Towards a Design Framework for Slow Travel: Investigating Human Environmental Perception during Cycling

Slow tourism as an alternative form of tourism has gathering momentum in academic research in recent years, especially since discussions on environmental sustainability and human well-being intensified due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of a slow tourism experience, slow travel mobilities are commonly carried out through active modes of movement, such as walking and cycling. Slow and active mobility for commuting purposes in urban settings has been extensively analysed by scholars, yet little research exists on its experiential and affective dimensions for leisure and tourism purposes in non-urban contexts. With the aim to lay the foundations for a comprehensive framework that explores human environmental perception and related affective experiences during slow travel, this paper presents an ongoing study that investigates the case of cycling in non-urban contexts. Using the method of intercept survey, the study adopts a person-centred approach that values the diversity and subjectivity of human environmental perception, thus yielding findings of qualitative and empirical nature. A preliminary analysis of the findings illustrates the differences in environmental perception and affective experience according to the various speeds and purposes of cycling. By unveiling the salient environmental features that influence a cycling experience for tourism and leisure purposes, the ultimate goal of this research is to contribute to design guidelines for cycling routes and slow travel infrastructures.