The potential for slow tourism as a form of sustainable development in Extremadura, Spain

Abstract

As overtourism increasingly threatens tourism experiences, developments and policies, the global tourism sector requires transformative diversification. With the ambition to achieve sustainable and regenerative change for the tourism industry, this research concentrates on values as the primary and critical catalyst for slow tourism development. Despite their importance, critical and empirically grounded research on values – specifically those emerging from the socio-cultural pillar of sustainability – remains limited. This study uses personal values as a lens to understand local identity and culture, creating a new framework for sustainable and resilient tourism. This research analyses values, examines the development trajectory of a specific remote Spanish case-study, namely the region of Extremadura in order to propose slow tourism development with local community empowerment at its core.
The research develops a values-based conceptual framework, using qualitative methodologies that incorporate informed grounded theory, to create an in-depth understanding of the potential for slow tourism. The methodology includes policy document analysis, semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders as well as participant observations. The data shows that a values-based approach enabled the thoughtful acknowledgement of the place, its people, culture, and identity to ensure that discussions about slow tourism development are contextually relevant and desired by the local inhabitants.
This study’s findings show defining values - most notably sense of place, quality of life, nature connection, and emotional investment - as the pillars of Extremadura community and tourism stakeholders sentiments. These results overall revealed that slow tourism development potential is driven by the profound alignment between the foundational principles of people and tourism development interventions that are location-specific. Applying this approach in Extremadura provides a timely strategic opportunity to diversify Spain’s tourism sector. More importantly, this research is vital for the region and its community, offering a way to build a resilient local economy. It posits slow tourism as a conscious and deliberate form of tourism that provides a powerful, positive response to current systemic challenges. Crucially, the research argues that the future of a place and community lies in the synergy between sustainable, regenerative, and slow tourism models, where success is measured by the genuine prosperity of the destination and the empowerment of its people. By bridging these concepts, this thesis provides a roadmap for a holistic tourism paradigm rooted in personal values and the reciprocal relationship between humans and their environment.

Date of Award	Jun 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Brighton
Supervisor	Catherine Kelly (Supervisor), Barbara Grabher (Supervisor) & Francisca Farache Aureliano Da Silva (Supervisor)