SLOWDOWN: Promotion of slow tourism for sustainable, local and regional economic development and well-being

Tourism is one of the most important drivers of many economies in Europe, providing 10,3% of the EU’s GDP and employing 27 million EU citizens. In the past decades many EU, national and regional initiatives have been called to life to support the development of tourism, thereby boosting regional development. However, development efforts affected European locations on different levels: some suffer from overtourism and tourism-triggered environmental and social issues, while other regions are not able to exploit their tourism potential and opportunities. Slow tourism is an approach to travel that emphasises a slower, more immersive, and sustainable experience. It is a response to the fast-paced and superficial nature of modern tourism, aiming to create a deeper connection with the destination, its culture, and its people. This is the form of tourism SLOWDOWN partners wish to promote, exploring how local/regional policies can best address the development needs of this novel and underexploited sector. Partners believe that making the promotion of slow tourism a policy priority in their regions would be the most comprehensive and effective way for the growth of this segment. Therefore they joined forces to improve their development, planning and funding policies so that these better support slow tourism initiatives, thereby contributing to sustainable local/regional development as well. This will be done by an intensive inter- and intra-regional learning process and exchange of experience, enhancing the capacities of partner institutions and leading to policy improvement. Partners will immensely involve relevant stakeholders in this process, whose input and insight are key to meaningful policy enhancement. The consortium includes 9 partners from 8 EU countries, as well as 2 Associated Policy Authorities, representing various policy-implementing levels and also a wide variety of regional specificities. The exchange of experiences will be further enhanced by an Advisory Partner (UEF).