Slowness Saving the Day of Worldwide Travel and Tourism? Environmental and Sustainability Aspirations of Airline and Business Voyagers, Shared by International and Student Travelers as well as Religious Tourists

Abstract

The paper's first part analyzes global tourism's core concerns and responsibilities in the new millennium, one of which is sustainability. Sustainability is shown to be made operational by the triple bottom line, which is analyzed as an internal managerial decision-making and planning tool as well as an external assessment and reporting framework. Key triple bottom line dimensions are presented together with economic, social, and environmental performance and impact measurements via a range of key indicators. The paper's second part evaluates the concept, forms, and contributions of slow travel and tourism to worldwide sustainability discussions, especially to forms of fast tourism. Slow tourism's meanings comprise sustainability and environmentalism. As an opposite to slow tourism modes, airline travel has conflicting solutions within the airline and tourism industries, their customer preferences, and the global business environment. Similarly, business travelers' motivations, decision-making, and beneficiaries have moved environmental and sustainability considerations up on their agendas. Multinational companies' corporate social responsibility endows them with a special role in branding and marketing their sustainability aspirations. Student and youth traveler numbers increase steadily, corresponding to their market relevance and diversity of motives. Finally, religious tourists occupy a central position in global travel considerations, which impacts pilgrimage locations and ecologies. The paper's third part shows how fast travel forms and industries can be inspired by slow tourism, especially when combining triple bottom line indicators, corporate social responsibility considerations, and slow travel and tourism philosophies and practices. This combined approach shows potential especially for global tourism's marketing and branding strategies.