Slow tourism on Instagram: an image content and geotag analysis

Slow tourism is a holistic tourism concept that promotes sustainability in all aspects of a traveller's journey. Slow tourism promotes positive outcomes for local communities such as stimulating local economies and minimising aversive environmental impacts; however, little is known about what the term 'slow tourism' means to tourists. The current study analysed 600 user generated images including the hashtag 'slowtourism' on Instagram to determine the locations and activities associated with slow tourism on the social media platform. Images were coded for geotag location and elements including landscapes, architecture, and transport. Results indicated most images were from Italy and France, and while some trends emerged such as images commonly featuring natural landscapes and architecture, there was substantial variance of content within these trends which suggests that people are associating a variety of types of tourism destinations and architecture with slow tourism. However other elements of slow tourism such as culinary experiences and transportation choices were evident less frequently. This research highlights how social media can be used to effectively investigate trends and future research opportunities within the tourism sector.