“Slow Travel”: a way of being… and traveling

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Life in a coastal city or any other that has a marked difference in visits due to seasonal tourism, is very different in some months than in others. For the locals, who are eagerly preparing to receive travelers - many of them coming from the big capitals -, the high season is a month of hard work, but also of assuming a resounding change of pace. Hidden behind the economic benefits generated by having useful income for the rest of the year in a short time, are hidden the damages, excesses and oversaturations of the systems that usually facilitate the lives of the people who live there. One of the most obvious cases is the waste generated by a greater number of people living together in the same place in a short time. Garbage dumps often start to overflow and municipalities often have to include extra services to ensure their collection. The same thing happens when garbage is not deposited in the corresponding places, which, in addition to extra efforts.

That are left to the locals' pockets and taxes, runs the risk of generating hygiene and public health problems. Another common problem is traffic. Customs regarding Benin Phone Number List people's ways of driving are so incorporated that many do not notice the need to adapt to the place where they travel. And clearly, wanting to transfer the pace of life from big cities to towns, or to any resort from which one hopes to return relaxed, is at the very least counterproductive. Depending on the commercial capacity of the destination, the tourist season also generates lines to buy in businesses, and the influx of street vendors who are “unfair competition” for the locals, especially if they settle informally and do not even pay for their positions. . The search for alternatives Certainly, given the advantages that the arrival



Tourists to spas usually generates, the impact they cause on the localities that host them is rarely reflected on. If it were in the spirit of this note to continue with the disadvantages of receiving tourism, one could mention the more frequent saturation of energy or water services, which often causes cuts in supply, or shortages of merchandise, or delays. in usual procedures. But just as we can point out these shortcomings, it is also fair to highlight that the problems are not necessarily linked to the tourist influx. On the other hand, it would not be prudent for a city to maximize its service offering to the extreme just because it justifies its exploitation a couple of times a year. What we want to show here is how the arrival of a large number of travelers to a place.