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“Regenerative tourism, fundamentally, is built upon Indigenous culture. Te ao Māori [the Māori worldview] is regenerative tourism,” said Nadine. “Now people are starting to see us and hear us.”
When a new award – the Regenerative Tourism Award – was added to the 2022 New Zealand Tourism Awards, it became the most coveted. Few were surprised to hear Kohutapu Lodge named as the winner.
“Regeneration is a continual process of rebirth and developing the inherent potential of a place – and that’s what Nadine is doing. She’s created an experience that is deeply reciprocal for both visitors and the people in her community,” said Debbie Clarke, director of regenerative development at New Zealand’s The Centre for GOOD Travel. “It’s not a passive viewing experience. It’s a deep exchange and it’s an invitation into a community who shares who they are on their own terms.”
The next day, on our drive to check the eel trap, the conversation between Karl and I flowed nonstop. We shared ghost stories and tales of our respective childhoods. He told me that he was shy until they opened Kohutapu but now he can’t stop talking. He said it’s what visitors crave most: kōrero (conversation).
Pulling the trap from the water, we found three eels in its mesh, all too young to keep. Karl released them on the shore. They wound through the mud, a slow bid to find their way back to the stream. One, though, seemed lost. Karl, without a thought to its slimy exterior, picked it up and placed it back in the water, ensuring it would find its way home again.
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