A Critical Review on “Image”-based Tourism : A Case of Slow Traveler

Abstract: This essay is based on a critical review of dominant form of tourism industry that causes a system of meaning, making as consequences of reproducing of ‘image’ in media. Images of promised destinations bombard us everywhere, on billboards, small advertisement bar on social networks websites, on magazine and even in movies and TV series in designated smart way. These images define what we should experience when we are in such destinations and at the same time affirm any other forms of experience which is not recognized in these matrixes of images are not welcome. This means for example the meaning of safety and comfort in a travel is only achieved by the way that  has been already constructed in media through series of campaigns of a special tourism agency. One can say this mechanism forces us to accept that there is no other ways of having comfortable travel without going by airplanes and tourist packages without accommodating in hotels, without going to designated touristic areas in destination and so on and so forth. Here I draw on other alternative ways of doing travel like Slow tourism as a way of breaking such image making system in media as well as a way of experiencing what seems to be un-experience-able. For this I conducted a series of interviews with an experienced slow traveler who cycled several times between various countries. This essay is a qualitative/analytical text based on experiences of one slow traveler and critical reviews of  literature provided in this area.