Towards Regenerative Tourism: Blockchain and Gamification for Sustainability

PROJECT ID

SME Name:

CERDANYA VIVA ECORESORT

Country:

Spain

Subsector:

Nature / rural tourism

*Thematic Axis and Specific Topic:

  • Axis: Circular and resource-efficient tourism
  • Topic: Circular guest/customer experience

*These are Cross-Re-Tour-specific thematic axes inspired by the Transition Pathway for Tourism. The thematic axis were chosen based on what category best reflects the main contributions of the project.

PROJECT SUMMARY & NEEDS

Project summary

Cerdanya Viva Resort has developed a regenerative tourism model that combines sustainability, digitalisation and community engagement. The project uses blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies to reward visitors for environmentally responsible behaviour through a gamified challenge system. Sustainable actions performed by guests generate digital rewards that can be spent within the local ecosystem, creating benefits for both visitors and local businesses while contributing to positive environmental and social impacts. Guests receive personalised impact reports at the end of their stay

Exploitation Area(s):

  • Client Nudging
  • Mobility
  • Staff nudging

SME needs adressed:

  • Adapt to changing customer expectations
  • Create / diversify tourism offer

OUTPUTS & OUTCOMES

Solution implemented

Cerdanya Viva developed a regenerative tourism solution combining blockchain, AI, gamification and a digital reward currency (€cos). Implemented with technology partner Explorins, the system rewards guests for sustainable actions and links them to local businesses through a digital ecosystem. The project aimed to improve sustainable visitor behaviour, generate positive environmental and social impacts, strengthen the local economy and support the transition towards regenerative tourism.

Cross-Domain Innovation element

The solution transfers blockchain, artificial intelligence, digital reward systems and gamification approaches from the technology sector to tourism. Developed with technology partner Explorins, these technologies enabled automated data management while rewarding sustainable visitor behaviour through a regenerative tourism model that generates positive environmental, social and local economic impacts.

Key ouputs:

  • Built a regenerative tourism platform using blockchain, AI, gamification and €cos rewards.
  • Created sustainability challenges to encourage responsible visitor behaviour.
  • Automated sustainability data collection and management.
  • Produced personalised impact reports for users.
  • Connected visitors with local businesses through a digital ecosystem.
  • Supported positive environmental, social and economic impact.

Key outcomes (Quantitative)

  • Developed and deployed a complete regenerative tourism ecosystem.
  • Created a regenerative impact measurement framework covering six dimensions.
  • Built a blockchain-based gamification platform.
  • Integrated the €cos eco-social currency.
  • Designed a structured challenge and reward system.
  • Developed an AI-supported personalised impact reporting model.
  • Completed all planned project deliverables.
  • Deployed the digital platform successfully.
  • Integrated impact-tracking mechanisms.
  • Delivered four staff training sessions to support implementation and future scaling.

Key outcomes (Qualitative)

  • Improved Cerdanya Viva’s capacity to implement regenerative tourism practices.
  • Strengthened staff awareness and alignment around sustainability goals.
  • Increased organisational readiness for platform deployment.
  • Created new ways to engage visitors as active contributors.
  • Enhanced the ability to measure and communicate positive impacts.
  • Supported environmental, social, cultural and economic outcomes.
  • Encouraged behavioural change among visitors.
  • Strengthened local economic resilience through the €cos ecosystem.
  • Positioned Cerdanya Viva as a pioneer in regenerative tourism innovation.
  • Created strong potential for replication and scaling.

Lesson learned & Best practices:

A key lesson learned is that technology alone does not drive engagement; successful implementation requires combining simple, meaningful user experiences with clear regenerative goals and strong staff involvement. The project showed that gamification, rewards and personalised feedback can effectively encourage positive visitor behaviours when actions are easy to understand and directly linked to tangible impacts. Other tourism SMEs should prioritise organisational preparation, stakeholder collaboration and user-friendly design, while avoiding overly complex systems that create barriers to participation.

CONTACTS

Website / Social Media

https://cerdanyaviva.com