dos algarves

Faster travel has fuelled tourism in ever more distant tourist destinations with damaging impacts on climate change and the long-term sustainability of destinations. One alternative to this trend is evident in the growth of slow travel and slow tourism destinations, with an emphasis on savouring the journey and immersion in the culture of the destination community. Developing from the slow food movement which started in Italy in the 1980s, the ‘slow’ philosophy proposes that every aspect of social life should be slowed down to avoid the dangers of the current trend towards lifestyles which are increasingly fast-paced and highly-stressed.

Slow tourism offers benefits to tourists such as a more engaged and authentic experience, but also to destinations by celebrating local distinctiveness, supporting local businesses and avoiding the erosion of the local environment and culture. It has also been suggested that it can embrace bottom-up development models.

This special issue seeks to explore the experience of destinations which have embraced or are contemplating introducing slow tourism, as well as what is known about the market for slow tourism and how it fits with current theories about tourism.

We invite researchers, educators and postgraduate students to submit papers that provide original viewpoints and/or innovative empirical research on the general theme of slow tourism (and/or travel), from any disciplinary perspective. Empirical and conceptual papers, as well as case studies, are welcome.