KUALA LUMPUR: As global tourism shifts beyond sustainability, regenerative tourism is emerging as the next frontier, and Langkawi’s tourism industry should move faster to embrace it.
The Frangipani Resort & Spa managing director Anthony Wong said regenerative tourism goes a step further than conventional sustainability efforts by focusing on waste reduction, circular economy practices and greater community participation in tourism development.
“In Bali, at a recent Indonesian tourism event, I shared the main topic about regenerative tourism. The subject is already one step ahead of sustainable tourism,“ he told SunBiz.
Under the regenerative tourism model, waste is treated as a resource that can be reused within the local economy, while communities play a more active role in shaping tourism activities and benefiting from them.
“It is about creating a circular economy, reducing waste and ensuring the community takes ownership of the direction of tourism,“ Wong said.
Many of these practices are already being implemented at The Frangipani, where efforts are focused on producing food on-site and eliminating organic waste.
Wong said, “We do not have any organic waste leaving the resort. We are producing our own food, and when we expand our small-scale chicken farming project, we may even collect food waste from nearby restaurants and hotels to support the operation.”
The resort also repurposes materials collected from the surrounding environment. Driftwood recovered from the sea is converted into charcoal and used to build infrastructure such as staircases and benches.
“We even collect waste from the sea. The driftwood is reused rather than discarded. You have to start thinking differently,“ Wong said.
However, he acknowledged that regenerative tourism requires investment and, more importantly, space – a challenge for urban destinations where land is increasingly expensive. “There are sacrifices involved. You need space to implement many of these initiatives, and space in cities comes at a premium,“ he added.
Wong said stronger policy support will be needed to accelerate the adoption of regenerative tourism practices and help destinations remain competitive as global tourism trends continue to evolve.
Wong believes tourism operators who invest in regenerative practices today will be better positioned when carbon-related regulations become more widespread in the coming years.
“There is no such thing as a perfect business model, but some sacrifices have to be made. We know carbon taxes are coming, and by 2030, businesses will increasingly be expected to account for their environmental impact,“ he said.
According to Wong, businesses that have already invested in carbon reduction and waste management initiatives are likely to face lower costs in the future.
“We are creating our own carbon sinks. We bury organic waste and manage resources differently. If you wait until regulations arrive, you will be asking why all these changes are suddenly necessary. The reality is that you need to start now,“ he said.
Beyond implementing regenerative practices at the resort level, Wong has also been involved in efforts to build industry-wide awareness and expertise.
Last year, he led a five-day train-the-trainer programme supported by a grant from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), bringing together around 20 hotel operators and representatives from six universities.
The programme focused on strengthening capacity within industry associations so that participants could transfer knowledge and best practices to a wider network of tourism stakeholders.
Among the organisations involved were the Malaysian Budget and Business Hotel Association, the Malaysian Association of Hotels and the Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners.
“The objective was to create capacity within the industry. By training association leaders and representatives, they can in turn train their members and help drive wider adoption of regenerative tourism practices,“ said Wong, who currently serves as secretary of the Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners and sustainability consultant for UNDP.
Moving on, Wong said that as Asean tourism gradually shifts towards regenerative models, industry players are questioning whether a formal benchmark can eventually be established to guide hotels across the region.
He said Asean already operates under the Asean Green Hotel standard, but expectations are evolving beyond conventional sustainability.
“We already have the Asean Green Hotel framework, but people are beginning to understand that we need to move forward. Regenerative tourism is no longer something in the future – it has to be implemented now,“ he added.
Wong noted that while regenerative tourism is not yet formally defined in Asean tourism policy, awareness is growing, particularly in regional forums. “In Asean, we don’t really talk about regenerative tourism yet. But in Bali recently, I was invited under that title, and it shows the direction is already shifting.”
Wong warned that countries that fail to adopt circular economy and regenerative practices risk being left behind as global standards tighten. “If Malaysia does not think in terms of circular economy and regenerative systems, we will lose out. This is not just a national issue – it has to be done across Asean, and we need to support each other.”
Wong said knowledge-sharing is becoming increasingly important, particularly through cross-border collaboration and industry associations. He has been invited to Indonesia multiple times to share expertise on sustainable tourism development.
On the regulatory front, he said training and certification efforts are already being strengthened through cooperation between government agencies and industry bodies.
Wong pointed to the National Productivity Corporation and UNDP as key drivers in developing green certification frameworks for the tourism sector. “Certification is important. If you claim to be green, there must be a benchmark. Who verifies it? Where is the standard?”
Wong said the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is working with hotel associations and industry groups, including budget hotel associations, to integrate sustainability elements into existing rating systems.
Malaysia is also exploring the combination of green assessment tools with hotel star-rating systems to create a more comprehensive evaluation framework, he added.
“Ultimately, the government cannot do everything alone. The only way forward is for the industry and government to work together,“ Wong said.
To support this, he helped establish the Langkawi Sustainable Community Association, which aims to bridge knowledge and implementation gaps at the local level. The initiative focuses on food security, training and practical sustainability practices for hotels, homestays and small landowners across the island.
“At the macro level, you look at policy and standards. At the micro level, you work with communities. Both have to move together,“ he said.
Even smaller land-constrained countries can adopt regenerative principles in scaled-down form, depending on local conditions and resources, he added.
