Why Slow Travel Is Gaining Momentum—and Why It Matters
Salmon hatchery viewing window, Issaquah, WA. Photo courtesy of Visit Issaquah, Christy Garrard
As a longtime travel writer, I receive emails every day from destination management organizations (DMOs) promoting the latest hotels, resorts, restaurants, airlines, and other developments meant to attract tourists.
But recently, I've noticed a heartening trend amid the flurry of standard promotional emails. Over the past three months or so, I've received a handful of missives promoting destinations in a different way, and one that I find personally far more engaging. Each of the emails in question has focused on promoting 'slow travel.'
My favorite was a recent email from the Croatia National Tourist Board, which has launched a new global campaign built around slow travel. The campaign invites "travelers from around the world to experience Croatia through its signature philosophy of slowing down," which the Croatians refer to as "Finding Your Pomalo."
As the email explains, the country's new campaign seeks to convey "the essence of pomalo, a distinctly Croatian way of life that embraces ease, presence, and emotional richness."
Ease. Presence. Emotional richness. It's not every day that you hear those words associated with travel.
Croatia's new campaign was inspired by officials there "noticing an increased demand for local customs and a peaceful way of life, alongside authentic experiences, while the trend of slow travel is becoming increasingly popular," the marketing email explained, "Guests want to get to know and experience the culture of the destination they are visiting, connect with unspoiled places, and quiet their thoughts."
Doesn't all of that sound wonderful? And isn't that the way travel should be?
This email is just one example of the buzz that's coalescing around the term 'slow travel,' with an increasing number of destinations having picked up on the idea and running with it. So too are travel advisors and even tour operators.
But what exactly is slow travel? What does it mean for the traveler? And how can destinations embrace it? While the Croatia National Tourist Board does a pretty good job of encapsulating some of slow travel's key elements, this is a topic worth a closer look, particularly because when done right, slow travel benefits not only the traveler, but also the destination.
What is Slow Travel?
In pursuit of diving deeper into the topic of slow travel, I reached out to a variety of experts. Among them is Anne de Jong, co-founder of the Good Tourism Institute, an organization that works with sustainable travel businesses to help them be successful. That effort includes helping businesses create best-selling sustainable travel experiences.
Slow travel, at its best, is an inherently more sustainable way to travel, making de Jong an important voice on the topic. As a starting point, de Jong offered a baseline definition of what constitutes slow travel.
Lake Sammamish State Park Paddling Experience. Photo courtesy of Visit Issaquah, Christy Gerrard
"Slow travel really just means slowing down. Both in how we move around and how we experience a destination," begins de Jong. "It’s about staying longer in one place instead of rushing from highlight to highlight, and using slower, more mindful modes of transport like trains, biking, or hiking."
But there's more to slow travel than simply spending longer in a destination. Or traveling via train instead of jetting from place to place. Slow travel is also about connecting more deeply with a place and its people. De Jong's definition of slow travel underscores this idea, as well.
"It connects closely to mindfulness, well-being, and the simple joy of being in the moment," de Jong says.
"I also feel many travelers are tired of following the crowds to the same highlights. Slow travel allows them to go off the beaten track, spend time in smaller communities, and make real connections," she continues. "Like having time to chat with locals or accept a spontaneous invitation to a ceremony. These authentic moments often become the most meaningful memories of a trip."
What does slow travel look like in practice?
A company that's equal parts social enterprise and small group tour operator, G Adventures has been another leader in developing the slow travel concept and offerings.
One of G Adventures’ oldest tour styles, for instance, was called 'local living' and it allowed travelers to spend a week living in one place, exploring and discovering the area while staying with a family-owned local hotel or agrotourism host.
After years of leadership in this arena, Yves Marceau, vice president of product for G Adventures, says slow travel remains a concept people struggle to fully or accurately understand.
"For years, it's been so hard to define slow travel," he explains. "Some people think of it as getting to a place slowly, others think it’s about not having a lot to do when you go somewhere, and others think it’s simply going off the beaten path. In reality, it's a little bit of all of those things put together. It’s diving into a destination and getting a real sense of the place you're visiting."
For G Adventures, slow travel offerings are tours that move at a slower pace and spend a little more time in each destination or location. And in every place the tour visits, the activities are all designed to "dig deeply into the local culture."
"It's to the point where every meal we have during the trip has a story to tell about the local community," says Marceau.
Still, many travelers want to check off the items on their bucket list when visiting a destination, admits Marceau. If a traveler is going to Egypt, for instance, they inevitably want to see the pyramids. If they're visiting Spain, you can bet they want to spend time in Barcelona. G Adventures has found a way to respond to that desire, while still offering slow tourism itineraries.
"It’s hard to build [a trip to Spain] where you don’t have Barcelona on the itinerary. So, what we have done is cut back the amount of time we are there as a group. And people can do it as a pre-trip experience if they want to," explains Marceau. "But these large cities will still be the gateway to a country."
How can destinations adopt and promote slow travel?
So how can more destinations and travel providers integrate slow tourism into their offerings? de Jong offers some thoughts and tips on that front.
Jakob Two Trees and the children. Photo courtesty of Visit Issaquah, Christy Gerrard
"Promoting slow travel is really about telling the right story: showing travelers what amazing experiences they can have when they slow down," explains de Jong. "Destinations need to highlight why it’s worth staying longer. So, sharing examples of local experiences or hidden gems that go beyond the main tourist highlights."
With that said, de Jong adds that not all destinations are as naturally suited to slow travel as others. Places with only one well-known attraction may struggle to get people to stay longer. While some destinations may have a better mix of nature, culture, history, and local food to make it easier for travelers to explore for a few days, says de Jong.
No matter what the backdrop, "destinations that put effort into building and sharing a wider story and range of experiences, give travelers a reason to stay longer, to slow down, connect, and make more meaningful memories," she says.
A handful of destinations have already begun that journey.. The city of Issaquah, 20 minutes outside Seattle, Washington, offers one such example. It has been working since the COVID-19 pandemic ended to promote slow, intentional travel.
That effort has involved inviting visitors to come and stay longer and immerse themselves in what it means to live in a mountain town in the Pacific Northwest, says Visit Issaquah Executive Director Christy Garrard.
"We invite people to come to Issaquah and settle into their lodge and then get out with us and experience how we live here," says Garrard.
"We have 200 miles of hiking trails, so maybe you are getting out there on a guided hike with a local who explains how we value our open spaces and indigenous culture," says Garrard. Or maybe, you're visiting the oldest working salmon hatchery in the U.S., which is located in Issaquah and is an integral part of the community's story.
Art By Fire Glass Blowing Experience. Photo courtesty of Visit Issaquah, Christy Gerrard
To help visitors have these types of slow, hyper-local experiences, Visit Issaquah focused on embracing what the community already had to offer, elevating those experiences, and creating itineraries that spell out what travelers can do to learn about and engage with the community.
Yet another Washington destination, Camano Island, which is located in Possession Sound, has also recently begun promoting and investing in travel experiences designed to encourage visitors to stay longer and be more contemplative.
Jessica McCready from the Camano Island Chamber of Commerce says the island shifted to focus on slow tourism in response to the influx the bedroom community began experiencing right before the COVID-19 pandemic and amid the pandemic itself.
During those years, Camano was attracting an influx of people, and many homes on the island were turned into Airbnbs. The parks and island as a whole were suddenly full of tourists (many very entitled tourists among them), and overnight, Camano became a victim of overtourism.
Tourism officials responded by undergoing training with the Transformational Travel Council to learn how to adopt and implement something more akin to a slow tourism model.
"The training was intense," says McCready. "It’s such a mind shift. You have to trust in the process. It’s so foreign from the way we have ever approached anything before. And it's something that takes real intention and practice. I don’t believe it comes naturally to any of us. You have to be really intentional about it."
Trail Running Issaquah, WA. Photo courtesy of Visit Issaquah, Christy Gerrard
Additionally, from a business perspective, when a destination is seeking to adopt and promote slow tourism, all parties need to be aligned and clear on what the community wants the outcomes to look like and what it will take to get there, says McCready.
She also points out that if a destination is interested in truly embracing slow travel offerings, it takes more than simply using those buzzwords in marketing campaigns on social media.
Similar to Issaquah's Christy Garrad, McCready says travelers have to be presented with specific opportunities to engage with a community more deeply and meaningfully. "They have to be given some sort of guidance," she says.
In the case of Camano Island, the shift to slow travel has been very successful thus far, and McCready now says of slow tourism: "Once you’ve tried it and had success, then you can’t imagine it any other way."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mia Taylor is an award-winning freelance travel writer and editor who has worked on staff for Parents, Real Simple, and Better Homes & Gardens. She also worked on a features writing team for BBC Travel and currently serves as a Senior Editor for the travel trade publication TravelPulse. Over the course of her career, Mia has received nine travel writing awards from the North American Travel Journalists Association. She was also a member of a team of KPBS/NPR reporters who received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. Her work has also appeared in Travel Age West, Westways, Travel + Leisure, and other publications.
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