Staying in a completely eco-renovated 19th century Gascon farmhouse, with an ecological swimming pool, vegetable garden and organic products from local agriculture… In 2021, this promise of a return to basics in the heart of the Gers countryside has greatly won over Victoire and her family. At 32, this Parisian lawyer believes that she has found, in Patrick and Florence Caillavet’s bed and breakfast, the “authenticity” she has been looking for for a long time. “Here, you can do everything on foot or by bike, everything that can be recycled is, everything is local, we favor the long term… And above all, we share much more than a simple financial transaction for accommodation” , testifies the mother of the family. Beyond accommodation and food, its hosts, who have been welcoming travelers since 2018, offer their guests the opportunity to meet local craftsmen, talk to surrounding producers or explore the territory on an electric bike to discover small villages usually ignored by tourists. “What we want is not to fill our three rooms at all costs. It’s to take the time to meet those we welcome”, summarizes Patrick.
This approach has a name: slow tourism. Directly inspired by the “slow food” movement, which promotes a rediscovery of gastronomy in opposition to “fast food”, slow tourism highlights the art of traveling more slowly, in a more eco-responsible way and favoring soft mobility… While immersing yourself in the local culture. “Do not try to see everything, consume everything, but take the time to appreciate what you have in front of your eyes and to immerse yourself in the place you are visiting”, sums up Sylvain Petit, lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Hauts-de-France and specialist in tourism economics.
Already studied for ten years, the trend has exploded post-Covid, boosted by a relatively young and urban audience, “which corresponds to this generation in search of meaning, which no longer has the same relationship to work, to time , travel, the environment”, describes the economist, for whom the market can only “grow in the years to come”. On the Internet, dozens of platforms now offer travelers “immersive experiences” in the heart of the territories, “slow” holidays in the heart of nature or “local and tailor-made” activities to discover “secret and unpublished” places. “Private players will obviously take over the subject, but the territories and the public authorities also have their card to play, since this trend makes it possible to present more or less forgotten destinations in a new light”, predicts Sylvain Petit.
“Lever of attractiveness”
Already, the term is widely acclaimed by certain tourism development agencies, which have placed the concept at the heart of their brand identity. “Holidays in slow mode”, promises for example Destination Gers on its website, via its label TerraGers. Created in 2008, this label is granted to partners committed to sustainable development, “who promote the art of living in the countryside and offer a complete experience in the territory”, explains José-Louis Pereira, director of the departmental tourism committee. In fifteen years, more than 200 professionals and 500 local services meeting these criteria have been labeled “TerraGers”.
This is the case of Claire Bortolussi, who won the precious sesame in 2020. Within the Château de Viella, a winery which also offers lodging and guest rooms, the young woman indicates that she “finds herself 100%” in the definition of slow tourism. “We didn’t wait for the term to be fashionable to introduce travelers to our profession, the heritage of the region, its gastronomy, to offer initiations to tasting and immersive workshops”, she specifies. Since the health crisis, the winegrower has also observed a certain enthusiasm among travelers on the subject: between 2021 and 2022, attendance at her accommodations increased by 12%, and that of her educational workshops by 16%.
“Positioning on slow tourism is an undeniable lever of attractiveness”, confirms Grégory Davaillaud, tool and data manager of the Slow Tourism Lab. This incubator, created in 2017 within the Aube Departmental Tourism Agency and endowed with an annual budget of around 200,000 euros, aims to support start-ups and tourism players in their transformation towards a more sustainable model. For five years, the organization has supported more than 83 young companies, including that of Pier Tognazzini. This former private sector professional has decided to leave the multinational tourism companies to launch his own booking platform in 2022, called MooVert. Its site offers stays and activities in 450 eco-responsible places across France – in ten months, it has been consulted by more than 26,000 travellers.
“Slow washing”
At the national level, the Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe) is also taking a close interest in the subject. In 2021, a “Sustainable Tourism” fund was created as part of the France Relance plan, endowed with 50 million euros. A call for projects specifically angled on slow tourism and ecotourism, endowed with an envelope of 4.7 million euros, brought together more than 500 project leaders – 73 of them were selected, in metropolitan France and overseas. Raising awareness of the wealth of the territory through shore fishing in Brittany, discovery of ornithological activities within national reserves in New Aquitaine, immersion trips in the least visited departments of France… “The goal was to be able to support these initiatives, until ‘up to 200,000 euros per project”, says Sophie Portier, head of the sustainable tourism fund at Ademe. Faced with the success encountered, the organization also relaunched the call for projects in June 2023: more than 1,000 professionals attended the launch webinar.
But beware: Ademe is well aware of the “purely marketing” argument that sometimes hides behind the notion of slow tourism. “There is, unfortunately, a certain form of what I call ‘slow washing’, with professionals who use the notion of slow tourism wrongly and through,” notes Sophie Portier, who recalls that it is not enough to offer accommodation in the middle of nature to use this term. “There are a whole series of criteria, with immersion in the territory, the use of low-carbon mobility, a desire to introduce people to heritage… It’s a real commitment”, she insists.
For the lucky winners who have succeeded in ticking all the boxes, the support of Ademe is invaluable. Loïc Sanchez was thus able to benefit from aid of 35,000 euros for the creation of his “En Immersion” platform, which offers multi-day trips to around fifty eco-responsible destinations in France, with accommodation, heritage discovery and activities with local artisans. “In the Haut-Jura, for example, you will go with naturalists to observe wild animals, with an initiation to the bivouac”, he illustrates. Its concept seems to delight “slow travellers”: in one year, the site has already sent more than 1,200 customers, for an average basket of 480 euros for two nights and two people.