The Regenerative Travel Mindset: Construct Definition, Scale Development, and Validation Across Transformative Tourism Contexts

Sustainability in tourism has largely emphasized harm reduction, yet destinations increasingly seek net-positive social and ecological outcomes. The psychological orientation that predisposes travelers to pursue such regenerative actions, often requiring time, effort, or sacrifice, remains under-specified. We introduce the Regenerative Travel Mindset (RTM), a dispositional, trait-like belief system specified a priori and composed of three dimensions: positive impact intentionality (a deontic belief that travel should improve places), community reciprocity (commitments to fairness and co-agency with host communities), and long-term stewardship (future-oriented responsibility beyond the trip). Across ten studies (total N = 2,541), we develop and validate an 18-item RTM scale. The scale demonstrates excellent reliability, discriminant validity in relation to adjacent constructs (biospheric values, environmental locus of control, growth mindset, and dispositional optimism), and four-month test-retest stability. RTM predicts high-impact regenerative behaviors, for example, choosing surplus-positive trip packages, supporting restoration levies and conservation-linked pricing, paying price premiums, and allocating donations to community-led ecological projects. An experimental narrative intervention causally elevates RTM, which in turn increases willingness to pay, perceived authenticity, and policy support. Practically, the scale enables traveler segmentation, message framing that activates stewardship and reciprocity, product design embedding hands-on restoration, and policy communication that builds acceptance for conservation instruments. Theoretically, the work extends mindset theory to a moralized, domain-specific context and offers a validated diagnostic tool to advance regenerative tourism.