The Brecks

A plan for 2026

Developing the Brecks Regenerative Tourism Framework

A stakeholder-led, measurable approach, co-designed with local partners

Why the Brecks should be the UK’s first �Regenerative Tourism National Character area

Regeneration in the Brecks isn’t a frame-work, it’s a way of life.

This place has always been shaped by a relationship between land and people.

Our aim is to showcase what already works, strengthen it,�and make it easier for visitors to support it.

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Working with �the land’s offering

Keep value local

Invite visitors to give back

Build year-round resilience

Four guiding principles

What’s been achieved in 2025?

University of Greenwich Academic partnership

130+

organisations on Brecks NCA database�

Mission statement�

10- point plan�

4 Working Group�

3 LVEP Board Meetings

120+ 

businesses mapped on Google Maps

50+

In-depth businesses engagement, incl. collab with BFWN & Brecks Partnership

20+

Early adopters

What’s Happening Now?

Regenerative Tourism Framework development

Framework development

Why have we partnered with

the University of Greenwich?

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A well-respected academic partner ensures that a regenerative tourism framework is:

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• Credible (evidence-based and rigorous)
• Ethical (community-centred and transparent)
• Adoptable (policy-relevant and scalable)
• Durable (able to evolve over time)

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Without such a partner, regenerative tourism risks becoming another buzzword, rather than a meaningful transformation of how tourism contributes to the health of places and people.

Dr Nikki McCleod

Principal Lecturer in Tourism

Dr Wenjie Cai

Associate Professor in Tourism

Dr Isabella Ye

Senior Lecturer in Tourism

Dr Hai Nguyen

Associate Professor in Tourism

UoG Framework co-created with Brecks early adopters

1. Wyken Vineyard
2. Elveden Estate
3. Forestry England / Thetford Forest
4. Euston Estate
5. Wendling Beck
6. The Food Museum
7. Bush Adventures / Experiences
8. Anglo-Saxon Village
9. West Lexham
10. Westacre Estate
11. National Trust / Oxburgh Estate

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11. The Granary (Susie Emmett)

12. Suffolk Wildlife Trust

13. Norfolk Wildlife Trust

14. RSPB

15. The English Whisky Company

16. Explore 4x4

17. Thetford Garden Centre

18. Strattons

19. Mary Kemp

20. Brecks Landscape Partnership

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Opportunities to get involved

Survey snapshot

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Gathering insights into operational practices, environmental initiatives, & tourism business priorities

Co-creation workshops

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2 workshops designed to ensure that strategies are practical, locally relevant, & genuinely impactful

Ambassador stories

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Development of deep, professionally crafted, case studies with a select number of businesses to bring the stories of the Brecks to life

• Attract conscious visitors who stay longer and spend more

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• Strengthen your story with marketing support

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• Learn from peers & join an eco-tourism network

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• National Recognition and exposure as part of a flagship destination programme

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• Co-create a Regenerative Framework that will put the Brecks on the map

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Join us to build a stronger Brecks

Gain early adopter benefits for your business

• Communications through newsletters, webinars and face to face events (B2B & B2C)

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• Naturally Placemaking Branding and launch campaign: including The Brecks as a new destination

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• Regenerative Tourism Framework hosted centrally with signposting to early adopters and ambassadors’ websites

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• University of Greenwich promotion via conferences, papers and reports

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• Engagement through new Visit Norfolk, Visit Suffolk, Visit East of England, B2B and Travel Trade sites

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Engagement through new Visit Norfolk, Visit Suffolk, Visit East of England, B2B and Travel Trade sites

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• Themed travel itineraries to encourage staying visits
• Featured on website blogs
• Case study development
• Featured in newsletters sent to 100,000 database
• Marketing & PR opportunities with Visit England & Visit Britain
• Potential inclusion on press trips, familiarisation trips, films & promotional activity
• Dedicated sign-in to digital systems to enable real-time updates to your content
• Social media exposure
• Exclusive access to LVEP training webinars to help boost your business.
• Exclusive access to Visit England & Visit Britain research & and insights.
• Training resources for businesses.

Framework process

Map what’s happening

Understand sustainable/regenerative work already being done & challenges faced

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Baseline Survey:

Jan to Feb 2026

Co-design the approach

Build a Brecks-specific regenerative model, realistic for adaption & adoption in other areas

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Workshops:

Feb to  April 2026

Turn it into action

Create a shared pledge, practical tools & stories visitors can act on

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Interview & Case Studies:

May to September 2026

Phase 1: Baseline Survey Preliminary Stats �31 responses out of 90, 34% response rate

• 82.8% consider themselves within the Brecklands National Character Area.

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• 41.4% family-owned and operated
• 13.8% SMEs
• 13.8% charities
• Small numbers of farmers and landowners

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• Mostly micro and small businesses with fewer than 10 or fewer than 50 employees (48.3% and 41.4% respondents, respectively)

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• Most businesses consider themselves hosts, activity or experience providers, or have a mixed role.
• 75.9% offer services all year-round
• 69% serve day visitors
• 34.5% welcome more than 5000 guests/visitors annually

Snapshot: Businesses’ Expectations

Top five most valuable benefits of regenerative tourism for their businesses include:

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(1) Improved guest/visitor attraction, satisfaction, and loyalty;

(2) New partnerships and networks;

(3) More customers;

(4) Enhanced marketing effectiveness and business reputation and;

(5) Improved environmental regeneration (e.g. restoration of habitats, increased biodiversity, reduced pollution, improved soil and water health).

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Top five most valuable benefits of regenerative tourism for the Brecks include:

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• Improved environmental regeneration (e.g., restoration of habitats, increased biodiversity, reduced pollution, improved soil and water health);
• Improved cultural regeneration (e.g., revitalisation of local traditions, crafts, stronger cultural identity, intergenerational knowledge transfer);
• Enhanced visitor experience, satisfaction and wellbeing;
• Increased long-term local economic benefits and;
• Strengthened destination image and long-term resilience.

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Snapshot: Current Sustainable / Regen. Tourism Practices

• 24.1% reported that they have a formal policy/strategy for both sustainability and regenerative tourism

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• 51.7% reported that while they have no formal policy/strategy, informal actions are available

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• 61% of their sustainability and regenerative initiatives focus on a balanced approach between harm reduction and improvement.

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Snapshot: Barriers to Regenerative Tourism

Top five barriers:

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1. Lack of financial resources or access to funding;
2. Limited staff time or capacity to work on new initiatives;
3. Lack of knowledge or expertise on regenerative tourism,
4. Difficulty measuring or evidencing outcomes (e.g., nature, community wellbeing, local economic benefit) and
5. Lack of support from local authorities or destination organisations.

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Financial and human resources emerge as the most critical concerns, with more than 50% of respondents identifying them as key barriers.

Most businesses agreed that all the barriers would prevent them from engaging with regenerative tourism to some extent, and only 17.9% indicated that the barriers would not prevent their engagement.

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Phase 2: Workshop 1 at Elveden Estate – 5 March 2026�

Phase 2: Workshop 2 at The English Distillery– 17 March 2026�

What’s next?

Regenerative Tourism Framework development

Brecks destination marketing & comms foundations

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Ongoing Stakeholder engagement & syndication

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PR Planning

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Launch & activation

External stakeholder engagement

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WIP timings

Thank you