Purpose – This paper proposes the concept of Circular Skillcation as an emerging tourism approach integrating regenerative tourism, circular economy principles, tourists’ skill development, and positive community impact. The study discusses how tourism experiences can evolve from passive consumption activities into mechanisms for experiential learning, local development, and collaborative value creation among tourists, destinations, and communities in the sustainability frame.
Findings – Tourism demand is increasingly oriented toward meaningful and transformative experiences. The findings suggest that integrating circular economy principles and the 5Rs framework into skill-based tourism experiences may simultaneously generate environmental, social, economic, and educational benefits, particularly for small tourism businesses and local communities.
Research limitations/implications – This study adopts a conceptual and theoretical essay approach. The paper contributes to the literature on regenerative tourism, transformative tourism, and circular economy by proposing the concept of Circular Skillcation as a new analytical framework for future empirical studies.
Practical implications – The proposed framework may support tourism operators, policymakers, destination managers, and small tourism enterprises in designing tourism experiences focused on sustainability, enhancing local engagement, innovation, and capability development.
Originality/value – This paper contributes to an emerging research area by integrating skill-based tourism experiences with regenerative tourism and circular economy perspectives, an intersection still scarcely explored in tourism literature.
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