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S. Heitmann
et al.
by the enjoyment o discovery, learning andsharing. This
slowing o the pace o a holidayprovides opportunities to
interact and connectwith local people and places on a deeper
level.This acilitates a more detailed exploration o the
cultural environment in which the holidayis taking place and
results in a more rewardingand memorable experience or
the participants.Slow Tourism can be considered
romseveral diferent perspectives. The rst centralelement
o tourism activity is the necessity ortransport and travel
to a new place. In the slowscenario, this represents a move
away romlong-haul, airline-ocused travel (which
reachesmany destinations very quickly) towardsalternative
orms o travel. Not only does SlowTourism require a
change in travel behaviourand transport choice, but also the
supplyperspectives linked to the choice o transport.Second,
the slow philosophy shares commoncharacteristics with
sustainable tourism. There-ore, Slow Tourism needs to be
discussed in thecontext o tourism development and sustainability. Third, Slow Tourism as a productrequires a discussion on
the value that the labelslow attaches to a product or a service.
Hencethere are marketing implications, which arediscussed
later in this chapter. Finally, we needto establish who the Slow
Tourist is andhighlight ideas on how slow ts in with
theorieso consumer behaviour.Travel is addressed separately as
it is,arguably, separate rom tourism unlikeaccommodation provision,
which, to t the slowphilosophy, tends to relate to people staying inselcatering accommodation and more otenthan not buying ood in
local shops andintegrating themselves urther into the

localcommunity. It may be more popularly maniestthrough camping


and particularly through therecent increase in high-quality camping
inwigwams, with kitchens and other acilities moreakin to those
that would be ound in a building(luxury or glam camping has
recently beennamed glamping). The opportunity to stay inselcatering acilities allows the traveller tobecome more integrated
into the community,partake o community services, visit local
hostel-ries and purchase local produce. It moves awayrom the idea
o the resort or the holiday park(which are conversely noisy and
exciting, withast ood and instant entertainment) and seeks
toofer a more traditional liestyle that may bringwith it many benets
to the local community.Such benets are precluded by the
inclusivenature o resort-type acilities, which preventslocal
interaction and stymies the potentialeconomic benets or local
communities.Slow Tourism activities while on holiday donot difer
much rom other types o tourism, butagain the key
characteristics o engagement,immersion and slowness are
central to the
Case Study 9.1. Cittaslow in the UK.
Ludlows bid to become a Slow City came about as a result of
a public meeting organized by the townslocal Agenda 21
group. Thirty people attended this

rst discussion. After a meeting with Cittaslow inLondon, the


group pressed ahead with the application, supported by
the Chamber of Trade and Commerceand the town and
district councils. On November 24, 2003, Ludlow became the
UKs

rst Cittaslow.Numerous organizations are now actively involved


in Cittaslow Ludlow, including local wildlifetrusts, Age
Concern, youth groups, womens institutes and business
groups. The project is closely linkedto the Ludlow Marches

Slow Food Convivium, demonstrating how these two concepts


can be joinedtogether effectively.Since 2003 a number of other
UK Towns have also become Cittaslow members, including
Aylsham,Diss, Mold, Perth, Berwick-upon-Tweed,
Cockermouth, Linlithgow and Sturminster Newton.Within this
listing, Mold was the

rst Welsh town to become part of the movement and the


impactof Cittaslow has been evidenced through some of
the work and activities that have taken place since.Within
the scheme in Mold there are three subgroups: environmental
policy, space and place(infrastructure), and local
produce and community.Future aims of the
Mold movement include an assessment of the
opportunities for Mold to becomea carbon-neutral
community, while previous projects include the creation of a
local producers directory,a farmers and producers forum,
promotion of the diversity of local produce and a monthly
Cittaslowmarket stall. Other work includes a survey of
public benches and an assessment of future
transportrequirements and opportunities to develop and
promote local heritage.

Slow Food, Slow Cities and Slow Tourism


119
experiential philosophy o slow that requiresmore
integration, research and lingering withinthe environment to
acquire more knowledgeand orm stronger memories. Not
all attractionsare designed to ofer this experience and manyare
orced to ofer ast tourism because o theirpopularity
and consequent pressure to managehigh visitor volumes.
Arguably, then, while SlowTourists are likely to engage with any type
o attraction, the smaller hidden gems are likelyto be the
most rewarding.
Slow Travel
The primary idea o slow travel is its relationshipand
connection with culture and the oppor-tunities it ofers or
visitors to become a part o alocal community, oten using
local services, andtravelling slowly enough to enjoy more
detailedaspects o the places that they pass through.
Itremoves the notion o must-see attractionsand the need to
t as much in as possible, butavoids the idea that a tourist
sits on a beach ora week doing very little. Instead, it
represents avery diferent experience that includes some
o the must-see places, but seen more purelythrough their
relationship with their hostcommunity.I we consider Slow
Tourism and apply it totransport, one key observation here is
the moveaway rom airline travel and the use
o slowtransport or orms o transportation that
t theslow philosophy. Air transport is considered tobe an epitome
o globalization and hence anantidote to slowness. Instead,
Slow Tourismrequires the use o slower and more environmentally riendly orms o transport. Further-more,

within destinations, public or localtransport should be used in


order to encouragethe closer connection with locals and
localculture. As Slow Tourism is also characterizedby a more
active engagement, hiking andcycling are tourism activities that
t the conceptas these orms o transportation encourage
thetourist to engage more with the destination,landscape and
local environment.Slow travel is clearly exemplied in
theexample o narrowboats or heritage railwayswhere these
are part o the tourism inra-structure, but they represent a
mode o travelthat is relatively polluting or the
environment.By contrast, travel that ollows the true
natureo the slow concept traditional and low-impact(e.g.
horse-drawn carts) still exists in someparts o the world,
not just or the benet o tourists but as a necessity or the
community.The Island o Sark (UK Channel Islands) is
oneexample, representing a deliberate decision bythe islanders
to ocus on traditional orms o transport. This is the
opposite o the situation insome countries, such as rural
Romania, wherehorse-drawn carts may be the only orm
o transport available because o the economicconditions.
Whether this contributes to theexperience o tourism in
those countries isarguable, although most likely the majority
o travellers see this as part o the authenticnature o the
destination. This idea, o course,derives rom its polar
opposite o ast-movingcommuter trains and busy stations
and insteadlooks back to a reective and quieter past.
The Slow Tourist
Not much research has yet been done on theSlow Tourist,
which is not surprising given therecency o the idea.
Nevertheless, looking at thetheories o consumer behaviour
and tourismmotivation discussed in Chapter 3, we can applythese
to the slow themes o ood, travel, tourismand
liestyle.Slow ood appeals to those gastro-touristswho are

motivated by the desire to acquiresocial capital, as well as those who


are motivatedby a love o good ood. Appreciation
o ood andthe development o taste are attributes
o cultural capital and can be aunted by thesetourists upon
their return home as part o theirhabitus or liestyle
(Bourdieu, 1984). Thesemodels o ood and drink
consumption enhanceidentity and are intrinsic to an
individualsclass, prestige and status (Pietrykowski,
2004).While it is a criticism o Slow Food that it isrmly
positioned in the concept that modelsitsel on European
culture and liestyle whichis somewhat exclusive o nonEuropean, urbanworking classes it is the preserve
o theeducated and travelled (Gaytan, 2003). Theimplication
o this is that those interested are

120
S. Heitmann
et al.
likely to be interested in gastro-tourism, and
dueto their status have su cient resources toparticipate and then
purchase goods when theyreturn to their homes. Slow Food
eventshowever, such as Terra Madre, have been acatalyst or
people to travel rom all over theworld. Convivia members,
who are oten not thetypical gastro-tourists and come rom
diversenon-European backgrounds, are regular dele-gates at
these events.On the one hand, Slow Tourists sharecharacteristics with
the generic tourist types. Onthe other hand, they do not t one type.
Forexample, a Slow Tourist could be argued to be aventurer as he/she
seeks to engage with the localculture and learn about local heritage
whileusing local transport and acilities. Yet, in thecase o the
Slow Tourist, the criticism o Plogsgeographical ocus
applies, as the aversion tolong-haul travel and the centrality
o exciting,adventurous experiences while on holiday seemsto be
in direct conict with the slow philosophy.Consequently, the Slow
Tourist only partly tsthe model o Cohens driter and explorer,
whilealso sharing personality traits more akin to themass tourist. The
Slow Tourist might rely onholiday rentals and home-rom-home
environ-ments in terms o accommodation, but is
veryindependent and exible in planning experiencesas this
acilitates unique insights into the hostculture and local
environments. Furthermore,central to Slow Tourism is to ollow the
naturalrhythm o things and pay more attention tolocal aspects
o lie of the beaten track. Yet, asthe Slow Tourist is less likely to
travel ar and isnot ound in long-haul destinations, the
hostenvironment resembles more similarly thetourists home
environment and there is notmuch o a culture shock.

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