Have you ever heard of Slow Tourism? A new travel philosophy has emerged in the tourism industry as a response to the globalization, in the wake of the same movement that gave us “slow food". As you can easily imagine, this way of exploring the world requires a calm, slowne approach, focusing on awareness and sustainability. It is about taking some time to get to know a new place, to absorb its characteristics, to become familiar with different cultures, and perhaps see fewer places, but understand them in greater depth. This trend, which is becoming more and more established, could finally turn the entire tourism industry towards sustainability, as slow tourism enthusiasts tend to be keenly aware of the environmental impact of their travel choices.
The perfect holiday for those who get stressed on holiday
We all miss travelling and look forward to it, but many have not forgotten how the most popular travel formats tend to be anything but relaxing.
Organised trips, astrictly-scheduled programs that drag tourists from one unmissable landmark to the next, with pre-arranged times for meals and breaks, with a roadmap that turns leisure into duty: all these elements are still very popular in mass tourism, but
a growing number of travellers feel impatient and anxious about them, and search for different experiences. For this target group, the purpose of travel is not to see as much as possible in a short time, but rather to
perceive and enjoy their experiences as consciously as possible. Therefore, they favour longer stays, with fewer stops, which allow them to live each destination intensely, savouring it in slow motion.
Travellers looking for slow tourism do not only want to get to know the tourist attractions, but also the daily life and culture of the place.
Become an exhibitor for tourism sector
Slowing down the journey, not just the stay: the key to sustainability
Another characteristic of slow tourism is that
it lets go of the modern obsession for speed. It is not about finding the fastest way to reach your destination. The journey is not just a necessary waste of time separating the tourist from the experience he has paid for, but an essential part of it. Hence the increasingly common decision to travel to one's destination by
train or
boat instead of flying. These options, as young activist
Greta Thunberg teaches us, are much
more sustainable and can be seen as
transformative experiences.
How do you build a slow tourism package?
This type of tourism allows great creativity to those who have to create a travel package.
There are no obligatory stages, expectations expand and perspectives broaden. If you are in Rome, a visit to the Colosseum is not mandatory, if you pass through Paris, you can do without seeing the Eiffel Tower. The key word is
"experience". The
"slow" traveller doesn't want to grab an image to take home, or take pictures and leave with a souvenir: they want to live.
They want to think, reflect, understand, get to know themselves through a unique experience, which would not be replicable anywhere else. Be it a wine-tasting weekend or a spiritual retreat in a monastery, a yoga camp or a writing retreat, a three-day excursion or a sailing trip.
Slow food, slow tourism and slow living
It is not just a matter of avoiding organised travel, all-inclusive packages, and fast food:
these choices are part of a real movement that promotes a more sustainable way of life. The
concept of "slowness" applied to travel, food, or even work, is in stark contrast to the saturation of globalised life and the constant bombardment of stimuli and calls to action to which we are subjected.
