Slow Tourism – Passing Fad or Integral Component of Sustainable Tourism?

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Slow Tourism – Passing Fad or Integral Component of Sustainable Tourism?

Many tourists are now seeking a different approach to travel, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic and its restrictions, focusing on a more relaxed, authentic, and down-to-earth style of enjoying time spent in a new destination.

The Slow Tourism movement, which contrasts with traditional tourism, aims to satisfy those needs, focusing on a more moderated intensity of activity and a deeper relationship with the environment and other actors involved in a destination, be they local community members or even other tourists.

Origins of the Slow Tourism movement

Slow Tourism can trace its roots to the early 2000s as an offshoot of the Slow Food movement which in turn aimed to contrast the inexorable spread of fast-food chains by encouraging a more conscious consumption of food and understanding of the origins and production process of what we eat.

The Slow concept recognized the need to decelerate and contrast with a frenetic everyday pace that prohibits us from fully living and appreciating our life experiences.

Slow Tourism as a new way of travelling

The logical association of slow in relation to travel has the goal of instilling tourists with vivid memories of the places visited and enriching their experiences with more profound, indelible emotions and sensations.

Slow Tourism differs in many aspects to what we are classically accustomed to today as tourists. Mass tourism is often characterized by, as its name implies, masses of people travelling to popular destinations during limited times of the year.

In general, this profile of tourist tends to opt for the cheapest or easiest alternatives, resulting in over-crowded destinations, pollution, exasperated local populations, and a general depletion of the social and infrastructure required to support a tourist destination.

In contract to mass tourists, Slow Tourism followers are attracted to infrastructures that are more sustainable, for example destinations that provide bicycle rather than bus tours, camping experiences, or cater to backpackers with a more ecological ideological bent.

It’s also a fallacy to assume that Slow Tourism tourists will only be satisfied by a pristine, unvisited location off the beaten path - El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands in Spain, is a self-sufficient island with all-renewable energy and amenities, where tourists can enjoy a slower pace of life free from crowds and stifling resorts, to savor hiking opportunities, local food and wine, etc.

What are some additional benefits of Slow Tourism?

  • Slow Tourism allows visitors to become more active participants in their travel experience, allowing a more personal interaction with a location. This increased participation with a destination allows visitors to develop a more genuine interest, respect and consideration for culture and traditions.

  • Slow Tourists often seek destinations that allow them to break from everyday routines and reconnect with themselves and their surroundings.

  • Slow Tourist purchasing habits are also impactful for communities. Since many Slow Tourists avoid buying from multinationals, money spent by this class of visitor is more likely stay within the local community.

The limits of Slow Tourism

As with any movement, Slow Tourism faces a number of uphill challenges and contradictions:

  • Despite being slow-focused, transport to most destinations still requires air or at least train travel.

  • Slow Tourism, as a trend, is still developing and as such it remains unclear if destinations should substantial investment in the long-term to cater to this niche of travelers.

  • As with any trend, there is a risk that a large number of people could adopt the concept, transforming it into mass tourism in its own right and losing its original purpose as it converts into the mainstream.

What’s next for slow tourism?

  • Over-tourism can seriously affect destinations. As a result, Slow Tourism may help alleviate some of the challenges of mass tourism, but it remains to be seen how much of a quantifiable impact it can have.

  • Slow Tourists, as a class of traveler, can actually be positive net contributors to a destination, rather than extractors.

  • Only time will tell if the movement is a brief, popular trend, or a more enduring, sustainable concept.

  • Regardless, any initiative that supports the mitigation of mass tourism is worthwhile for governments and other industry actors to take seriously.

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