Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in his description of life in Tuscany. The values presented by the slow move-
ment are clearly discernible in relation to slow food, cities and travel.
Slow travel offers an alternative to air travel and car travel, with travel
providing the tourist experience as much as the destination. It is not clear
where the term 'slow travel' was first used. One of the earliest attempts to
define slow travel was made by Pauline Kenny in 2000, on the slowtravel.com
website. This resource encouraged people to consider a different way of tak-
ing a holiday, in order to enhance their overall holiday experience. The essence
of slow travel, according to Kenny, is about staying in one place and then
using the time to explore nearby localities, thus getting to know more about
local culture and ways of life (slowtravel.com, 2007). She did not incorporate
the idea of the journey to a destination into slow travel. Her argument has
remained that travel by rail rather than air, for example, should more prop-
erly be referred to as green travel, not to be confused with slow travel which
is about enjoying a richer experience at a destination. Another example is Slow
Movement (2009), which focuses on connecting to people and place: 'living as
opposed to “staying” at your destination'.
However, several other correspondents in the slow travel movement do
include the journey to the destination as an integral part of the concept.
Slowplanet.com (2009) discusses 'savouring the journey' and travel by train,
boat, bicycle or foot, 'reveling in how the landscape, light and people change
along the way'. Slow Moves (2009) refers to 'enjoying the journey, as well as
the destination. Moving away from budget flights and quick getaways to far-
away places. And moving towards overnight train journeys, cycle trips and
home-stays.' This has emerged from concern amongst travel writers and sev-
eral small-scale tourism operators about the major effect of the travel element
on climate change (Conrady and Buck, 2008).
It has been said that there are strong ties between slow travel, slow food
and Cittáslow. However, the linkages, at one level, appear to be fairly tenu-
ous, in that slow food grew out of interest from townships (in Italy initially)
and in particular through the actions of visionary local mayors. The slow food
and Cittáslow movements were essentially about binding local residents into
social collaboration in relation to their communities. It is interesting to note
the findings of the work by Nilsson et al (2007); they reported that many of
the proponents of slow cities in Italy expressed a note of caution about
tourism development. Thus, slow food emerged as a community initiative for
residents. In contrast, the early proponents of slow travel have mainly been
small-scale travel companies or travel writers expressing their views princi-
pally through the internet, and a growing number of articles in the press and
travel media. Gardner (2009) has attempted to galvanize this expression of
interest into a manifesto for slow travel that is summarized as follows:
• Slow travel is a state of mind and the idea should start at home by explor-
ing nearby places of interest.
• The mode of travel is important; travellers should travel slow and avoid
aircraft. They should enjoy ferries, local buses and slow trains, as 'speed
destroys the connection with the landscape' (p13).
