places.

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McKenzie River Regenerative Travel Project participant helps replant areas affected by wildfires. (Photo: Business Wire)

"The Willamette Valley Visitors Association is committed to highlighting the culture, heritage and natural resources of our region while taking a leadership position in exploring how regenerative tourism can transform travel," said Dawnielle Tehama, executive director of Willamette Valley Visitors Association. "We were thrilled to be selected as the Regenerative Places Program's first early adopter, and we're eager to implement strategies that will serve our region's hosts, travelers, winemakers, farmers and artisans while also mitigating the negative effects that over-tourism can have on our parks, trails, waterfalls, and other natural areas as well as the impact on local affordable housing and perpetually stressed labor market/worker shortages."

As an early adopter in the Regenerative Places Program, WVVA will help define regenerative tourism principles for destinations, as well as develop an action plan through an inclusive, stakeholder-driven process with the Transformational Travel Council. In addition, WVVA is licensed to use the council's transformational travel curriculum to scale up travel offerings among the region's stakeholders and community members.

Since committing to the program in 2019, WVVA has made efforts to create several travel opportunities that steward regenerative practices and sustainable travel. For example, WVVA has led multiple regenerative travel tours to rebuild areas affected by wildfires or erosion, and plans to continue offering these tours into the Fall of 2022. WVVA also supports winemakers and farmers as they pursue avenues to preserve land, such as Left Coast Estate's mission to protect the oak savannas and woodlands around the Willamette Valley. In addition, WVVA has an on-staff agritourism coordinator to connect the Valley's farmers to visitors and highlight sustainable tourism offerings. For more information on what WVVA is doing to make the valley a Regenerative Place, visit: https://willamettevalley.org/regenerative-sustainable-travel/.

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About the Willamette Valley Visitors Association

The Willamette Valley, defined as the area between the crest of the Cascade Mountains and the crest of the Coast Range, from Newberg south to Cottage Grove, is the largest river valley in the Pacific Northwest. Willamette Valley Visitors Association (WVVA) is a private, nonprofit organization that supports travel and tourism in the Willamette Valley, Oregon's Wine Country. Comprising six destination marketing organizations, WVVA works to maintain the Willamette Valley as Oregon's premier travel destination, while also highlighting the culture, heritage and natural resources of the region. For more information, visit https://willamettevalley.org/.

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