On 12 December, MONA hosted its first webinar as part of its capacity building programme, bringing together partners and stakeholders from across Europe to explore sustainable visitor mobility planning for tourism destinations. The session highlighted practical solutions to improve accessibility, reduce environmental impact and create seamless travel experiences in rural and natural areas. The following is a summary of the presentations:
Andrea Lorenzini from MemEx started off by addressing the challenges of accessibility in rural and tourist regions, emphasising the need for baseline measurements to inform policy decisions. The SMARTA-NET project was presented, which aimed to improve sustainable and resilient mobility connections in rural and remote areas, including islands, while promoting ecotourism. The project addressed issues such as limited mobility for non-drivers, insufficient policies and inadequate transport services affecting residents, tourists and regional development. SMARTA-NET proposed solutions such as strengthening public transport, coordinating timetables and establishing tourism mobility forums. These initiatives, supported by assessments of socio-economic data, travel patterns and seasonal dynamics, aim to improve service coverage, connectivity and accessibility.
Following this, Céline Van Migerode, Yitong Xia and Karen Curiel Ruiz Velasco from KU Leuven's Spatial And Mobility Analytics Lab presented the potential of using big data in tourism research. They discussed how traditional methods such as surveys and visitor counts can be costly and fragmented, while big data from mobile phones, social media and apps can provide continuous and detailed insights into visitor behaviour. Examples included mapping visitor flows in Belgium using geotagged tweets and analysing travel to US national parks. While big data complements traditional methods, challenges such as ethical considerations, data access and distinguishing tourism-specific behaviour remain critical.
A practical approach on how to implement sustainable mobility in touristic regions was presented by Miro Kristan from the Posoški Development Centre. He presented sustainable mobility initiatives in the Julian Alps, a region covering 14 municipalities in Slovenia, Italy and Austria. Faced with depopulation, an ageing population and seasonal tourism pressures, the region has introduced seasonal bus services, app-based shuttle-on-demand pilots and efforts to revitalise the transalpine railway. The creation of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) demonstrated the region's commitment to balancing the needs of residents, visitor mobility and environmental protection.
Rieka Oldsen from the Institute for Tourism Research in Northern Europe (NIT) concluded this session with insights into rural tourist mobility. She highlighted the unique characteristics of tourist travel, including flexibility, seasonality, weather dependency and group travel with luggage. In Europe, 72% of holiday trips are made by car, with mobility within destinations strongly influenced by the mode of arrival. Key factors such as seamless door-to-door travel, ease of luggage handling and effective pre-trip communication on sustainable transport options play an important role in improving the tourist experience. You can find the SMARTA-NET Guidance on Sustainable Mobility in rural tourism communities here.
This webinar was the first in a series on tourism and transport. Future sessions will continue to support the exchange of knowledge between MONA partners and stakeholders.
The presentations are available below, and you can read more about MONA's first in-person capacity building session here.
Accessibility issues in rural and touristic areas, the need to baseline (and measure) it and how it could influence policy choices (SMARTA-NET)
Andrea Lorenzini, MemEx
Mobile phone data and tourism flows
Céline Van Migerode, Yitong Xia, Karen Curiel Ruiz Velasco , KU Leuven
Data and monitoring; limits, pricing and sustainable transport in Triglav National Park
Miro Kristan, Posoški Development Center
Insights into holiday travel patterns and mobility needs of tourists (SMARTA-NET)
Bente Grimm & Rieka Oldsen, NIT