The Determinants of Tourist Use of Public Transport at the Destination

Abstract

Abstract:Of all the activities associated with tourism, transport is the one that creates most pollution. However, the mobility of tourists at their destination is an activity that has so far received very little attention from researchers in comparison with that afforded to the transport mode used to travel from their point of origin to their destination. This paper provides new evidence about the use of public transport by tourists at their final destination. The study is based on data obtained from a survey conducted with tourists (N = 4336) on the Costa Daurada (Catalonia), a Mediterranean sun and beach resort. The empirical analysis is based on estimations made using a multinomial model of the transport mode chosen by tourists to travel to the Costa Daurada combined with another model that estimated the probability of them using public transport during their stay. The results show that the tourists who arrived by private car were the ones who least used public transport at the destination. This was despite the fact that these tourists had the profile that made them most likely to use this type of transportation. On the other hand, although the tourists who arrived by plane had the profile that made them least likely to use public transport, they were the ones who used it most. It is, therefore, possible to conclude that, in addition to tourist profile, another key factor in deciding whether tourists will use public transport at their destination is whether they will take their own car.

A GIS-Based Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Spatial Coverage of Public Transport Networks in Tourist Destinations

“…In coastal destinations, tourism clearly tends to be a seasonal activity, which makes it more difficult for local authorities to match the demand for and supply of transport services when tourist numbers are high as the supply still has to cover as much of the resident population as possible. Therefore, this work contributes to a growing literature that considers as crucial the analysis of tourist activities and movements to improve public transport planning and foment more environmentally friendly mobility practices at tourist destinations [8,25,30,31,44].…”

“…Any strains on the system and any negative externalities are heightened by this concentration and polarisation, which become a major challenge for public transport operators. In this regard, the main challenges associated with tourist mobility at tourist destinations can be categorized into three key areas for consideration: (1) the strategic importance of local public transport to guarantee the competitiveness of the tourist destination [27,28]; (2) the impact of tourism on local transport and the need to implement measures to guarantee that it does not imply a decrease in the quality of the service provided to the local population [29]; and (3) the contribution of local public transport to promote more sustainable mobility patterns in tourist destinations which help to mitigate any environmental impact that may be caused by the increased flows [8,[30][31][32].…”

“…Within these urban areas, tourism activity has become a key variable that determines their evolution and, furthermore, the reconfiguration of metropolitan dynamics [47]. Previous studies on mobility and regional dynamics in Camp de Tarragona (the region in which Cambrils is found) have shown that the number of passengers in summer on the intercity bus lines increases by 441% (data from 2013 [48]) compared to winter [31]. Moreover, the marked seasonality of tourism requires reformulation of the functional hierarchies of the whole region, placing the coastal towns as the epicentre of regional mobility flows as they become not just mass tourist destinations, but also the main regional job and leisure centres [48].…”

Coordinated Development between Urban Tourism Economy and Transport in the Pearl River Delta, China

“…Passenger traffic by railway-y 1 10,000 person-times 0.048 Passenger traffic by highway-y 2 10,000 person-times 0.107 Passenger traffic by waterway-y 3 10,000 person-times 0.117 Passenger traffic by civil aviation-y 4 10,000 person-times 0.041 Passenger-kilometers of railway-y 5 100 million person-km 0.047 Passenger-kilometers of highway-y 6 100 million person-km 0.096 Passenger-kilometers of waterway-y 7 100 million person-km 0.125 Passenger-kilometers of civil aviation-y 8 100 million person-km 0.041 Length of highway-y 9 km 0.065 Possession of personal vehicles-y 10 unit 0.101 Number of vehicles under operation-y 11 unit 0.105 Area of urban roads-y 12 10,000.m 2 0.107…”

“…The development of tourism is closely linked to transport industry, as convenient transport is not only the necessary condition for the exploitation of tourism resources and construction of tourist destinations, but also an essential sign to measure the developed degree of tourism industry in a country or area [2]. Transport is a key factor in developing tourism attractiveness and activities [3][4][5], linking the customer market with tourist destination, providing access and mobility with a wide destination area (region or country), offering transport services within the destination, and providing travel along a recreational route [6,7]. Meanwhile, tourism economic activities have great influence on the transport network [8], transport demands of tourists [9], etc.…”