Slow tourism as an opportunity for inner areas: The case of transhumance routes in Apulia Region

Abstract

Slow tourism, often associated with rural and experiential tourism, is having an important impulse in the last decades since it is considered a sustainable form of tourism, that fosters economic development in those areas traditionally excluded by mainstream fluxes, such as inner areas. Italy is not exempt from this phenomenon and, recently, numerous new slow tourism routes have been planned or developed all over the country.
After an introduction of key concepts related to slow tourism, the paper offers an overview of the main features of long distance cycling and walking routes through the literature review and the analysis of international case studies from which key insights are extracted concerning the importance of three factors: landscape; strategic vision; and local community. Afterwards, the paper focuses on a specific case study: Apulia, a region that is experiencing an important growth in the tourism sector, including slow tourism, and that has a notable history linked to the practice of the transhumance, that has left an heritage of about 2000 km of ancient routes: the tratturi.
The paper aims to analyse the opportunities that the ancient transhumance routes provide for slow tourism in the Apulia Region, highlighting their values as possible long-distance walking or cycling routes, and their unique assets.