Moverence: the conference that refuses to let you sit still
In my experience, conferences are all structured the same way. You arrive in the morning, grab a coffee and a croissant, then sit through a few panel discussions and presentations, intercut by breaks with snacks and more coffee. At the end, you leave with a tote bag and a few new LinkedIn connections.
Over a coffee with Florian Wußmann, Chief Strategist of the Regenerative Tourism Initiative, I had the pleasure of learning about the Moverence, a new type of conference that walks the talk by directly applying what it preaches.
So what is a Moverence?
In simple terms: a conference that moves around.
The 2026 edition opened at the Glacier Garden in Lucerne, where a stage had been built among the glacial potholes. Day two went to the Enea Tree Museum in Rapperswil, then to the Klanghaus in Toggenburg, and back to Lucerne for a lakeside BBQ and a public debate. Day three climbed the Rigi to the Kräuterhotel Edelweiss, a hotel built entirely around herbs, before closing at the hotel school in Lucerne.
By moving around, the Moverence creates a genuine win-win. Attendees visit the different places, learn directly from the managers who run them, and see with their own eyes what regenerative tourism looks like. And by actively spending time in those places, they support the local economy and immerse themselves in a regenerative value proposition, encouraging it rather than just discussing it.
The problem it addresses
Swiss tourism is breaking records. Hotels counted 43.9 million overnight stays in 2025, the third record year in a row. Lucerne alone logged around 1.5 million, up 5.1 percent, and now counts more tourists per resident than Venice.
Success at that scale comes with a bill. In Lucerne, a local initiative is calling for a cap on hotels and hotel beds, tour buses have paid a stopping fee since 2025, and a documentary about overtourism in Switzerland filled the debate pages. The tension is real: the same visitors who carry the industry are wearing out the places they come to see.
That's the gap the Moverence works on. Not less tourism, but tourism that gives back more than it takes. The industry calls it regenerative tourism, and it boils down to a few principles anyone can act on.
Key points of healthy tourism you can actually take with you
Spread, not squeeze. The problem with places like Lauterbrunnen isn't the annual head count. It's that most of it arrives between 11 am and 4 pm from June to August. Moving a summer Saturday to a Tuesday in October would change the experience completely, for the visitor and for the village.
Longer stays, fewer arrivals. A guest who stays four nights spends more, generates less transport per day, and is more likely to walk into the local bakery instead of a Swiss souvenir chain. Two guests staying two nights each produce double the arrivals and half the economic depth.
Money that stays local. The Kräuterhotel on the Rigi grows and sources its herbs on the mountain instead of ordering from a wholesaler. Small detail, big principle: every franc that stays in the region feeds the farmers, producers, and families who keep the place alive.
Resident consent. Regenerative tourism starts with local acceptance. If the people who live in a place don't want the visitors, nothing else on this list matters.
One last note
Thank you to Florian Wußmann for the insights and the inspiration. If Swiss tourism ends up growing the healthy way, it'll be because of people like him who do the work instead of just talking about it.
Learn more about the Moverence Conference at Moverence.com