Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Lumsdon and Page (2004) set out a theoretical continuum of tourism trans-
port where they suggested that some forms of transport have a low intrinsic
value as a tourism experience, whereas others have a high intrinsic value.
Thus, they indicated that the taxi, urban bus and metro would offer low
intrinsic value, and cycling or walking holidays a high intrinsic value. The
authors admitted that each and every case would have to be subject to excep-
tion; some taxi rides can have high intrinsic value if the driver acts as a guide
and the environment is engaging. Nevertheless, the continuum offered a rule
of thumb as to the experiential nature of each mode in tourism. Rhoden and
Lumsdon's (2006) typology of transport-tourist experience sought to modify
this approach. Their co-axial framework of 'transport for tourism' to 'trans-
port as tourism' and 'passive' to 'active' involvement could provide a
framework to analyse slow travel in future. Ongoing work by Lumsdon and
McGrath in relation to recreational buses (Institute of Transport and Tourism,
2008) indicates that the nature of the transport experience is the destination,
and involves both passivity and activity.
By tour operator involvement
Work by Dickinson et al (2010b) suggests independent travel is an important
feature of current slow travel. They suggest:
the slow travel identity describes independent people who are
tough, resilient, good at beating the odds and coping with prob-
lems.
They
also
seek
more
novel
experiences
that
involve
meeting new people and socialising.
Therefore, slow travellers might be segmented into categories of independent
and organized tourism. Plog's model of tourism destination preference, which
describes allocentric tourists who are keen to explore new places, might have
some application here (Plog, 1974). However, it is evident that the above
description might best be described as the specialist market and Dickinson et
al (2010b) suggest there is an emerging role for tour operators to control less
desirable aspects of slow travel in order to cultivate a participant market seg-
ment, where some elements such as overnight accommodation are made more
certain. With the exception of coach tours, train tours and guided cycling hol-
idays, much contemporary slow travel is independently organized. While there
is a general move to more independent travel arrangements, there is consider-
able scope to facilitate easier booking of slow travel.
How slow travel differs from mainstream tourism
Our vision of slow travel is a 'new tourism' model driven by different con-
sumer motivations and a business model more focused on integral and
extended travel experiences, rather than rapid, and vapid, short duration trips
involving increased distances. In order to set out the difference it is necessary
to explore current business models and practices and analyse what is really
meant by a holiday to contextualize slow travel.
