Promoting Sustainable Mobility in Tourist Destinations: Mobility Center 2.0

Abstract

AbstractOver the past decades, leisure-related mobility in European regions has increased continuously, especially in tourist destinations. New mobility patterns put enormous strain on sustainability issues in tourist regions, which are particularly vulnerable in this regard since the amount of individual mobility often is higher than in non-tourist regions leading to road congestion, seasonal changes of transport demand causing capacity problems, and high level of private car use increasing the need for parking spaces, etc. The rising importance of ecological tourism demands new perspectives of the tourist destinations in establishing new sustainable mobility structures and strategies for supporting regional economic development. Mobility Centers 2.0 are an efficient tool to reduce individual car use and the negative impact of visitor’s travel in tourist regions, as well as to upgrade the quality of the leisure offer and the external image of the region. They can help to strengthen tourist regions as growth poles and improve the economic vitality of the targeted destination.