Designing a Regenerative Tourism Model in Kandovan: From Experiential Travel to Eco-Psychological Healing

A B S T R A C T
Recent developments in rural tourism, particularly in unique destinations such as Kandovan, have been largely shaped by experience-oriented models, cultural consumerism, and the commodification of indigenous spaces. Although these trends have generated short-term economic benefits, they have in the long term contributed to the erosion of cultural capital, socio-ecological systems degradation, and place identity erosion. In response to these challenges, the concept of “regenerative tourism” has emerged as an innovative approach within sustainable tourism development, emphasizing the simultaneous restoration of natural and social environments, the enhancement of human–environment interactions, and the revitalization of the cultural and social capacities of local communities. This study aims to develop a conceptual model of regenerative tourism tailored to the context of Kandovan Village. The research adopts an inductive qualitative content analysis approach, drawing on data from a systematic review of theoretical literature and selected field-based studies. Data analysis was conducted using MAXQDA software following a systematic coding procedure. The findings indicate that the regenerative tourism model in this context is structured around three core components: (1) psycho-ecological restoration, (2) mindful lived experience within indigenous natural and cultural settings, and (3) spatial re-creation through the enhancement of social interactions and the improvement of place-based experiential quality. This model facilitates a transition from a purely consumption-driven form of tourism toward a more sustainable, empowering, and environmentally integrated approach. Ultimately, the proposed model not only enhances tourists’ mental well-being and experiential quality but also strengthens social cohesion and cultural sustainability in rural communities
Extended Abstract
Introduction
In the face of accelerating environmental degradation, urban stress, and socio-cultural erosion, the concept of regenerative tourism has emerged as a response to the limitations of conventional sustainable tourism. Unlike sustainability, which often seeks to maintain the status quo, regenerative tourism actively restores, revitalizes, and regenerates both ecosystems and communities. It emphasizes deeper emotional, psychological, and spiritual connections among visitors, hosts, and the natural environment.
In recent years, the transition from consumption-oriented tourism toward experience-based and regenerative models has become one of the most significant topics in tourism studies. Within this perspective, nature is no longer regarded merely as a setting for recreation or sightseeing, but rather as an active component in psychological restoration, stress reduction, and human well-being improvement. Alongside the expansion of urban pressures, psychological fatigue, and the growing disconnection between humans and natural environments, regenerative tourism has emerged as an approach that extends beyond conventional ecotourism. This model emphasizes the simultaneous regeneration of people, places, and local communities. In this context, rural settlements with distinctive environmental and cultural capacities can provide suitable settings for restorative, mindful, and healing experiences.
This study focuses on Kandovan village in East Azerbaijan, Iran—one of the few remaining inhabited rocky villages in the world. Kandovan’s unique troglodytic architecture, rooted cultural heritage, and pristine mountainous environment make it an ideal setting for implementing a regenerative tourism model. However, the village currently faces tourism pressures that threaten its ecological balance and local identity. Therefore, a new conceptual framework is needed to guide its tourism development in a way that enhances ecological resilience, cultural depth, and community well-being.
Accordingly, this study seeks to develop a context-sensitive conceptual model of regenerative tourism tailored to the ecological, psychological, and cultural characteristics of Kandovan.
The model draws on interdisciplinary foundations, including environmental psychology, eco-therapy, biophilic design, and rural development, to propose a holistic approach that moves beyond economic metrics toward human and ecological flourishing.
The scientific contribution of this study lies in developing a context-sensitive conceptual framework for regenerative tourism that integrates environmental psychology, eco-therapeutic experiences, rural identity, and regenerative place-making within a single model. Unlike many previous studies that primarily emphasize sustainability or economic dimensions of rural tourism, this research highlights the restorative and psycho-ecological capacities of rural environments. By focusing on Kandovan as a living cultural landscape, the study expands the theoretical discourse of regenerative tourism in rural contexts and provides an interdisciplinary model applicable to ecologically sensitive destinations.
Despite the growing body of literature on sustainable and nature-based tourism, inadequate attention has been paid to the psycho-ecological dimensions of regenerative tourism in rural contexts. Most prior studies have concentrated on environmental conservation, economic sustainability, or destination competitiveness, while the emotional, therapeutic, and restorative relationships between humans and rural landscapes remain underexplored. Furthermore, various tourism development models continue to treat local communities and natural environments as passive resources rather than active participants in regenerative processes. This theoretical gap is particularly evident in culturally stratified rural settlements such as Kandovan, where environmental qualities, indigenous lifestyles, and spatial identity are deeply interconnected. Therefore, there is a need for conceptual frameworks capable of integrating ecological regeneration, psychological restoration, cultural continuity, and community participation into a unified tourism model.
From a theoretical perspective, this study is grounded in the interdisciplinary relationship among environmental psychology, biophilic approaches, and restorative environment theories. Kaplan and Kaplan’s Attention Restoration Theory suggests that exposure to natural environments can recover cognitive capacities exhausted by everyday mental pressures. Similarly, Ulrich’s Stress Reduction Theory argues that interaction with natural landscapes and ecological elements contributes to emotional relaxation and psychological recovery. In recent years, these theoretical perspectives have formed the conceptual basis for studies related to wellness tourism, nature therapy, and regenerative tourism, emphasizing that place experience can possess therapeutic, spiritual, and identity-related dimensions.
 
Methodology
This research adopted a qualitative, developmental, and exploratory methodology, employing inductive content analysis to construct a conceptual model grounded in academic theory and empirical insights. The data collection process began with a systematic literature review, drawing on 118 scientific sources indexed in databases including ScienceDirect, Scopus, Google Scholar, SID, and Magiran. From these, 42 studies (2012–2023) were selected based on relevance to themes such as psychological restoration, nature-based healing, meaningful tourism experiences, and place attachment.
The data analysis proceeded in three stages:
Open Coding: The extraction of 235 initial codes representing recurring concepts across the selected studies. These codes included ideas like “restorative landscapes,” “emotional bonding with place,” “eco-therapy through nature immersion,” and “rural authenticity.”
Axial Coding: These codes were synthesized into 10 thematic categories,
 such as:

Psychological Connectedness to Nature;
Eco-psychological Healing;
Spiritual Place-Making;
Therapeutic Aesthetics;
Place Attachment;
Mindful Experience;
Regenerative / Restorative Landscape Quality;
Place Identity;
Soothing Social Interaction;
Rural Landscape Revitalization.

Selective Coding: Finally, the themes were consolidated into three major dimensions:

Eco-psychological Healing;
Conscious Eco-experientiality;
Regenerative Place-making and Soothing Social Interaction.

These three dimensions form the backbone of the proposed model of regenerative tourism for Kandovan.
 
Results and Discussion
The resulting conceptual model reflects an integrative and multi-dimensional approach to regenerative tourism. It emphasizes the transformation of tourism from a passive consumption activity into a co-creative, healing, and participatory experience.
The findings indicate that the regenerative tourism model in Kandovan differs substantially from conventional approaches to rural tourism development. In many traditional tourism models, the primary focus is placed on infrastructure expansion, increasing visitor numbers, and place economic exploitation. In contrast, the regenerative approach prioritizes lived experience, psychological well-being, ecological sustainability, and the reconstruction of the human–nature relationship. Accordingly, the value of place is defined not merely through its capacity to attract tourists, but through its ability to generate meaningful, calming, and restorative experiences. This perspective may provide a foundation for reconsidering rural tourism policies in Iran, particularly in regions characterized by unique environmental and cultural capacities.
Dimension 1: Eco-psychological Healing. This dimension builds on theories of restorative environments, eco-psychology, and nature-based healing. Tourists are not merely visitors but participants in psychological and emotional restoration through contact with nature. In the case of Kandovan, the rocky landscape, fresh mountain air, silence, and biodiversity provide ideal conditions for mental clarity, stress reduction, and spiritual reconnection.
The analysis demonstrates that eco-psychological healing in Kandovan is not solely the result of physical presence within nature, but rather emerges through a multilayered interaction among sensory perception, place memory, environmental silence, and the qualities of the rural landscape. Visitors encountering the rocky architecture, flowing water, organic spatial textures, natural light, and climatic calmness experience a temporary detachment from the tensions of urban life. This condition enhances mental concentration, reduces psychological disturbance, and strengthens feelings of belonging and emotional security. Therefore, within this framework, nature functions not as a passive background but as an active agent in the process of psychological restoration.
Another important aspect of the findings concerns the relationship between spatial authenticity and emotional restoration. The physical structure of Kandovan, characterized by hand-carved rocky dwellings and organically evolved settlement patterns, creates an atmosphere fundamentally different from standardized tourism environments. Such authenticity contributes to what environmental psychologists describe as “experiential depth,” in which visitors perceive places not merely visually, but emotionally and symbolically. The continuity among architecture, landscape, climate, and everyday local life enhances the sense of immersion and strengthens visitors’ reflective awareness. Consequently, the regenerative potential of Kandovan does not derive solely from its natural scenery, but from the integrated coexistence of ecological, cultural, and sensory qualities that shape a holistic restorative experience.
Beyond psychological restoration, regenerative tourism also involves the transformation of visitors’ environmental awareness and experiential understanding of place.
Dimension 2: Conscious Eco-experientiality. This dimension emphasizes place identity, cultural meaning, and embodied experiences.
Conscious eco-experientiality involves the development of reflective awareness through direct engagement with local culture and environment as well. In regenerative tourism, experiences are not designed merely for entertainment or visual consumption, but for cultivating emotional sensitivity, environmental ethics, and meaningful human connection. In Kandovan, everyday practices such as traditional food preparation, local storytelling, seasonal agricultural activities, and interactions with residents can generate forms of experiential learning that reconnect visitors with slower rhythms of life and ecological consciousness. Such experiences encourage mindfulness, empathy, and a deeper appreciation of rural heritage, transforming tourism into a process of self-reflection and existential engagement rather than passive observation.
 Tourism activities should be designed to foster authentic interaction with the history, traditions, and daily life of the village. Examples include:
Participating in local farming and handicrafts, listening to community elders' stories, experiencing traditional foods and rituals. Such immersive encounters deepen visitors’ sense of belonging while reinforcing the cultural confidence of local residents.
Dimension 3: Regenerative Place-making and Soothing Social Interaction. Regenerative tourism cannot succeed without local participation, empowerment, and shared decision-making. This dimension concentrates on bottom-up planning, capacity building, and reinvesting tourism revenue into community well-being and ecosystem restoration. Residents should be seen as tourism co-creators, not passive beneficiaries.
From a regenerative perspective, place-making extends beyond physical development and includes the restoration of social cohesion, cultural continuity, and collective identity. Sustainable regeneration cannot occur without strengthening local participation and reinforcing trust among residents, planners, and visitors. In this sense, soothing social interaction refers not only to pleasant communication between tourists and local communities, but also to the creation of emotionally supportive and culturally respectful environments. Strengthening local ownership of tourism initiatives may reduce feelings of cultural displacement and economic dependency while simultaneously fostering community resilience. Therefore, regenerative place-making should be understood as a collaborative and relational process through which tourism contributes to both ecological revitalization and social well-being.
Based on the conceptual model extracted from the study, regenerative tourism in Kandovan can be understood as a multidimensional process emerging through the interaction of nature, human perception, and social relations. Within this framework, tourism becomes regenerative when environmental qualities, perceptual experiences, and social interactions collectively contribute to psychological restoration and the creation of meaning. Consequently, regeneration should not be interpreted solely as the physical preservation of place, but also as the revitalization of quality of life, mental well-being, and socio-cultural sustainability.
In Kandovan, this might involve: Training local guides in eco-tourism interpretation, establishing community-based accommodation, and encouraging youth entrepreneurship in cultural tourism.
The proposed model also carries significant implications for tourism planning and rural development policies. In many rural destinations, tourism growth has resulted in environmental degradation, cultural commodification, and local identity erosion due to excessive commercialization and mass visitation. The regenerative framework proposed in this study offers an alternative strategy that prioritizes ecological balance, community well-being, and experiential quality over rapid economic expansion. Policymakers and tourism practitioners can utilize this framework to design low-impact tourism programs, support local participation in decision-making processes, and strengthen cultural continuity through community-centered initiatives. Moreover, integrating restorative landscape principles into tourism planning may contribute to public mental health by creating environments that encourage reflection, relaxation, and meaningful human–nature interaction. Therefore, regenerative tourism can function not only as a tourism strategy but also as a broader approach to sustainable rural resilience and social well-being.
 
Conclusion
This study proposes a context-sensitive conceptual model of regenerative tourism that integrates environmental, psychological, and cultural dimensions. Rooted in the unique identity and landscape of Kandovan, the model challenges conventional tourism paradigms by focusing on healing relationships between humans and nature, tourists and locals, the past and the future.
By prioritizing regenerative over exploitation and participation over commodification, regenerative tourism has the potential to transform places like Kandovan into living laboratories of sustainability and cultural resilience. The model serves not only as a theoretical framework but also as a practical guide for policymakers, tourism planners, and local stakeholders seeking to implement regenerative tourism in rural and ecologically sensitive areas.
Ultimately, the study argues that regenerative tourism should not be understood merely as an alternative tourism strategy, but as a transformative framework for rebuilding reciprocal relationships among humans, culture, and the natural environment in an era of ecological and psychological crisis.
Although the proposed framework offers a theoretically grounded model for regenerative tourism, the study remains conceptual in nature and would benefit from future empirical validation through field-based qualitative and quantitative investigations involving local residents and visitors.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
Authors’ Contribution
The author had no research collaborators in this article.
 
Conflict of Interest
No conflict of interest to declare.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the three subject-matter experts who supported us in validating the theory.