Issue No. 5 – December 2014
Tourism and Mobility The joint e-newsletter of the SEEMORE and the STARTER project
The Tourism and Mobility newsletter This newsletter is published twice a year in cooperation between the SEEMORE and the STARTER projects. To subscribe to the newsletter visit www.seemore-project.eu www.starter-project.eu
Table of contents
Sun is setting on our projects After two and half years of working on sustainable mobility of tourists, the STARTER and SEEMORE projects have entered in their final stages. Although it fills the project partners with nostalgia, for the audience of the newsletter it is actually the most interesting project phase. We are now able to share our experiences and (almost) final project outputs with you. In this fifth and last newsletter, the coordinator of the STARTER is asked to look back at the experiences in his project. SEEMORE presents its thematic deliverables that contain recommendations for specific target groups and are available for download. The regional spotlight is directed at Provincia Forlì Cesena in Italy and Pomerania in Poland. The sun is setting on the 2014 summer season and the SEEMORE and STARTER projects. Luckily we have set up local co-operation frameworks that will continue working on sustainable mobility and making our destinations more attractive. We look forward to welcoming you in one of the SEEMORE and STARTER regions in the future!
Ronald Jorna Project manager STARTER
Maarten van Bemmelen Project manager SEEMORE
The SEEMORE thematic deliverables can help you to get started Pages 2 and 3 Local Actions during summer 2014 in Pomerania and Provincia Forlí-Cesena Pages 4 and 5 Interview with Coordinator of STARTER project to look back on the project Pages 6 and 7 SEEMORE Central European Transfer seminar in Bucharest: exhange of good practices on sustainable mobility for tourists Page 8 Joining forces with UNESCO in working towards zero emissions tourism! Page 9 Sunny SUMPs: planning for sustainable mobility of tourists Pages 10 and 11
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Tourism and Mobility The joint e-newsletter of the SEEMORE and the STARTER projects
The SEEMORE thematic deliverables can help you to get started Article written by Sara Baronio, Central European Initiative Are you interested in implementing mobility measures for tourists in your region? Have a look at the SEEMORE thematic deliverables: short targeted documents that can help you to get started! You can download each report by clicking on the title. First key steps towards sustainable mobility in tourist areas In the first phase of the SEEMORE project, tourists were interviewed in all demonstrator regions in order to identify their needs and preferences as well as potentials for shift to sustainable transport modes. Local working groups convening key actors from the transport and tourism sectors were set up and involved in the drawing of the regions’ action plans. This document illustrates this process through examples from the region of Dobrich (Bulgaria).
Promoting cycling in tourist areas Many SEEMORE actions aimed to facilitate trips by bicycle for visitors.
The
implemented
measures
ranged
from
the
establishment of low-cost bike rentals at hotels to the organisation of cycling guided tours, and from setting up new bike-sharing schemes to providing new opportunities of transporting bicycles on PT means. SEEMORE demonstrated that very positive results could be obtained thanks to “soft measures”, such as information and a better organisation of services involving different actors.
Intermediate impacts of mobility management measures for tourists in 8 European coastal regions This document presents the evaluation results from the first 18 months of the SEEMORE project. There have been first positive impacts on outreach, increased awareness and improved cooperation. Sustainable mobility of tourists is of strategic importance for destinations because it adds value to the local tourist product and can act as example to the local population. Setting up the cross-sectorial cooperation between local tourist and mobility stakeholders takes time and effort but is essential for reaching the desired impacts. It is important to focus on concrete measures and quick wins to maintain the momentum of the cooperation framework.
Public transport (PT) promotion among tourists
A better provision of information about the PT offer is a key element to increase the use of PT by tourists. These should be addressed during all stages of their holidays, i.e. before, during and even after their stay. The use of PT in SEEMORE regions was enhanced especially by developing new products: these are applications combining tourist and mobility information (e.g. web travel planners tailored to leisure trips, audio guides) and “transport + leisure” packages (e.g. free entrance or reduced entry fees for visitors reaching the attractions by PT, combined tickets PT travel + leisure activities).
Hotels and tourist attractions promoting sustainable transport Several SEEMORE actions involved stakeholders from the tourism industry. All SEEMORE regions organised free training sessions for hotel staff. The receptionists were trained to provide tourists with accurate and complete information on sustainable transport options. A certificate of good practice recognising the recipient as an accommodation facility committed to the preservation of the environment was awarded to cooperative hotels. Several hotels started selling PT tickets at the reception, being rewarded with a commission on the sales. Many hotels also included a link to the PT operator website on their own websites. Finally, tourist attractions in many SEEMORE regions started offering free entrance or reduced entry fees to visitors reaching them by public transport, being rewarded with free advertisement on PT means.
Tourists, a new target group for digital travel planners? The advantage of ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems)
In particular, the travelling suggestions provided
is that the information is adaptable to the place and
should
time where the tourist is at any instant of his
information on cultural and nature destinations in
journey. The main difficulty is to join relevant data
order to enrich the visitors’ experience. Within
from various organisations, which calls for new
SEEMORE, digital tourist guides, audio guides and
partnerships
travel planners were developed in Madeira and
professionals.
between
transport
and
tourism
be
reliable
and
attractive,
including
Mallorca, while interactive info kiosks were installed in
Limassol
(Cyprus).
Local actions during summer 2014 in Pomerania
© enter picture source here
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Tourism and Mobility The joint e-newsletter of the SEEMORE and the STARTER projects
Article written by Andrzej B. Piotrowicz, Pomeranian Association Common Europe (PSWE)
In the summer 2014 a number of actions have been implemented in Pomerania to promote sustainable ways of travelling in touristic areas, especially in the Choczewo commune and the regional capital: the city of Gdańsk. The promotional activities focused on internet–related media. The case of sustainable transport issues was introduced with a rich media banner. The banner, 300x250 pixels large, provides access to further media content via four different tabs. The first tab contains a tourist video promoting Pomerania and the coastal area, showing how they can be visited on foot, by bike or by bus (with a direct link to the SEEMORE YouTube Channel). The second tab contains promotional photos with an opportunity to directly pass to the www.seemore-project.eu website. The third tab contains a link directing the internet user to the CO2 emission calculation tool. The fourth tab provides an opportunity to download the Polish language version of the national reader of the SEEMORE project. Thanks to the preparation of the rich media banner an opportunity was created to develop working relationships with the local public and private bus companies operating in the Choczewo commune. The principal area of co-operation concerned the promotion of Choczewo as a tourist destination accessible by public transport as well as the carriage of bicycles on board of regular buses. Additionally, the honorary start of the Tour de Pologne cycle racing event, the most popular international cycle race in Poland organised at the historical gate of the Gdańsk Shipyard – the cradle of the Solidarność Trade Union in August 1980, was used as an important lever allowing to promote the SEEMORE project among the widest possible Polish and international audience. The attention of Polish media was particularly raised by the fact that the honorary starter of the race was the legendary leader of the Solidarność movement, former president of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Lech Wałęsa.
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Tourism and Mobility The joint e-newsletter of the SEEMORE and the STARTER projects
Article written by Elisa Cangini, Provincia ForlíCesena
Local actions during summer 2014 in Provincia Forlí-Cesena During the summer of 2014, this Italian region has launched a wide range of local actions for promoting and disseminating the SEEMORE project. The following are the most remarkable ones: A wide local awareness campaign on sustainable mobility was developed and implemented during the summer of 2014 to promote sustainable ways of travelling in touristic areas, especially in the municipalities of Cesenatico, Gatteo, San Mauro Pascoli and Forlì. Two Sustainable Mobility Guides were realised, for the coastal area and Forli, in order to allow tourists to move around without a car. The guides were printed and distributed at tourist offices, bus terminals and hotels, while the digital versions were uploaded to the main websites used for tourism planning. A tourist video promoting Forlì and the coastal area was shot, showing how they can be visited on foot, by bike, by bus.
A SEEMORE photo competition was organised. Eighty photos were submitted through the social networks Facebook and Instagram. A jury selected the best three photos and awarded three prizes. One additional photo for each contest category (Selfie, Group selfie, See more and Places) had a special mention and could be used for future tourism campaigns.
SEEMORE promotional kits including a Tshirt, a refoldable plastic bottle and a USB card were produced to disseminate the project. SEEMORE contributed to the promotion of a specific bus line to coastal area and was presented at the Cesenatico International Cycling Fair and the Forlì Mobility Week.
Interview with the Coordinator of STARTER to look back on the project As the end of 2014 is slowly approaching, so is the ending of the STARTER project. It is said that time flies when you’re working hard, and that must be even more true when you’re having so much fun at the same time! When the curtains close for this project by December 31 2014, STARTER will have run for 30 months. Time to ask Ronald Jorna*, project leader and senior consultant at Mobycon, how he looks back on this period, and what he sees in the future of sustainable mobility in tourism.
Looking back on the past 2.5 years, what do you see as the biggest challenges and successes in the project? The biggest challenge is to involve the local stakeholders, in particular the local touristic enterprises, such as hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, etc. They are running their own private business and sustainable transport is not (yet) a key concern. We have to find a way to make sustainable transport a Unique Selling Point of the touristic regions. That visitors experience real fresh air and are not bothered by polluting traffic jams of tourists trying to reach the beach, or touring cars polluting city centres with their diesel engines. However, we managed to bring attention to the topic of sustainable transport in touristic regions. Sustainability in tourism very often is synonymous to re-using your towel in a hotel and reducing energy consumption. Sustainable travel is a rather new item on the agenda. We have implemented quite a number of sustainable transport measures, such as promoting cycling and implementing electric mobility and a beach shuttle.
Article written by Liesbeth van Alphen, MOBYCON
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Did working on STARTER somehow change your personal view on tourism and sustainability? Yes and no. I still prefer to take my car to drive to southern Europe during summer, since it gives you full flexibility. On the other hand I try to limit the use of my car once on location, walking to the shop or using public transport if available. For example we used the bus to the start of a hiking trail in Switzerland, and we took the train from our camping in Lirici to the Cinque Terre hiking trail in Italy. Similarly we traveled by train from the camping in Sospel to Nice, using a special tourist ticket. Very convenient and much more relaxed than taking the car. “Sustainability in tourism very often is synonymous to re-using your towel in a hotel and reducing energy consumption.” What do you predict will happen over the coming years, when it comes to working with LTPNs, or other stakeholder project teams? As I said before, many stakeholders still are very much focused on their own business, with little interest in sustainable transport. Only when accessibility and/or liveability becomes a problem I expect that this attitude will change. At the end what counts for the local entrepreneurs is the economics: if sustainable transport will make their destination more attractive than other destinations, they will experience the direct benefits. This can be seen in Werfenweng, one of the forerunners in stakeholder cooperation. I hope other tourist destinations will follow this excellent example. Is there anything we as an audience can do to help? In my view local authorities could play a role in stimulating and facilitating local stakeholder cooperation. This is not done overnight but will require a long-term endeavour. In addition the tourist sector itself should put more emphasis on the green travel options for the tourists, both in getting there and getting around. “At the end what counts for the local entrepreneurs is the economics: if sustainable transport will make their destination more attractive than other destinations, they will experience the direct benefits.”
* Ronald Jorna is a senior transport, traffic and mobility consultant at Mobycon, and the project leader of STARTER. He has been working on European projects for more than 25 years. Feel free to contact him for more information through r.jorna@mobycon.nl.
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Tourism and Mobility The joint e-newsletter of the SEEMORE and the STARTER projects
SEEMORE Central European Transfer Seminar in Bucharest: Exchange of Good Practices on Sustainable Mobility for Tourists Article written by Slavena Radovanovic, Project Manager, and Sara Baronio, Project Assistant, Central European Initiative
The second SEEMORE Central European Transfer Seminar took place in Bucharest on 30 October 2014. Organised by the CEI within the frame of the SEEMORE project, the seminar gathered representatives of 16 tourist destinations from 7 different countries, namely Lezhe and Tirana (Albania); Tuzla and Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Sofia (Bulgaria); Zadar and Varazdin (Croatia); Stip and Ohrid (Macedonia); Bacau, Costinesti and Bucharest (Romania); Novi Sad, Sremski Karlovci, Arandjelovac and Belgrade (Serbia). The purpose of the seminar was to favour the transfer of the best practices and successful approaches developed within SEEMORE to other CEI tourist destinations.
During the event, representatives of the SEEMORE regions of Dobrich (Bulgaria) and Limassol (Cyprus) presented the innovative measures developed within the project, such as sustainable mobility tourist guides, targeted awareness campaigns and specific cooperation schemes with hotels and other stakeholders from the tourism industry. All participants showed deep interest in the topic and shared their ideas and opinions on the project activities. Many guests envisaged the possibility of introducing SEEMORE-like measures in their respective areas, expressing their satisfaction for the fruitful exchange of information that took place at the event.
Joining forces with UNESCO in working towards zero emissions tourism! The STARTER and SEEMORE teams are proud to announce that their demonstration sites are now featured on the website of Biosphere Smart Initiative in partnership with UNESCO / Man and the Biosphere Programme. The Biosphere Smart Initiative is a global observatory, specifically created to share ideas, knowledge, best-practices and experiences among Biosphere Reserves. On its website, the Biosphere Smart initiative offers information on the earth itself, the topic of climate change, Biosphere Reserves and best practices and initiatives to help come to greener,
more sustainable development. In this latter topic, it features all of STARTER and SEEMORE’s demonstration sites, with the aim to inspire other regions in the world to invest in sustainability. On its webbased platform, Biosphere Smart has developed an interactive online world map, in which it presents and informs on good initiatives. Go to www.biospheresmart.org/ (Menu: Help Greening / Initiatives / STARTER) for more information! Thanks to the Biosphere Smart initiative, the Fuerteventura Biosphere Reserve and Interra for this great initiative!
Article written by Ronald Jorna, MOBYCON
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Tourism and Mobility The joint e-newsletter of the SEEMORE and the STARTER project
Sunny SUMPs: planning for sustainable mobility of tourists An important precondition for the successful implementation of mobility measures for tourists is a close cooperation between the local actors from the tourism and transport sectors. The partners from both STARTER and SEEMORE have established these local cooperation frameworks in their tourist regions. To mainstream this cooperation into long term planning of mobility, it is important to include tourists as a target group within Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs). Article written by Maarten van Bemmelen, CINESI Transport Consultancy
The SEEMORE project has supported local mobility planners with including tourism mobility into their Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. SEEMORE has been organizing joint workshops with planners from the tourism and mobility sectors to discuss a common approach in making the tourist destination more attractive. During a conference of the BUMP-Project in Trieste (25th of September), SEEMORE presented its measures as an inspiration for including tourist mobility patterns in SUMPs. The BUMP pilot regions, that are currently developing their SUMPs, concluded that tourism requires a multi-sector level approach to come up with effective solutions, including those addressing mobility. After a process of stakeholder involvement and public consultation, the city of Palma de Mallorca approved its first SUMP in October 2014. During a stakeholder workshop on the mobility of tourists, the SEEMORE measures were presented and possible local measures were discussed. As a result, the mobility of tourists has become one of the 10 strategic lines of the city of Palma. The action plan contains several measures directed at tourists, like integrating mobility and tourism information; the Palma card that combines public transport with tourist attractions; and the introduction of a shuttle bus that connects the cruise terminal with the city centre.
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The SEEMORE partner CSDCS has successfully coordinated the implementation of a series of mobility measures directed at tourists in the Dobrich district. CSDCS is now assisting one of the mayor municipalities, Kavarna in developing a SUMP that will include both residents and tourists as target groups. The inclusion of the mobility of tourists into Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans guarantees that SEEMORE-like actions will be continued also in the years to come. The examples of measures from the SEEMORE project helped us to kick-off the discussion among stakeholders about the mobility of tourists. “Increasing the level of mobility services for tourists” is now a strategic objective of our SUMP, approved in October 2014. Gabriel Vallejo Gomila, Mobility Councillor, City of Palma de Mallorca
Sustainable mobility and tourism are good friends: less pollution, less congestion (…) and more pedestrian areas make cities better places for residents and tourists alike and offer cities good economic prospects. Something to consider when it comes to traffic and mobility planning and management! Luca Mercatelli, BUMP Project Manager, AREA Science Park, Trieste
After the first positive experiences within sustainable mobility measures in the SEEMORE project, our city has now started the process of developing a SUMP that will include tourists as an important target group. Tsonko Tsonev, Mayor of Kavarna
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Tourism and Mobility The joint e-newsletter of the SEEMORE and the STARTER project
Sharing our experiences! If you would like to stay informed about the two projects, please like our joint Facebook Page! The SEEMORE & STARTER Facebook account informs you about the regional achievements and the most recent developments in the two projects.
Listing of available outputs from the project The SEEMORE and STARTER partners are working on the final project reports. Already today, a number of interesting documents is available for download on the project websites. Some examples: The SEEMORE thematic deliverables: short targeted documents that can help you to get started! First key steps towards sustainable mobility in tourist areas Promoting cycling in tourist areas Intermediate impacts of mobility management measures for tourists in 8 European coastal regions Public transport (PT) promotion among tourists Hotels and tourist attractions promoting sustainable transport Tourists, a new target group for digital travel planners? The STARTER interim implementation report provides and overview of the measures implemented during the summer of 2013. The final implementation and the final evaluation reports will be available on the STARTER website by the end of December 2014.
www.starter-project.eu
Project Coordinator Mobycon Ronald Jorna r.jorna@mobycon.nl
www.seemore-project.eu
The STARTER project aims to promote energy efficient and sustainable mobility policies and practices in touristic areas, through the cooperation of local parties in Local Travel Plan Networks.
SEEMORE shows that regional actors in 8 European coastal tourist regions are able to change the travel behaviour of visitors within their regions towards more sustainable transport modes.
Project Coordinator CINESI Maarten van Bemmelen mvanbemmelen@cinesi.es
The sole responsibility for the content of this newsletter lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EACI nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. The SEEMORE and the STARTER project are co-funded by Intelligent Energy Europe.