On the path to regenerative nature-based tourism in Canada? Insights from the legacy of COVID-19 on Canadians’ travel behaviours

Our global society is grappling with a polycrisis, a convergence of interconnected challenges that profoundly affect life on Earth and demand transformative change. This study examines COVID-19, a health-related dimension of the polycrisis, as a potential catalyst for sustainable and regenerative tourism transitions in Canada's nature-based destinations by analyzing shifts in demand. Specifically, it investigates how Canadians' travel behaviours, motivations, values, and preferences changed across four distinct pandemic phases, and whether these shifts indicate a desire for more sustainable and regenerative forms of tourism or are merely short-term adaptations to COVID-19 restrictions. Drawing on a national survey of 753 Canadians that uses both quantitative and qualitative methods, the findings reveal a growing preference for more sustainable and regenerative tourism practices post COVID-19. This is evidenced by increased interest in local, regional, domestic, slow, and nature-based travel in the post-pandemic period. While challenges such as affordability and cultural inertia persist, results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic opened space for a broader consumer shift, offering opportunities for Canada's nature-based tourism sector to better align with sustainable and regenerative principles as part of its recovery and future development. The discussion concludes with recommendations for multi-scalar action, across individual, destination, sectoral, national, and global levels, to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable and regenerative forms of tourism.