Shifting Gears: A Position Paper on Sustainable Tourism Mobility through Service Design
| Type of publication: | Proceedings |
| Citation: | |
| Publication status: | Published |
| Year: | 2025 |
| Month: | December |
| Publisher: | 28. Jahrestagungder DeutschenGesellschaft für Tourismuswissenschafte (DGT) |
| Organization: | DeutschenGesellschaft für Tourismuswissenschafte (DGT) |
| Address: | Berlin |
| URL: | https://fr.slideshare.net/slid... |
| Abstract: | Mobility plays a central role in both daily life and tourism, with leisure accounting for 43% of daily travel distances in Switzerland (FSO, 2021). In Alpine tourism regions, private cars are the dominant mode of transport due to limited, costly, and sometimes inconvenient public transport options. This results in congestion, noise, pollution, and parking shortages, especially during peak seasons (Dickinson et al., 2009). This paper reviews current literature with the aim of understanding the state of knowledge on tourism mobility challenges and promising solutions for promoting a shift from private car use to public transport. It draws on contributions from transport planning, tourism studies, behavioural sciences, and service design to address the guiding question: What is the current state of promising solutions in achieving sustainable tourism mobility from a multidisciplinary perspective? Findings suggest that early tourism mobility research was primarily rooted in infrastructure and planning, but recent years have seen a shift toward behavioural and experience-oriented approaches. While technical and infrastructural interventions remain important, they alone have limited effectiveness in reducing emissions and shifting behaviour (Scuttari, 2009; Sussman et al., 2020). Behaviour change lies at the heart of the problem and the solution in terms of greenhouse gas emissions (Sussman et al., 2020). Traditional approaches based on rational decision-making, beliefs, and social norms have shown limited impact in leisure contexts. Recent research explores new pathways, such as nudging, hedonic framing, and user-centred or service design approaches that take into account emotions, convenience, and enjoyment (Dolnicar, 2020; Li et al., 2023). These emerging strategies recognize the importance of tailoring services to different tourist profiles while designing desirable and memorable mobility experiences. This paper proposes a fourfold typology that cross-references key mobility challenges in tourism regions - such as limited frequency and pricing of transport services, communication gaps, incomplete customer journeys, and local infrastructure bottlenecks - with the degree to which service design interventions can leverage meaningful change. The typology serves a dual purpose: first, as an analytical framework to better understand the nature of challenges; second, as a strategic guide that bridges the gap between these challenges and appropriate solutions. By linking specific types of mobility issues with their potential for transformation through service design, the typology provides Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) and public actors with a practical and experience-sensitive tool to reduce car dependency in a more targeted and effective way. |
| Keywords: | Mobility, service design, sustainability, tourism |
| Authors | |
| Added by: | [] |
| Total mark: | 0 |
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