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Slow Tourism is a fairly new concept evolved from the Slow Food and Cittaslow movements dating back to the 80’s and 90’s. In the recent years this approach to travel has gained adepts who look for a more conscious, sustainable and responsible way of discovering the world. Yet, there is little research on the matter, and there are multiple definitions on how a “Slow Journey” should look like.

Med Pearls project has undertaken a major exercise of compiling bibliography on the matter and studying in great detail the strategy of 6 Slow Tourism destinations to draw conclusions for the sake of Med Pearls project beneficiaries and any tourism agent (private or public) willing to incorporate Slow products to their portfolio.

Complementary to this, a thorough depiction of the 7 outbound markets with highest potential as Slow Travelers towards the Mediterranean region has been prepared; with an analysis intended to grasp the characteristic of the potential Slow Tourists coming from them.  

Join us in this series of articles where the principal conclusions of this study will be unveiled.

Research Study on Slow Tourism: 1. Conceptualization and trends on Sustainable and Slow Tourism

 

This document will guide the reader to a better understanding of the different approaches to Slow Tourism and how this relates to other currents of Tourism.

After reflecting on the evolution of the concept and the conclusions of previous researchers, the document offers an operational definition for Slow Tourism and sets the basis for considering any Slow Tourism experience by looking at 6 main dimensions (Time, Slowness, Otherness, Authenticity, Sustainability and Emotion) and 4 key elements: Transport, Accommodation, Gastronomy and Type of Activities.

Among other relevant insights the reader will learn which are the markets concluded to be the most interesting demand markets for Slow Tourism in the Mediterranean region after elaboration from Tourism statistics concerning the countries conforming the Med Pearls project, but also applicable in general terms to the Mediterranean region as a whole.

Read the full CHAPTER 1 here: 1. Conceptualization and trends on Sustainable and Slow Tourism