Sustainable and Slow Tourism-A significant footstep towards reducing carbon emissions and negative health impacts: Perception of Indian Travelers.

Slow tourism is looked upon as a means of achieving green & sustainable tourism and is seen as an alternative to mass tourism. It is becoming popular amongst tourists, destination managers and tourism service providers. Slow tourism is an integrative concept that promotes sustainability in all aspects of a travelling journey. Advertisers and tourism service providers are marketing different features of slow tourism. Local Government bodies and state tourism development corporations are also promoting slow tourism through various social media and promotional campaign. The present research tries to explore the perception and preferences of Indian travellers regarding the concept of slow tourism. Methodology: This an exploratory research intending to study the perception and preferences of Indian travellers towards slow tourism. Semi structured interviews of tourists, destination managers and tourism service providers from India will be used to collect the data. Thematic apperception test will be used to evaluate the respondents' patterns of thoughts, emotional responses & attitudes towards slow tourism. Principal of saturation will be used to determine the sample size. Findings/Outcomes/Results: As an outcome of this paper the researchers propose to develop a model framework through which slow tourism can be embedded in the existing tourism practices of tourists, destination managers and tourism service providers. Implication: Through this research the researchers intend to create awareness about slow tourism and help to reduce the increasing environmental threats of fast tourism. It is also proposed to understand the perceived challenges in adapting slow tourism and to provide probable solutions to overcome this perception of the tourist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]