Good practice:

Practical guidelines for smart and sustainable mobility in tourism

The 10 tourism and mobility guidelines are an output of CIVITAS DESTINATIONS project and provide orientation on how the transport and tourism stakeholders can improve tourism governance, customer journey and reduce CO2 emissions, towards smart and sustainable mobility.
The 10 guidelines are:
1.Bring the tourism and mobility sectors to work closely together
2.Enrich the tourism product: Promote mobility solutions as a benefit for enhancing the tourist product;
3.Generate experiences: Design tourist experiences combining sustainable mobility modes i.e. cycling/pilgrimage, walking/architecture;
4.Create an information hub: Provide electronic and print information about sustainable mobility options;
5.Encourage PT operators to improve and promote their rural services to the tourist market: upgrade the experience and provide optional journeys;
6.Involve Tourism stakeholders: Train hotel front office staff and other; hospitality professionals to provide primarily sustainable travel solutions to their guests;
7.Combine transport modes: Create synergies between sustainable; mobility modes i.e. on PT card offer discount for bike-sharing, on bike-sharing card offer discount for electric car rental;
8.Collect and share data between tourism and transport operators;
9.Include the upgrading of sustainable mobility modes and infrastructures in the destination strategic planning;
10.Reward tourism businesses for promoting green solutions, including sustainable mobility solutions.

According to the guideline chosen, the required resources might vary according to the need of the destinations and the committed effort.
Some guidelines might require mostly human resources while others require infrastructures, equipment, and other materials.

Great results were achieved and were related to bilateral meetings, workshops, living labs, and cross-sector partnerships. Also, tailored messaging to different audiences allowed the required stakeholder cooperation. At a political level, the need for hard measures was a crucial approach, otherwise, there would be a disrupted method. In addition, the tourism stakeholders understood the economic value of a city improving the tourist experience, specifically through sustainable mobility.

Difficulty to establish full stakeholder’s involvement, including at a political level. It was faced constraints with the Taxi sector, which often offers incentives to hotel staff so that they recommend their services, which had to be faced as an extra challenge to promote sustainable mobility.

The 10 practical guidance recommendations provide orientation on how to implement sustainable mobility solutions in touristic destinations. These recommendations can be followed by transport and tourism authorities and stakeholders aiming to improve tourism governance, customer experience and to reduce pollutant emissions, towards smart and sustainable mobility.
The practical guidelines are a very interesting approach to be adopted by other cities, especially where tourism sectors play a crucial role in the cities dynamics, with considerable constraints and pressure on the mobility infrastructures. Combined sustainable mobility and tourism solutions for both sectors are of paramount importance.