"Slow tourism encourages visitors to buy local products and services"
"Slow tourism" is an approach to travel that favors environmentally friendly transportation and activities that respect both the environment and local communities. Switzerland has significant strengths in this growing market, says Mireille Corger-Lattion, Deputy Head of Innotour.
Slow tourism gained momentum in response to mass tourism and has grown steadily since 2020. It encourages travel to less-visited destinations and promotes a more sustainable approach. For visitors, it means enjoying vacations at a slower pace, enriched by local experiences and nature-based activities. With its postcard-perfect landscapes and more than 65,000 kilometers of hiking trails, Switzerland is ideally positioned for this market segment. Mireille Corger-Lattion, Deputy Head of Innotour, Switzerland's tourism innovation promotion program, discusses the country's strengths in this area and explains how sustainability has become a cornerstone of the Swiss Confederation's tourism strategy.
How do you assess Switzerland's potential for slow tourism?
Mireille Corger-Lattion: Switzerland has many strengths when it comes to slow tourism, including, in particular, the exceptional quality of its varied and well-preserved landscapes, its built environment and its cultural richness. Many attractions and activities are therefore ideally suited to slow tourism. Switzerland also benefits from an excellent public transportation network that connects peripheral regions, as well as an extensive network of cycling routes and hiking trails. It is difficult to quantify the success of slow tourism. However, rural areas and outlying Alpine regions, which are less crowded and benefit from exceptional natural surroundings, are particularly well suited to this approach. Sustainability has also become an important consideration for visitors. Slow tourism responds to this growing demand and is expected to become increasingly important in the years ahead.
What economic opportunities does this market offer SMEs?
Corger-Lattion: Slow tourism encourages visitors to buy local products and services. A larger share of tourism spending therefore benefits the local economy, including restaurants, craftspeople, farmers, guides and organisations running cultural activities. By promoting rural areas, walking routes and soft mobility, local heritage and agritourism, slow tourism enables SMEs located away from major tourist destinations to attract a specific clientele and diversify the local economy through authentic, responsible and personalised offerings.
How does slow tourism fit into the new federal tourism policy?
Corger-Lattion: Sustainability is now at the heart of our strategy. Our goal is to promote well-balanced tourism that remains competitive and attractive to visitors while respecting nature and local communities. The new federal tourism policy* also supports the development of sustainable mobility, climate adaptation, and the tourism sector's contribution to climate protection. Switzerland, and its tourism industry in particular, is especially affected by climate change, making it essential to consider how best to adapt to these new conditions. One solution, for example, is to promote year-round tourism so that destinations are less dependent on winter snow conditions. Expanding tourism offerings throughout the year also helps spread visitor flows more evenly and reduces the contrast between overcrowded peak seasons and quieter periods. Achieving more sustainable tourism requires more than a shift in travelers' behavior. Tourism stakeholders must also reduce their CO2 emissions in order to help achieve the Swiss Confederation's net-zero target by 2050.
What role does the Swiss Confederation play in promoting this slower, more sustainable approach to tourism?
Corger-Lattion: The Innotour program, which supports innovation and cooperation in Swiss tourism, can fund up to 50% of the costs of selected projects. Although the program is not exclusively dedicated to slow tourism, 70% of the projects it supports contribute to sustainable development, which is a cornerstone of this approach to travel. The Swisstainable label also highlights the sustainability commitments of tourism stakeholders, making it easier for travelers to identify those that share these values. In addition, Switzerland Tourism's Travel Better strategy aims to foster a tourism economy that is both sustainable and prosperous while developing in harmony with local communities. Through targeted promotion, the goal is to bring the right guests to the right places at the right time.
Which projects supported by the Swiss Confederation are contributing to this transformation?
Corger-Lattion: We have, for example, supported the Swiss Parks Network, and thereby the development of tourism in numerous nature parks throughout Switzerland to generate sustainable regional value through environmentally responsible tourism. At the local level, we have helped the municipality of Morges develop a tourism offering centered on sustainability with the creation of a "Slow Destination". This includes expanding nature-based activities, promoting local gastronomy, and strengthening cultural initiatives that support slow tourism. To improve access to peripheral regions, which is essential to the success of slower forms of tourism, we also work closely with the Federal Office of Transport. In addition, awareness campaigns on the environmental challenges associated with tourism, as well as communication campaigns aimed at visitors, are organized in cooperation with the Federal Office of Culture and the Federal Office for the Environment.
*The Confederation’s new tourism strategy is currently being drawn up and is expected to be approved by the Federal Council in early 2027.
