Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, and transport plays a key role in its escalation. Especially in rural tourist regions, the proportion of tourists arriving by car is high. In fact, the car is used as the main mode of transport for 72% of private trips within the EU lasting four nights or more, while the plane is used in 14% of cases. Only 12% of travellers use the train or bus. This leads to significant CO2 emissions, other pollutants, noise and traffic congestion, which have a negative impact on the environment, the quality of guests' stay and the quality of life of local residents. Air and car transport are considered to be the most harmful for the environment and society, while travelling by bus, train or bicycle has a less harmful impact.

Sustainable mobility goals for minimizing impacts

The goal of sustainability must be to reduce the number of flights and car trips and increase the proportion of guests who walk, cycle or use public transport. Rural regions are often poorly accessible by train or bus and sustainable options are sometimes difficult to find. This lack of car-free alternatives strongly affects the mobility of both residents and tourists.

Initiative The European Commission's SMARTA-NET aims to promote sustainable and resilient transport connections between rural and remote areas, including the promotion of ecotourism. It takes into account four distinct aspects related to tourism in the transition to sustainable development of rural regions:

• User perspective: How can visitors without a car or those who do not want to use one get to tourist and basic services?
• Tourism service perspective: How do tourism facilities ensure access to their services to grow or serve a social purpose?
• Tourist area/product perspective: How to minimize the impact of mobility, especially passenger cars, on the tourist area (e.g. parking, noise, emissions)?
• Global perspective: How to minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with mobility?

Promoting sustainable solutions and awareness

Given that many people in rural areas in Europe have limited options other than the private car, it is crucial to show what can be done and to build capacity among local authorities and other implementers. Despite 36% of EU-27 respondents being prepared to change their transport choice due to its environmental impact, almost one in two report that it is relatively difficult to find information on the carbon footprint of transport options when planning trips. Multimodal Transport Information Services (MMTIS) and the CountEmissions EU initiative are being adopted by the European Commission to address this issue.

Actively and comprehensively informing visitors about the available mobility options in the region is essential, as simple and easily accessible information can influence tourists' decisions to choose a destination with a well-developed sustainable mobility network. For example, the destination East Tyrol has its own website that recommends car-free travel and offers a CO2 calculator to compare the emissions of different travel options.

Cooperation and infrastructure

For the successful implementation of sustainable mobility concepts in rural regions, cooperation between all stakeholders from the tourism, mobility and policy sectors is essential. Groups such as local, regional and national tourism and marketing organisations, transport companies and local authorities are relevant actors. This cooperation helps to overcome the challenges related to tourism, the environment and transport.

Specific measures to improve sustainable mobility include:

• Improving public transport services: Taking into account the needs of tourists and tourism workers.
• Supporting active mobility: Support for walking and cycling, including high-quality footpaths and cycle paths with additional services.
• Shared services: Development of car-sharing and bike-sharing, which increase vehicle use and can reduce the total number of cars.
• Integrated offers: Creating packages that include train travel and accommodation, or guest cards with integrated free or discounted use of public transport.
• Development of transport hubs: Transforming railway and bus stations into multimodal hubs connecting different modes of transport.

Measuring progress and benefits

Accurate knowledge of tourism mobility is important for all stakeholders for planning, financing and marketing sustainable offers. Regularly reviewing one's own activities helps to determine whether measures are having the desired effects. Improving sustainable services leads to economic development, improves the quality of life of residents and visitors and creates more sustainable and livable communities. Ultimately, sustainable mobility in rural tourism regions can bring new competitive advantages and economic benefits from an intact environment. JRi