Sustainable Urban and Rural DevelopmentUrbanization and City PlanningPost-Communist Economic and Political Transition

V. Zubović, Ikica Petaković

2026.1.1Economic Horizons

DOI: 10.5937/ekonhor2601083z

Abstract

Tourism faces challenges from today's fast-paced lifestyles, in response to which slow tourism is gaining traction, promoting fewer but richer, more sustainable travel experiences focused on quality over quantity. This study reviews 47 research articles from the Web of Science and Scopus to analyze slow tourism's impact on the sustainability and perceptions of tourism and service quality. It identifies six key quality dimensions: spatial quality, product and service quality, the local quality of life, travel experience quality, perceived service quality, and transport quality. The originality of the study stems from the synthesis of the findings from various sources which enrich the insight into the dynamics and consequences of soft tourism for both travelers and destinations.

Citation format

ZUBOVIĆ, V.; PETAKOVIĆ, Ikica. Quality dimensions in slow tourism: Trends and perspectives from a systematic literature review. Economic Horizons, 2026, 28(1): 83–97.