The IMPACT Magazine Volume 2
The World We Are Building Together
Collaboration & partnership creates opportunity to turn vision into action
By Starr McMichael
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Estimated read time: 4 minutes ↓
As we prepare to host our 10th conference in January 2027, I find myself reflecting on a simple question: what does it actually take to move an idea into practice?
Over the past decade, IMPACT has become a place where people come together to explore how tourism can contribute to stronger communities, healthier ecosystems, and more resilient destinations. The conversations have evolved, the network has grown, and regenerative tourism has moved from the margins toward the mainstream.
None of that happens on its own.
It takes people willing to share ideas, challenge assumptions, and learn from one another. It takes organizations willing to invest in long-term change. And it takes partners who understand that meaningful transformation rarely happens overnight.
In my previous column, The Power of Partnership, long-time supporters shared why they continue to support IMPACT. What stood out to me was a common thread: they see value not only in the event itself, but in the relationships, learning, and collaboration that happen because of it.
Those partnerships help create opportunities that extend far beyond a conference stage.
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This past January, at our ninth annual Victoria Summit, we welcomed colleagues from New Zealand, adding to a growing network of participants from Ireland, Norway, Portugal, and many other parts of the world who have graced our stage over the years.
These exchanges create opportunities to learn from destinations facing similar challenges and experimenting with new approaches. The result is a stronger international community of practitioners who are learning together and sharing what works.
Our partners also help connect local action to global conversations.
Through the ongoing involvement of Bob Sanford from the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, IMPACT participants engage directly with some of the most pressing climate and water challenges facing communities around the world. These conversations help ground our work in science while reinforcing tourism's role within larger social and environmental systems.
Support from sponsors also makes practical learning possible.
Workshops, Seven-Minute Solutions sessions, regional gatherings, and leadership initiatives create spaces where ideas can be tested, adapted, and applied. Whether the focus is Indigenous tourism, destination stewardship, climate resilience, or community well-being, the goal remains the same: helping people translate ideas into action.
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Perhaps most importantly, IMPACT continues to create opportunities to gather together people who might not otherwise find themselves in the same room. Tourism operators, community organizations, environmental advocates, policymakers, researchers, students, and destination leaders bring different perspectives and experiences.
The conversations are not always easy, but they often lead to greater understanding and unexpected collaboration.
That is what I believe we are building together.
Not simply an annual gathering, but a community of people committed to learning, sharing, and advancing new approaches to tourism. A place where ideas can be explored, challenged, and put into practice.
As we look ahead to 2027, I am grateful to the sponsors and partners who continue to invest in this work. Your support helps create the conditions for collaboration, experimentation, and progress.
The work is far from finished. But after ten years, I am more convinced than ever that meaningful change happens when people come together around a shared purpose.
That is the vision.
Join us in our mission to create a better kind of tourism. Your sponsorship opens the door for further collaboration and more meaningful change.
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