Slow Tourism

It is widely recognized that travel and tourism can have a high environmental impact and make a major contribution to climate change. It is therefore vital that ways to reduce these impacts are developed and implemented. 'Slow travel' provides such a concept, drawing on ideas from the 'slow food' movement with a concern for locality, ecology and quality of life. The aim of this book is to define slow travel and to discuss how some underlining values are likely to pervade new forms of sustainable development. It also aims to provide insights into the travel experience; these are explored in several chapters which bring new knowledge about sustainable transport tourism from across the world. In order to do this the book explores the concept of slow travel and sets out its core ingredients, comparing it with related frameworks such as low-carbon tourism and sustainable tourism development. The authors explain slow travel as holiday travel where air and car transport is rejected in favour of more environmentally benign forms of overland transport, which generally take much longer and become incorporated as part of the holiday experience. The book critically examines the key trends in tourism transport and recent climate change debates, setting out the main issues facing tourism planners. It reviews the potential for new consumption patterns, as well as current business models that facilitate hyper-mobility. This provides a cutting edge critique of the 'upstream' drivers to unsustainable tourism. Finally, the authors illustrate their approach through a series of case studies from around the world, featuring travel by train, bus, cycling and walking. Examples are drawn from Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. Cases include the Eurostar train (as an alternative to air travel), walking in the Appalachian Trail (US), the Euro-Velo network of long-distance cycling routes, canoe tours on the Gudena River in Denmark, sea kayaking in British Columbia (Canada) and the Oz Bus Europe to Australia.

Slow Food began in the late 1980s as a response to the spread of fast food establishments and as a larger statement against globalization and the perceived deterioration of modern life. Since then, slow practices have permeated into other areas, including cities and territories and travel and tourism. This book provides an in-depth examination of slow food, tourism and cities, demonstrating how these elements are intertwined with one other as part of the modern search for "the good life." Part 1 locates the slow concept within the larger social setting of modernity and investigates claims made by the slow movement, examining aesthetic and instrumental values inherent to it. Part 2 explores the practices and places of slow, containing both conceptual and empirical chapters in Italy, the birthplace of the movement. Part 3 provides a comparative perspective by examining the practices in Spain, the UK, Germany and Canada. Slow Tourism, Food and Cities offers key theoretical insights and alternative perspectives on the varying practices and meanings of slow from a cultural, sociological and ethical perspective. It is a valuable text for students and scholars of sociology, geography, urban studies, social movements, travel and tourism, and food studies.

This book examines the emerging phenomenon of slow tourism, addressing growing consumer concerns with quality leisure time, environmental and cultural sustainability, as well as the embodied experience of place. Drawing on a range of international case studies, the book explores how slow tourism encapsulates a range of lifestyle practices, mobilities and ethics.

It is widely recognized that travel and tourism can have a high environmental impact and make a major contribution to climate change. It is therefore vital that ways to reduce these impacts are developed and implemented. 'Slow travel' provides such a concept, drawing on ideas from the 'slow food' movement with a concern for locality, ecology and quality of life. The aim of this book is to define slow travel and to discuss how some underlining values are likely to pervade new forms of sustainable development. It also aims to provide insights into the travel experience; these are explored in several chapters which bring new knowledge about sustainable transport tourism from across the world. In order to do this the book explores the concept of slow travel and sets out its core ingredients, comparing it with related frameworks such as low-carbon tourism and sustainable tourism development. The authors explain slow travel as holiday travel where air and car transport is rejected in favour of more environmentally benign forms of overland transport, which generally take much longer and become incorporated as part of the holiday experience. The book critically examines the key trends in tourism transport and recent climate change debates, setting out the main issues facing tourism planners. It reviews the potential for new consumption patterns, as well as current business models that facilitate hyper-mobility. This provides a cutting edge critique of the 'upstream' drivers to unsustainable tourism. Finally, the authors illustrate their approach through a series of case studies from around the world, featuring travel by train, bus, cycling and walking. Examples are drawn from Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. Cases include the Eurostar train (as an alternative to air travel), walking in the Appalachian Trail (US), the Euro-Velo network of long-distance cycling routes, canoe tours on the Gudena River in Denmark, sea kayaking in British Columbia (Canada) and the Oz Bus Europe to Australia.

It can be challenging to travel at your own pace in the modern world without falling for the temptations of fast planes, cheap airlines, last-minute tickets, quick-fix travel apps and overzealous tour operators. To actually take a back seat and allow yourself time to embrace the ebb and flow of travel requires a more thoughtful and philosophical way of journeying. Slow Travel: A Movement is a beautifully designed and practical compendium of places, activities, tours and experiences that will inspire you to get on the road in your own time and on your own terms. This book explores slow travel as a physical or philosophical endeavor, taking readers off the beaten track and through nature, and unveils journeys that will nurture talent and ignite the inner-self. In this fast-paced world, it's worth adjusting your vacation time to a pace we can all strive to keep up with.

Geography and travel.

Bringing together scholars from the areas of tourism, leisure and cultural studies, eco-humanities and tourism management, this book examines the emerging phenomenon of slow tourism. The book explores the range of travel experiences that are part of growing consumer concerns with quality leisure time, environmental and cultural sustainability, as well as the embodied experience of place. Slow tourism encapsulates a range of lifestyle practices, mobilities and ethics that are connected to social movements such as slow food and cities, as well as specialist sectors such as ecotourism and voluntourism. The slow experience of temporality can evoke and incite different ways of being and moving, as well as different logics of desire that value travel experiences as forms of knowledge. Slow travel practices reflect a range of ethical-political positions that have yet to be critically explored in the academic literature despite the growth of industry discourse.

Inland territories are currently of great interest in the tourism industry based on their natural and cultural resources, the surroundings and valuing of natural spaces, local traditions and cultures, ways of life, and the experiences of territories with authenticity. In this context, ecocultural resources are determining factors of development for the mobilization of economic and socio-cultural initiatives, promoting tourism and generating conditions of sustainability in inland territories. They are spaces of opportunity, maintaining resources and heritage with high preservation, enhancing new perceptions and forms of use, generating territorial cohesion, promoting self-esteem for local communities, and providing diverse and differentiated tourist experiences. The involvement of the community is decisive in valuing the destination, understanding local ecocultural realities, and developing the processes of preservation and service creation. It is considered a necessary approach for inclusion, protection, and aggregating the ecological and cultural binomial as a determinant for deeper knowledge of territorial realities and their specificities. Thus, sustainability and participation are crucial for the long-term future of inland tourism activities, with local governance assuming an important role in building tourism capacity, mobilizing resources, and streamlining entrepreneurial initiatives. Challenges and New Opportunities for Tourism in Inland Territories: Ecocultural Resources and Sustainable Initiatives provides knowledge on the trends for tourism in inland territories, territorial innovation, good governance practices, new projects in inland tourism, and other important aspects in the field. The topics covered include sustainability of local culture, cultural heritage, social responsibility, local governance, public policies, and innovation and tourism in inland territories. This book is essential for tourism management organizations, environmentalists, hotel managers, restaurateurs, tourism departments, practitioners, policymakers, public officials, researchers, academicians, and students interested in the innovative practices and initiatives in tourism with a specific focus on inland territories.