Exploring the on‐site experience of slow tourists from an embodied practice perspective

Abstract

The rise of slow tourism reflects tourists' high‐quality needs under the accelerated pace of contemporary life. However, the on‐site slow tourism experience remains underexplored despite its importance to both tourists and destinations. This study aims to explore how on‐site experiences are created and identifies the features of the on‐site experiences of slow tourism. From the perspective of embodied practice, the study finds that two patterns, slow‐moving‐and‐pausing in the context of the local landscape environment and consuming‐and‐engaging in the context of local life and culture, account for the slow‐tourist‐oriented individuals creating their autotelic tourism experiences. Intra‐personal and inter‐personal experiences are found in the two different patterns that indicate the existential experience is, in essence, the slow tourists' emotional quest. Further, this study argues that slow tourism can be seen as an extension or intensification of daily routine experience.