“Slow down.” This is the simple message of the Slow Movement. In today’s high-speed world of fast food, jet planes and instant communication, we are losing touch with ourselves, with each other, and with the earth, says the Slow Movement. Like ‘slow food’ and ‘slow media,’ ‘slow travel’ is a part of the movement. And here’s what the WHL Group staff thinks about it.

Today we belatedly mark World Food Day, which was celebrated yesterday, October 16, in honour of the date in 1945 when the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization was established. The theme was ‘Food Prices – From Crisis to Stability,’ an attempt to spotlight the need for global practices that can prevent the devastating price upswings we have seen all over the world. We therefore look back at some of the fantastic local-food contributions that have been made on The Travel Word.

When it comes to life’s simple pleasures, food definitely ranks near (if not at) the top of the list for most people. It’s probably fair to say that the way to a whole nation’s heart is through its stomach, so finding out what makes a country tick is often as simple as checking out what dishes regularly make it onto the dinner table. Thanks to the efforts of our local partners around the globe, we’ve assembled an extensive selection of typical local appetisers, soups and stews, main dishes, vegetarian dishes, desserts, drinks and snacks and street foods.

Just as there is a powerful SLOW FOOD movement, so too do we now need to build a SLOW TOURISM movement. We have ended up addicted to “fast tourism” in the same way we have ended up addicted to “fast food,” so, like the slow food movement we want to encourage a kind of tourism that respects local cultures and history, protects the environment and is socially responsible.