Holding the tension: paradoxes of regenerative tourism practice in Northern Norway

Regenerative tourism calls for fundamental reconfiguration of tourism’s relationship with socio-ecological systems, yet the tensions between normative sustainability ambitions and operational realities remain poorly understood. This paper develops an integrated theoretical framework combining practice theory, the multi-level perspective, and organisational paradox theory to examine how small tourism organisations navigate paradoxical tensions during sustainability transitions. Drawing on longitudinal narrative inquiry with tourism SMEs participating in a regional innovation programme in Northern Norway, the study traces how practices designed under one set of conditions encountered structural pressures that forced reconfiguration, compromise, or suspension. The findings show that paradoxical tensions in regenerative tourism transitions are not internally generated organisational phenomena but are structurally produced at the interface between niche practice configurations and regime-level conditions. Integrating Pantzar and Shove’s practice elements framework with the multi-level perspective reveals where regime pressure enters practice bundles and how it propagates across materials, competences and meanings. The paper extends organisational paradox theory into sustainability transitions contexts and contributes longitudinal empirical evidence of how landscape-level forces shape practice trajectories over time, offering analytical tools for researchers and practical insights for those seeking to advance regenerative tourism transitions.