An Emerging Trend of Slow Tourism: Perceptions of Hungarian Citizens

Abstract

Besides slow food, slow city, slow fashion, education, and marketing - slow tourism is one of the several different slow movements. Several trends justify the importance and the reasons for the existence of slow tourism: the aging society, the growing power of women in making travel decisions. Slow tourism was born as a possibility for those, who would like to live their life in a different way even during their travels: giving respect to the environment and to the local people, too. In case of slow tourism local culture, traditions, gastronomy is in the center. Sustainability is also a priority, meanwhile, the well-being and interests of the inhabitants of the destination are also taken into account. Instead of mass tourism products authentic, not standardized experiences are in the supply. The research aimed to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of respondents towards different slow tourism elements. The study is based on quantitative data from an online survey conducted with 386 Hungarian respondents in the framework of omnibus research. To reveal the perceptions and attitude of the respondents towards slow elements multidimensional scaling model and principal component methods were applied. Based on the results it can be concluded, that the "local" elements of a journey are important for the respondents, meanwhile, the personalized services, the spirituality of the destination, and the sustainable approach do not matter. Only a small proportion of respondents avoids crowded destinations, so traveling to hidden places is not a favorite holiday option for the majority of Hungarians. However, the coronavirus epidemics can strengthen the demand for this tourism product, since expectedly there will be more tourists, who want to avoid crowded places during their holiday. Service providers can also benefit from the results of the research, and concentrate on the elements that proved to be important for Hungarian travelers. FU - European UnionEuropean Commission [TAMOP 4.2.1.D-15/1/KONV-2015-0006]; European Social FundEuropean Social Fund (ESF) FX - The research of Ildiko Ernszt was realized in the framework of the TAMOP 4.2.1.D-15/1/KONV-2015-0006 "The development of the innovation research base and knowledge center in Koszeg in the frame of the educational and research network at the University of Pannonia" key project, which is subsidized by the European Union and Hungary and co-financed by the European Social Fund. NR - 40 PU - CROATIAN INTERDISCIPLINARY SOC PI - SESVETE PA - SIMUNCEVECKA 38B, SESVETE, HR-10360, CROATIA