Slow travel allows not only to be more sustainable, but also to reconnect with nature and to stay in touch with local communities while respecting history and traditions. This is the trend of international travel outlined at BIT 2023, at Allianz MiCo in Milan from next Sunday 12 February to Tuesday 14 February.

For example, Jordan, which has just been named among the Best in Travel 2023 destinations by Lonely Planet, offers places where history and culture are combined with nature and breathtaking landscapes. In particular, the Jordan Tourism Board has just launched the new museums website. Among the various museums featured on the website, in addition to the well-known Petra Museum and the Archaeological, Folklore and Jordan Museums in Amman, there are real goodies from archaeological areas, such as Umm al Jimal, Umm Qays, Feynan and Ajloun, or in cities such as Salt (UNESCO heritage site), Irbid, Madaba, Ma'an and Karak.  The website also includes virtual tours of 18 museums, together with the vast collection of antiquities found in the country. Neighboring Palestine and Israel are also destinations that combine culture, history, spirituality and authentic experiences.

In the long run, slow tourism in Thailand wants to go beyond sustainability to become an authentic immersive experience, as confirmed by Sandro Botticelli, Marketing Manager of the National Tourist Board for Thailand: “In Phuket, for example, visitors can experience firsthand what organic tourism is all about by visiting Ban Suan Phak Kut Thong, which is located 30 minutes from Patong Beach. In this organic vegetable farm, visitors can learn about the process of switching from chemical to organic farming and cook with their own produce from the farm.”

Adventures for all tastes and... distances

For tourists who like to combine sustainability with adventure, BIT 2023 offers also lesser-known but still fascinating destinations such as Namibia, with the Kalahari Desert and the breathtaking landscapes of the Atlantic coast. All to be discovered are also the rainforests of Nicaragua, which are home to 7% of world's biodiversity. Re-launched by Italian mountaineering enthusiasts thanks to the success of the movie (and novel) The Eight Mountains, Nepal remains a unique destination capable of combining tourist hospitality with authenticity of traditions against the backdrop of the Himalayan peaks.

For those looking for lesser known paths that are a little closer to home, this year's must-do's are excursions to the ancient churches perched on the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia; the history-rich, cultural and religious melting pot of Sarajevo; or the world suspended between castles, legends, and semi-wilderness between Carpathians and Danube in Romania and Moldova.

Register now to BIT 2023 to discover this and much more at the exhibition!