Abstract
Since the slow city concept first started in Italy in 1999, 120 cities in 17 countries in the world have joined the movement in the last 10 years. The slow city movement developed from the slow food movement and is seen as an alternative way to improve quality of life. The ideal the slow city is seeking is 'the opposite of modern times', thereby allowing people to enjoy the wisdom of the past and discover its possibilities from both the present and the future at the same time. The slow city movement insists that its philosophy is humane and environmentally friendly, as well as a commonsense approach for the next generation. This study investigates the destination attractiveness of the 'slow city' Cheongsan Island, Korea, one of the 6 designated "slow cities" in the country and its successful development focusing on high priority improvement attributes. A survey was conducted in 2009 of Cheongsan Island visitors, and 197 responses were used for analysis. Attributes of destination attractiveness were categorized into four dimensions by nature, culture, tourism capacity, and emotion. Cheongsan Island was found to have high attractiveness in both nature and emotion, while relatively low attractiveness in culture and tourism capacity. Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) was applied to formulate recommendations for Cheongsan Island's destination attractiveness management. Tourism capacity were recommended to be most imminent and focused, and culture was suggested to be improved as well. Directions and ideas for improvement for each attractiveness are suggested. The implication of this study is unique and valuable with one of the initial research of the slow city as a new niche concept that embraces the regional development with tourism industry, tradition and regional identity. Overall, the results show that Cheongsan Island visitors thought nature attractiveness important and the quality of their experiences in reality was high as well. In other words, nature attractiveness was valued by tourists relatively higher than the other attractiveness attributes of Cheongsan Island.