How Leave No Trace guides the shift from over-tourism to thoughtful exploration.
For decades Banff-Lake Louise Tourism (BLLT) encouraged travellers to experience the scenery and wildlife of Banff National Park. As they happily obliged, tourism boomed and so did the traffic and lines to snap a selfie at the park’s iconic waterfalls and glacier-fed lakes. Eventually, so did the local backlash. Residents began to question whether welcoming millions of visitors each year was worth the congestion and environmental strain.
It wasn’t just in Banff. Globally the number of travellers hopping on planes, trains and automobiles every year increased from nearly one billion in 2010 to 1.5-billion in 2019. The term “overtourism entered conversations, capturing the growing tension between the benefits of tourism and its burdens on communities and ecosystems.
The Pandemic Pause—and a Shift in Mindset
“It’s both travellers realizing this is not the experience they were expecting and residents feeling that there are more negatives from all the tourists than positives,” says Eugene Thomlinson, the director of the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Royal Roads University in Victoria.
The pandemic gave people time to reflect on the type of tourism they want in the future, says Thomlinson. Rather than simply growing tourism, there was a shift to investigating how tourism could be a force for good. Known as regenerative travel, it’s based on the realization that “A great place to live also means it will be a great place to visit,” he says, while the reverse is not necessarily true.
In 2023, Banff-Lake Louise Tourism adopted a regenerative tourism vision. The organization’s marketing efforts shifted to steering visitor behaviour and improving infrastructure, so that residents love where they live and visitors feel good about visiting.
Responsibility Starts with the Traveller
That hints at what really differentiates regenerative travel from eco tourism or sustainable travel: it’s as much the traveler’s responsibility as the hotel, tour operator or destination. That might feel like work, but the guidelines for regenerative traveling already exist–Leave No Trace.
Since the 1980s the seven principles of Leave No Trace have been the backcountry code of conduct. But they are just as applicable for lounging on a Thai beach or admiring a basilica in Rome. And the shift isn’t about doing less–it’s about travelling better. Here’s how:
Seven Simple Principles for Thoughtful Travel
1. Plan ahead and prepare. Research sustainable options—from transportation and accommodation to local experiences. Reduce your carbon footprint, and choose businesses that give back to the community.
2. Travel on durable surfaces. Don’t let your trip be part of the problem. Avoid “last chance tourism,” where visiting threatened sites only accelerates their decline.
3. Dispose of waste properly. Many destinations don’t have the same waste infrastructure Canadians are used to. Be mindful. Carry a reusable water bottle, and choose operators that take waste seriously.
4. Leave what you find. Skip the shell collection or wildflower picking. Better yet, leave behind positive impacts by supporting local artisans and buying ethically sourced, locally made goods.
5. Minimize campfire impacts. Not every culture loves, or even allows, campfires like we do in Canada. Understand and respect local customs—whether it’s fire use, photography etiquette, or religious norms.
6. Respect wildlife. Seeing animals in their natural habitat is a privilege. Keep a respectful distance and choose ethical tour providers like those certified by the World Cetacean Alliance for whale watching or Biosphere Active Nature Tourism Certificated businesses.
7. Be considerate of others. Learn whose traditional territory you’re on. Use Indigenous place names when possible. And wherever you go, be the kind of tourist you would want to welcome into your own hometown.
Show your commitment to using Leave No Trace principles wherever you go by taking the Subaru Canada Leave No Trace Pledge at takethepledge.leavenotrace.ca
