Med Pearls project has undertaken a major exercise of compiling bibliography on Slow Food and studying in great detail the strategy of 6 Slow Tourism destinations to draw conclusions for the sake of Med Pearls project beneficiaries and any tourism agent (private or public) willing to incorporate Slow products to their portfolio.
Complementary to this, a thorough depiction of the 7 outbound markets with highest potential as Slow Travelers towards the Mediterranean region has been prepared; with an analysis intended to grasp the characteristic of the potential Slow Tourists coming from them.
This document will guide the reader to a better understanding of the different approaches to Slow Tourism and how this relates to other currents of Tourism.
After reflecting on the evolution of the concept and the conclusions of previous researchers, the document offers an operational definition for Slow Tourism and sets the basis for considering any Slow Tourism experience by looking at 6 main dimensions (Time, Slowness, Otherness, Authenticity, Sustainability and Emotion) and 4 key elements: Transport, Accommodation, Gastronomy and Type of Activities.