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As the overflow of information accelerates the pace of life, people search for opportunities to escape from their fast-paced lifestyle by engaging in slower consumption. This research empirically tested the role of slow tourism experience (STE) in improving one’s well-being.

In Study 1, 205 qualified tourists participated. Exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis with Promax rotation in SPSS v.26 was deployed to examine scale factors. Study 2 consisted of 460 tourists to test the conceptual model using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Multi-group analysis identified statistically significant differences between path coefficients in the structural models for males and females.

Results revealed a three-dimensional STE measure: deceleration, immersion and self-reflection. STE significantly impacted positive emotions and mediated tourist engagement and subjective well-being. Gender multi-group analysis indicated STE had a positive direct impact on SWB for male tourists; however, STE positively affected SWB through tourist destination engagement for female tourists.

The study was limited to tourists who had stayed at a destination. Future research may consider the different modes or mindsets that tourists use in designing their itinerary, length of stay, type of transportation, level of investment in the environment and culture.

Practitioners can distinguish tourism activities based on gender, focusing on engaging female tourists and triggering emotions for male tourists.

This is one of the first studies to operationalize and examine STE, extending the broad-and-build theory’s relevance in slow tourism research by revealing the effects of STE on tourists’ SWB.