Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
rail-based tourism and longer stays, and Simpson et al (2008) link 'slow
tourism' to slow food as a possible environmental certification option. 'Soft
mobility', a second term used by Ceron and Dubois, refers primarily to non-
car-based travel around destinations on foot or by cycle. Ceron and Dubois
(2007) also embrace the term 'slow travel' with reference to tourist products
that are less travel-intensive, using modes such as train, sailing, cruise ships
and bus, where the travel is 'pleasant and interesting' (p202) and where the
stay is longer.
The second strand relates to a discussion about the nature of tourism and
a need for a better tourist experience through different travel behaviour
(Müller, 1994). The act of travelling, it is argued, is not fulfilling and cannot
compensate for poor quality urban living. The most influential exponent of
this was Krippendorf (1984), who argued that the current tourism system does
not do much to improve the lot of urban dwellers in late modern society.
Many of the approaches suggested by Krippendorf over 25 years ago (such as
holidays at home or nearer to home, emphasis on locality and diversity) have
been reinvigorated under the umbrella of slow travel.
Thirdly, there has been a growing academic inquiry into transport as a
tourist experience (Halsall, 2001). There has also been some discussion about
transport as a function of visitor management at the destination. This has been
primarily in relation to traffic reduction to improve a destination's attractive-
ness (Müller, 1999). Lumsdon (2000b), in his discussion of cycle tourism,
refers to the appeal of slower forms of travel, and Downward and Lumsdon
(2004) recommend that tourist destinations slow down visitors in order to
increase visitor spending. Lumsdon (2006) also undertook a study to evaluate
the potential of the bus as a way to encourage new forms of tourist travel. The
simultaneous experience of transport and tourism with the tourist as co-pro-
ducer has several parallels with the values written into the travelogues of the
great travel writers, such as Newby and Theroux. They provide an enduring
representation of slow travel as a way of life. Speakman (2005, p134) sum-
marizes the argument as follows:
Contrary to the seductive automobile advertisements, the qual-
ity of the experience is not about speed. The real pleasure of
travelling on barge or cruise boat along a waterway lies in trav-
elling at a gentle pace through a slowly changing landscape.
Walking and cycling are forms of tourism transport that offer so
much more than the car in terms of perceiving the environment
in far greater detail, and allowing other senses to share in that
perception-experience the sounds, the touch, even the taste and
smell of the natural world and cultural landscape. In transport
for tourism terms, therefore, slow is beautiful.
In a more utilitarian context, Ory and Mokhtarian (2005) refer to slower,
non-motorized modes, 'slow' here being used in the literal sense, while Larsen
et al (2006, p103) discuss 'slow moving quality time together' in the context
of long weekends away. Other terms include 'slow mobility'.
