A tool to support transport decision making in tourist coastal areas

About half of the total nights spent in the EU is related to tourism concentrated in coastal destinations. Despite the numerous positive impacts, this form of tourism produces also negative externalities; the mobility to reach/leave and to move within a destination is responsible for a relevant part of them. However, specific measures addressing the issue of tourism transport in coastal areas are still rare; that is also due to the fact that decision makers lack adequate tools for their selection. Starting from existing tourist and transport tools, this paper proposes a method for selecting the most appropriate measures to improve tourist mobility in coastal areas, according to the characteristics of the destination. To this aim five categories are identified (Territorial context, Tourist city, Tourist profile, Transport system, Tourist mobility). Each of them is characterized by different indicators, which, on turn, are related to specific transport measures. The Italian municipality of Misano Adriatico is used as a case study to illustrate how to define a set of possible solutions that might improve tourist mobility. According to the characteristics of the destination, the combined use of push measures (higher charge of parking areas) and pull measures (integrated tourism/public transport tickets) guarantees the most appropriate results. The method described is straightforward and easily scalable to other contexts, thus providing a useful tool for decision makers to improve the tourist mobility in coastal areas