The global standard for the regenerative era of luxury.
Presented by UN Tourism. Built on an independently audited methodology. Created to help the world's finest hotels lead — by leaving their places measurably better than they found them.
A regenerative stay · where luxury leaves a legacy
Why We Exist
For a century, luxury meant the finest things. The next century will be defined by the finest impact.
The RL mark, displayed by a certified property · Belize
Sustainability asks a hotel to do less harm. Regeneration asks it to leave its place — its nature, its culture, its community — measurably better than it found it. Regenera Luxury exists to make that shift real, and provable.
We are the first complete system built exclusively for luxury boutique hotels, retreats and destinations: a way to measure regenerative performance, manage it across every department, prove it through independent third-party audit, and turn it into lasting brand and asset value.
It began with one conviction. After two decades leading luxury hotel development across four continents, our founder Héctor De Castro had seen how rarely the value created by extraordinary hotels reached the families, cultures and communities that made them possible. Regenera Luxury is his answer.
160+Ecosystem properties
37Countries
5Continents
1stRegenerative-luxury certification
A Category of One
Where Regenera Luxury fits in the global certification landscape
Complementary to respected sustainability frameworks — not a replacement. Where others stop at green claims and “beyond sustainability” slogans, Regenera Luxury delivers revenue, quality and trust.
Dimension
Sustainability & Regenerative Travel Platforms
Regenera Luxury
Core promise
Green claims & “beyond sustainability” messaging
More revenue and higher quality, proven through regeneration
Ongoing performance partner · graded standard · destination level
Regenera Luxury complements GSTC-aligned programmes, ISO 21401, Green Globe, Green Key, WELL and LEED — moving certified properties from compliance into regenerative leadership.
Who It Is For
Built for those who set the standard.
Luxury & Boutique Hotels
Independent and design-led properties ready to lead, not follow, on regeneration.
Retreats & Wellness
Nature, wellness and transformational retreats whose purpose is already regenerative.
Owners & Investors
Asset owners seeking measurable ESG legitimacy, brand value and long-term returns.
Destinations
Regions and DMOs building competitive advantage through regenerative leadership.
Héctor De Castro
“The future of luxury will not be measured only by profit, but by the balance and positive legacy it leaves behind. I invite you to lead in verified regenerative luxury.”
Héctor De Castro’s worldview was shaped early: by an international childhood and adolescence lived across five countries, and later by a career spanning work in more than forty. The premature loss of his father, and the consequences it brought to a fourth-generation family business, taught him at a young age that legacy is never guaranteed — and that what we build must carry the strength to outlast us.
For more than two decades, he has led luxury hospitality from within the industry — as Managing Director of European hotel-development and FF&E companies, on the ground for openings with Hilton, Barceló, Meliá and Royalton across Europe and the Caribbean, and auditing landmark Shangri-La and Banyan Tree properties across South-East Asia.
His academic journey began with an undergraduate degree awarded by the University of Granada and the University of West London, and was later deepened through doctoral research and a Global Executive MBA from IE Business School, ranked among the world’s Top 10. Yet beyond academic achievement, it was his lifelong instinct to understand and respect local cultures — and to recognise the dignity of the communities that give meaning to luxury hospitality — that sharpened one defining question:
Why did the wealth generated by extraordinary hotels so rarely remain with the owning families, cultural heirs and host communities of the destinations themselves? In 2022, he founded Regenera Luxury — both a private company and a registered non-profit in Playa del Carmen, Mexico — to build the system, methodology and international framework for a new generation of luxury hospitality: one that creates value far beyond the P&L, regenerates the environments it inhabits and strengthens the communities that give each destination its soul.
Today, Regenera Luxury is present in more than twenty countries and participates in leading international platforms, from ITB Berlin’s Hospitality Track to major summits across the Americas.
Héctor De CastroFounder & President · Regenera Luxury
The Team Behind It
A growing team, balanced by design.
From a founding handful to a multidisciplinary team of seventeen, Regenera Luxury has grown steadily year on year — and grown deliberately balanced.
2021 — 2026
Team growth
People at Regenera Luxury, year on year
Current team · 17 people
Gender balance
Across the Regenera Luxury team
54%Men
46%Women
The People
The team behind Regenera Luxury.
A multidisciplinary team spanning expansion, marketing, real estate and hotel selection across four continents.
H
Héctor De Castro
Chairman & Founder
A
Antoine Chauveau
Auditor & Team Manager, Mexico
K
Kent Richards
Wellness Manager & Consultant
A
Andrew Gibson
Brand Ambassador, Sweden · Co-founder, Intl Wellness Institute
I
Iván Eskildsen
Former Minister of Tourism of Panama · CEO, Ogaya Travel
A
Amy McDonald
Hotel Wellness & Sustainability Consultant
M
Martin Thomas
VP Marketing
F
Fernanda C. Alanis
Luxury Developments & Brokerage
D
Daniel Morariu
Auditor & Brand Ambassador, Saudi Arabia
T
Tamim Iqbal
IT Manager & AI Developer
D
Dr. László Puczkó
Partner & Senior Consultant
D
Dr. Stroma Cole
Senior Consultant & Ambassador, UK · Co-founder, Equality in Tourism
D
Daniel Busmail
Luxury Destination & Hotel Selector, Honduras
D
Dr. Ranjana Tiwari
Partner & Brand Ambassador, India
J
José Antonio Sáez
Industrial Engineer · Renewables Expert · LEED
S
Saša Horvat
Luxury Destination & Hotel Selector, Croatia
O
Orlando Araque
Architect & Tourism Heritage Expert
I
Irma Suárez
Luxury Destination & Hotel Selector, Yucatán
M
Maya Romero
Luxury Destination & Hotel Selector, Mexico
S
Salim Saharier
Luxury Destination & Hotel Selector, South Asia
On the World Stage
Global Thought Leadership & Industry Dialogues.
“The Luxury We Are Leaving Behind: Why Regenerative Hospitality is the Future”ITB Berlin · Hospitality Track
Keynote on the future of luxuryCancún World Fest · 2024
Glenn ManziukCEO · World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance
Alessandro InversiniProfessor at EHL · ITB Berlin
Juan Pablo de ZuluetaSecretary of Tourism, Cancún
Enjoying with Gustavo Santos, UN TourismAfter sharing stage at an international conference
Albert SalmanCEO of Green Destinations
Martin BäuerleDirector of Regeneration · Red Sea Global
Regenera Luxury in Action
A regenerative movement, across the world.
From Nordic lakes to Himalayan valleys and Pacific coastlines, the Regenera Luxury ecosystem is taking root on every continent — guided from our headquarters and a growing network of regional hubs.
Hotels in the RL ecosystemHeadquartersCertified auditors
5
Continents
37
Countries represented
160+
Ecosystem properties
Presented by UN Tourism · Recognized by WSHA · SECTUR · AMFORHT · IHT
Lead the Future
Luxury that leaves a legacy begins with a conversation.
