Desire Verbeek

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A sustainable tourism mobility passage in the
Alpine region
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Paradox of the Alpine region
Climate-tourism hot-spot!
Important tourism destination - 100 million
tourists a year - Economic dependence on tourism

• Environmental challenges
• Climate change effects (less snowfall)
• Air pollution
• Loss of biodiversity

? A need for sustainability strategies
Becken Hay, 2007 Bätzing, 2003 EEA, 2003
Pechlaner Tschurtschenthaler, 2003 Siegrist,
1998 Alpenkonvention, 2007
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• An example Alpine Pearls
• A sustainability strategy for tourism in the
  Alpine region

22 municipalities and their tourism boards
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Alpine Pearls

• ? A balance between environmental, economic and
  socio-cultural issues
• ? The journey is embedded in the holiday (i.e.
  Mobility as immanent part of the tourism value
  chain, instead of isolated activity)
• Enable tourists to travel environmental-friendly
  to and in the Alpine region

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Taking a contextual approach

• Inspired by SPA, I take a contextual approach
  when analysing a sustainable development of
  active Alpine holidays.
• - Neither focused on individual tourists,
• - Nor on technological innovations and structural
  solutions.
• - But the holiday practice where these two come
  together (Verbeek Mommaas, 2008).
• I consider the active Alpine holiday as a holiday
  practice

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A contextual approach to travelling behaviour
Passages

• Travelling is about solving problems (Peters,
  2006)
• A passage
• - is an order of material and immaterial elements
  
• - reduces the uncertainty and unpredictability of
  travelling
• - enables smooth and problem-free travelling
• (see Peters, 2003 Peters, 2006).

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An abstract representation of an Alpine Pearls
passage
A cross-border passage for env-fr travelling,
that enables tourists to experience smooth,
comfortable and problem-free Alpine Pearls
holidays.
Mobility to the region Mobility in the
region Mobility accommodation
activities Services Information
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Research question

• To what extent have passages for going on an
  Alpine Pearls holiday been developed, and what
  does this passage entail?

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Results - A passage for Alpine Pearls holidays

• - Political climate, market actors, and users all
  strive for sustainable tourism mobility in the
  Alpine region.
• - A unique storyline environmental-friendliness
  goes hand in hand with comfortable travelling,
  with enjoyable, fun and high-quality holidays
  spent in beautiful landscapes, and with economic
  success.
• - Accomplishments e.g. AP ticket, shuttle
  services, improved bus system, AP accommodations,
  improved information provision.

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Barriers for a continuous passage for Alpine
Pearls holidays

• 1. Nationally organised transport infrastructures
  
• AP association has to convince national
  railway/bus companies
• 2. Sectorially organised tourism industry
• AP association should create a passage among
  elements
• There is a misfit with current systems of
  provision

Nationally Sectorially
Contextual On the level of holiday practice
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Conclusions on Alpine Pearls

• It is a contextual approach to sustainable
  development of tourism
• ? Might another passage creator be more
  successful in overcoming nationally and
  sectorially organised tourism and travelling
  industries?
• Environmental friendly holidays as attractive
  high quality holidays instead of restricted to
  tree huggers

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Recommendations

• Aim for a sustainable development of tourism in a
  practice-oriented manner.
• Create green passages on the level of holiday
  practices
• (i.e. connecting nationally and sectorially
  organised systems)
• Develop new storylines for environmental-friendly
  tourism

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Discussion now and/or afterwards

• Desirée Verbeek d.h.p.verbeek_at_uvt.nl
• Telos Tilburg University
• P.O. Box 90153
• 5000 LE Tilburg
• The Netherlands

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Extra Methodology

• Participant observation June 2007 and July 2007,
  13 of 22 Alpine Pearls villages.
• - The time-space context of the Alpine Pearls
  holiday
• - The travellers travelling along the Alpine
  Pearls passage
• - The availability of (information on)
  environmental-friendly tourism and travel
  services.
• Interviews July 2007, 13 in-depth
  semi-structured interviews with policy makers,
  mayors, tourism directors, and mobility managers
  involved with Alpine Pearls.