Slow Tourism: sustainability for products and destinations

The post-World War II boom was a turning point for the contemporary tourism era, making it an accessible product to the majority of the population, not only for the higher social classes. However, in the late 20th century, the global tourism was dominated by a massive tourism type. Tourism reflected the development of western society’s lifestyle, where quantity was valued over quality (Timms & Conway, 2012). The slow movement strongly grown in the 90’s as an opposition to the massive and uncontrolled consumption. Based on this new assumption some cities are offering visitors’ new tourism products and destinations more sustainable and green, trying to conquer new markets, breaking barriers and growing as ecological tourist destinations. The slow tourism movement is an emerging market segment and in clear expansion (Lumdson & Macgrath, 2011; Mintel, 2009), being this type of tourism a credible alternative to current sun and beach tourism products and cultural tourism (Lumsdon & Mcgrath, 2011). In 2007, the World Travel Market in London, predicted that the slow tourism would grow at an average rate of 10% a year in Western Europe. The main goal of this study is to analyze slow movement in tourism, all the guidelines and variables that reflect it ideology. The methodology used in this work is based on literature review and consequently discussion of slow movement applied to tourism as a way to create more sustainable destinations and tourism products.