Optimising public transport to increase tourist flows

Abstract

The paper proposes ways to optimise public transport in order to increase tourist flows to four well-known tourist destinations in the Czech Republic, namely Český Krumlov, Jánské Lázně, Lednice and Macocha, during the spring and autumn seasons. It was found that the quality of public transport infrastructure needed to be improved if tourist flows were to increase. It has been found that tourism development is entirely dependent on the quality of transport infrastructure in order to achieve an increase in tourist flows. A long-term marketing study was carried out in the destinations above with the aim of gathering data on the number of tourists in each of them, the availability of public transport and its timetables, and the needs of tourists in order to improve public transport service. Research has shown that most tourists use secondary transport. This is due to convenience, lack of time, increased comfort, personal requirements and lack of provision of public transport. In addition, there are problems with rail service to some tourist destinations, and the intensity of the bus network varies, which is not convenient for tourists from different population groups. It was found that the capacity of the bus service to the selected destinations is sufficient and can positively influence the growth of tourist flows without increasing logistics costs just by changing the organisation of public transport. Based on the competitive advantage analysis results for the four destinations studied, the weaknesses and strengths of rail and bus transports were identified. Most tourists report that rail transport is more convenient mainly because of its well-connected transport service and affordable prices compared to aeroplanes or cars. It was found that the number of passengers is influenced by the geographic component of the terrain; two destinations (Jánské Lázně and Macocha) are located in the mountains and have a limited infrastructure network due to the undulating terrain, and thus not all means of public transport reach these destinations. It is verified that Český Krumlov is the most optimal of the destinations studied. The study revealed a relationship between the quality of transport infrastructure and the increase in tourist flows to the tourist destinations studied. We propose to develop a model to optimise the transport service in cooperation with a network of tourist information centres. To refine it, further surveys need to be carried out in different directions during the summer and winter seasons.