SEEMORE: Attractive DestinationsSustainable and Energy Efficient Mobility Options in tourist Regions in Europe

Authors: Maarten van Bemmelen Raul MedinaLluís de VictoriaCINESI

May 2015

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SEEMORE: Attractive DestinationsSustainable and Energy Efficient Mobility Options in tourist Regions in Europe

Final publishable report of the SEEMORE project

Authors: Maarten van Bemmelen, Raul Medina, Lluís de Victoria, CINESI.May 2015.

Legal disclaimer:The sole responsibility for the content of this document lies with the authors. It does not represent the opinion of the European Com-munities. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. SEEMORE is co-funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme of the European Commission and ran from March 2012 until March 2015.

Contents

Executive summary

Project Objectives

SEEMORE Partners

SEEMORE Approach

Sustainable Mobility Packages for Tourists

SEEMORE Awareness Campaigns

SEEMORE Promotional Videos

SEEMORE Regions

Provincia Forlì-Cesena, Italy

Choczewo, Pomerania, Poland

Dobrich District, Bulgaria

Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

Limassol, Cyprus

Bohuslän, Sweden

Malta

Madeira, Portugal

Impacts of the SEEMORE project.Achievement on IEE common performance indicators.

Lessons and recommendations for local authorities

Lessons and recommendations for mobility providers

Lessons and recommendations for the tourism sector

SEEMORE actions replicated in other tourism regions

Find out more about sustainable mobility for tourists

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The SEEMORE project has focused on introducing energy-efficient transport solutions for visitors in eight coastal tourist regions of Europe. The SEEMORE approach consisted of three main steps:

● Establishing local cooperation frameworks with stakeholders from the tourism and mo-bility sectors.● Implementation of local actions to promote sustainable mobility of visitors.● Exchange of experience with other regions to encourage replication of successful ac-tions.

The eight SEEMORE regions have implemented a range of 179 local actions that can be grouped into the following action types:

● Mobility information packages for tourists;● Communication and awareness raising campaigns;● Improved sustainable mobility options;● Integrated products for leisure and mobility;● Integrated planning processes taking the needs of tourists into account.

SEEMORE has been successful in reaching its specific project objec-tives.

● The cooperation between the tourism and mobility sectors was improved in each of the eight regions. Local working groups combi-ning stakeholders from both sectors were formed. Com-bined new products were created and data exchange protocols established. 80% of the trainees involved in the regional workshop sta-ted that their skills had in-creased.

● The combined promotion and awareness actions of the SEEMORE project have reached 7,800,000 visitors in the eight participating regions. 60% of the tourists that participated in the SEEMORE survey stated that they were aware of the sustainable mobility options that are promoted by the project.

● A shift towards more sustainable transport options is reflected in the additional 1,500,000 public transport tickets sold within the SEEMORE regions (comparing 2014 to 2012).

Executive summary ● SEEMORE has actively shared experiences with representatives from 107 European tourist regions in small-scale transfer workshops. 32 transfer regions have already started developing SEEMORE-like actions. The dissemination activities on project and EU-level reached 1.300 practitioners.

Because of the increase in public transport use in the eight implementation regions and the transfer regions, SEEMORE contributes to achieving EU 2020 objectives on CO2 reduction and savings in primary energy use. Overall it is estimated that by 2020, SEEMORE will contribute to primary Energy savings of 9,699 toe/year and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of 26,434 t CO2-equivalent/year.

The main lessons and recommendations from the SEEMORE implementation are:

● Sustainable mobility of tourists is of strategic importance for tourist destinations becau-se it adds value to the local tourism product and the image of the destination.

● The number of tourists looking for a sustainable holiday destination is growing. There is no sustainable destination without sustainable mobility.

● A close cooperation between local actors from the mobility and tourism sectors can create more attractive destinations.

● Setting up the cross-sectorial co-operation between local tourist and mobility stakehol-ders takes time and effort but is essential for creating win-win situations and reaching the desired impacts.

● Public transport information should be easily accessible to visitors already well before their arrival at the destination.

● Public transport and sustainable mobility should be marketed as an integral part of the holiday experience.

● SEEMORE provides recommendations to hotels and accommodations on how to increa-se the service level to their guests and promote sustainable mobility at the same time.

● The mobility of visitors and leisure transport in general should be an integral part of each Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan.

This report presents a summary of the experiences of a three-year project of 14 partners, imple-mented at 8 tourist destinations. More detailed information can be found on the project websi-te: www.seemore-project.eu .

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Project Objectives

BackgroundLeisure travel accounts for 50% of all travel mileage in industrialized countries and is expected to grow further in the coming years. The impact of growing leisure travel is especially felt in tourist regions that have to cope with seasonal changes in transport demand and severe congestion caused by high levels of car use. An inefficient organisation of mobility can lead to a decrease in the attractiveness of a destination because of road congestion and poor air quality.

At a local level, integrated policymaking and strategy development for mobility and tourism is needed to face these challenges. For tourist destinations to remain competitive and attractive in a global market, co-operation between local actors from the tourism and mobility sectors is essential.

ObjectivesThe SEEMORE project has focused on introducing energy-efficient transport solutions for visitors in eight coastal tourist regions of Europe. Its specific objectives were:

● To increase the co-operation between the tourism and mobility sectors, thereby crea-ting new energy efficient mobility options for leisure travel.● To increase the awareness about sustainable mobility options among tourists.● To realise a shift of travel behaviour of visitors towards more sustainable modes of trans-port. ● To widely share and communicate the SEEMORE experiences and outcomes with other actors in Europe, so that they start implementing similar actions.

Because of the shift in travel behaviour from private and rental cars towards public transport and slow modes, SEEMORE contributes to achieving EU 2020 objectives on CO2 reduction and savings in primary energy use.

CINESI Transport Consultancy Spain

Spain

Sweden

Sweden

FGM-AMOR Austrian Mobility Research Austria

Poland

Municipality of Choczewo Poland

Sustainable Development of Civil Society Club Bulgaria

Province of Forlì-Cesena Italy

Italy

Cyprus

Stratagem Energy Ltd Cyprus

Horários do Funchal Public Transport Portugal

Malta

SEEMORE Partners

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This report first provides a visual presen-tation of three actions that were imple-mented by most of the regions, namely the mobility packages for tourists, the com-munication campaigns and the promotio-nal videos. In continuation the reader can find an overview of the specific actions and impacts in each of the eight SEEMORE re-gions.

Exchange of experience to encoura-ge replication in other regionsThroughout the project, the SEEMORE partners have organised small-scale face-to-face events to encourage the transfer of experiences to other tourist regions in Europe. During the national transfer semi-nars, the SEEMORE regions presented their local actions in their own language to a group of colleagues from their own coun-try. Two specific international SEEMORE events in Trieste and Bucharest attracted participants from Central Europe. Overall, representatives from 107 regions participa-ted in the SEEMORE transfer seminars.

SEEMORE partner have presented the pro-ject at different international thematic con-ferences covering both the mobility and tourism sectors. The thematic conclusions from these presentations and discussions have been included in a series of targeted reports that are available on the SEEMORE website (www.seemore-project.eu).

SEEMORE Approach

The SEEMORE approach consisted of three main steps:● Establishing local cooperation frameworks with stakeholders from the tourism and mo-bility sectors.● Implementation of local actions to promote sustainable mobility of visitors.● Exchange of experience with other regions to encourage replication of successful ac-tions.

Establishing local cooperation with stakeholdersThe creation of local working groups involving stakeholders from tourism and transport in each of the eight participating regions has been the basis for the success of SEEMORE. The groups discussed the design, implementation and evaluation of the mobility management actions for tourism in the SEEMORE regions. In most of the regions, the SEEMORE local framework works-hop was the first time that tourism and transport planners worked together in a structured way. The local framework documents and action plans produced by the different regional teams are available on the SEEMORE website. The cooperation continues also after the end of the SEEMO-RE project.

Actions to promote sustainable mo-bility of visitorsThe eight SEEMORE regions have imple-mented a range of 179 local actions that can be grouped into the following action types:

● Mobility packages for tourists: combined mobility and tourist infor-mation in different formats and lan-guages.● Communication campaigns: pro-motional videos, photo competi-tions, billboards and public events.● Improved mobility options: new public transport lines, public bikes, bike transport on trains and buses, cycling and walking routes.● Integrated products: combined tickets for public transport and events or attractions, audio guides for public transport routes, journey planners for leisure trips.● Integrated planning: protocols for data exchange between mobility and tourism actors, parking strategies in tourist areas, training of front desk staff from tourism sectors and integrate leisure mobility into Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans.

SEEMORE meeting in Madeira. 2012

SEEMORE meeting in Malta.

SEEMORE meeting in Sweden.

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The basic idea of the sustainable mobility package for tourists is to combine updated information on local transport options and tourist attractions into one integrated ca-rrier and to offer this in the languages of the target groups. This allows the visitor to plan his tourist excursions making use of public transport and by cycling or walking. The SEEMORE regions have implemented a range of solutions, including:

● Brochures with timetables of the bus lines towards the main attrac-tions.● Bicycle maps connecting cycling fa-cilities to tourist attractions.● An online trip planning tool allowing visitors to plan thematic ex-cursions using public transport.● A complete travel guide based on the regions´ public transport net-work.

Sustainable Mobility Packages for Tourists

Billboard in Malta. Promotiong photo competition

Brochures from Funchal.

Bicycle maps produced in Bohuslän, Sweden.

Promotion of SEEMORE photo competition in Forlì-Cesena.Map distribution at Palma de Mallorca airport.

SEEMORE desk in Forlì-Cesena. Travel guide Madeira.

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The SEEMORE regions have organised campaigns to raise awareness among tourists about the available offer of sustainable mobility options. Tourists where targeted both before arrival and during their stay.

SEEMORE Awareness Campaigns

Teaser postcard photo competition Madeira.

Posters photo competition Malta.

Photo Competition Malta, author Vincent van Roomen.

Photo competition in Albena Resort, Dobrich.

Photo Competition Forlì-Cesena, author Lucia Spadoni. Photo competition Limassol Дмитрий Синайский

Photo competition Limassol Giwrgos Triantafillides

SEEMORE photo competition Limassol – Back to nature! Romos Kotsonis. SEEMORE photo competition Limassol – Cycling to the beach

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The video format provides the possibility to transmit the positive emotions of SEEMORE: sus-tainable mobility is fun and it forms an integral part of your holiday experience. When walking, cycling or travelling in public transport you will SEE MORE of our attractive destination!

The promotional videos are made available on regional tourist and transport websites but can also be accessed centrally on the SEEMORE YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCX4xeuIRv7Zb4TW12UJ_rg

SEEMORE Promotional Videos

Pomerania

Forlì-Cesena

Mallorca

Malta

Madeira

Dobrich

Limassol

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CASE STUDY

The great majority of visitors of the Province Forlì-Cesena arrive in their own car. In the summer season this generates peaks in congestion and pollution. Before SEEMORE there was a lack of information about alternati-ve mobility options to reach the main historical and leisure attractions. The new sustainable mobility guides aim to convince tourists to park their car once they arrive in the area and then use sustainable modes for the trips during their holidays.

The guides contain complete multi modal mobility information for visi-tors in the English, German and Italian languages, covering the public bike system, bicycle parking, public trans-port and electro-mobility. One version of the guide is dedicated to the city of Forlì while the second version provi-des information on the beach resorts of Cesenatico, San Mauro Mare and Gatteo a Mare. Physical copies of the guides were distributed and electro-nic versions can be downloaded from the Province´s website.

The sustainable mobility guides represented the central tool of the local awareness campaign on sustainable mobility and were highly appreciated by tourists. During a 2014 tourist survey, the percentage of tourists stating to have been informed on sustainable mobility options almost doubled compared to 2013. Other Italian tourist municipalities and regions have already shown interest in replicating the measure. The good cooperation within the local stakeholders group is a key success-factor that contributed significantly to improving and updating the information included in the guides. The challenge for the future is to maintain this level of cooperation, to facilitate the constant need for updates of the information.

Provincia Forlì-Cesena, Italy

The Province of Forlì-Cesena is a lo-cal authority coordinating 30 munici-palities in several subjects, including tourism and mobility. For the SEEMO-RE project the Province directly invol-ved its coastal municipalities of Cese-natico, Gatteo and San Mauro Pascoli and the art city of Forlì. Besides the province and the municipalities, the SEEMORE local working group also in-corporated the local mobility agency, the local PT operator, the Forlì agency for integrated mobility and the hotel association of Cesenatico. Awareness campaigns were organised to promote the available offer of sus-tainable mobility options in the area. This included for example, the preparation of sustainable mobility guides for tourists, the production of a promotion video, the organisation of a photo-competition and the promotion of a bus line to the beach and the extended public bike system. The members of the local working groups recognized the importance of cycling tourism and the hotels were convinced to maintain their cycle rental and maintenance services. Bike sharing services were expanded in both Forlì and Cesenatico and a new bike map was produced. In coo-peration with the local mobility agency and PT-operator the use of the SMS payment systems Bemoov and DropTicket for bus tickets, were promoted.

The Province estimates that over 45,000 visitors were reached by the communication actions. 65% of tourists interviewed in a SEEMORE survey were aware of sustainable mobility options in 2014, in comparison to 46% in 2012. Nearly 72% of all interviewed tourists was aware of the bike rental offer at hotels. Bike trips by the respondents increased from 44% in 2013 to 71% in 2014. In the same time period the number of public transport tickets sold have risen from 642,738 to 726,244.

Despite the role of Provinces is undergoing a deep transformation in Italy, it is the intention of Forlì-Cesena not to loose the significant lessons learnt within SEEMORE. The relations establis-hed with the involved municipalities and the other stakeholders are an added value that will last also after the project end. The protocol for data exchange, signed between members of the Local Working group, will continue also in the years to come.

Seemore Mobility Guide Coast.

Sustainable Mobility Guides for Visitors

Provincia Forlì-Cesena, Italy

Cesenatico Harbour. Petra Bottcher.

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CASE STUDY

Choczewo, Pomerania, Poland

The region of Pomerania is located in the north of Poland along the Baltic coast. The Choczewo commune has beautiful natu-ral surroundings and its beaches attract tourists especially in the summer season. Since the national rail network does not serve Choczewo, the majority of external visitors arrive at the local tourist accommo-dations with their private cars.

SEEMORE allowed the Choczewo to combi-ne the publication of cycling maps with the installation of a signposting system and as-sured the dissemination of maps round the clock (7/24, seven days a week). 10 newly installed map dispensers aim to convince tourists not to use their car to satisfy their daily mobili-ty needs but to go walking or cycling instead. Thanks to this initiative, public transport operators have decided to allow passengers to carry bicycles on board of their buses.

In Pomerania, a quality label called “Bike & Bed” was introduced for tourist accommodations that are well equipped for hosting cyclists. Within SEEMORE, the idea of environmental labelling was promoted among hotels and other tourist accommodation facilities in Choczewo.The Polish project partners, PSWE and Choczewo promoted the use of sustainable modes through the awareness campaign “RoweRowe Piątki” (Bike Fridays) in 2012 and 2013 as well as the awareness campaign “Ciclovia AmberExpo” in 2013 and “Ciclovia after Tour de Pologne” in 2014.

A rich media banner has opened the possibility (2 million views) for targeted campaigns on Inter-net and has been important to integrate tourism and mobility information. The first tab contains the SEEMORE tourist video promoting Pomerania and the coastal area, showing how they can be visited on foot, by bike or by bus. Further tabs link to graphic materials, the SEEMORE website, the CO2 emission calculation tool and the Polish language version of the national reader of the SEEMORE project.

The highest longer term benefits resulting from the SEEMORE project, are connected to the pre-paration of the underlying assumptions for a car parking policy in the Choczewo municipality. It is the first document of its kind adopted by a coastal commune in Poland.

Promoting cycling among tourists

Choczewo, Pomerania, Poland

Before the SEEMORE project, an overview of existing network of bicycle friendly routes around Choczewo was not available. Tourist promotion publications were only offered to visitors during the office hours of the municipality. The SEEMORE project allowed the munici-pality to combine the publication of cycling maps with the installation of a signposting system and assured the dissemination of maps around the clock (24/7) through the installation of seven map dispensers.

The map dispensers are an important tool to convin-ce tourists not to use their car to satisfy their regular (daily) mobility needs during their holidays. The local public transport operators could also benefit from the implementation of this task. Thanks to this initiative, public transport operators have decided to offer the op-portunity of carrying bicycles on board of their buses.

In the summers of 2013 and 2014 as many as 4,500 maps were taken from the 7 map dispensers. An im-portant supplement to the map dispensing system was the installation of an extensive bike route signposting system. In view of high dispersion of the cycling traffic, the number of cyclists using the existing cycle route network has not been evaluated yet, but opinions co-llected from the motorized tourists show that the sig-nposting system has been very user friendly and has been highly assessed by the visitors.

Choczewo Beach.

Map dispenser Pomerania

Tourist map Choczewo

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CASE STUDY

Dobrich District, Bulgaria

The SEEMORE partner CSDCS, has closely cooperated with the local authorities (Do-brich District and the Municipalities of Kavarna, Balchik and Dobrich), as well as with the maritime resorts (Albena, Kavar-na and Balchik), local transport providers and other interested NGOs and compa-nies. 5 trainings on sustainable mobility were organised for local decision-makers and staff involved in the transport and tourism sectors.

A tourism information package was desig-ned to promote the use of sustainable mobility. 2,500 printed copies were distributed and more than 60,000 electronic packages were downloaded. The photo competition was very successful and the related photo-exhibition on sustainable mobility in the Albena resort attracted 60,000 visitors. To reach tourists before their arrival, links with long distance transport providers were established (bus company Etap-Grupp and Bulgaria Air) and promotion of SEEMORE was realised via their communication channels. Overall 741,000 visitors could be reached through the diffe-rent campaigns and communication channels.

The Bulgarian SEEMORE video was translated in English and presented at 6 international con-ferences and events. ELTIS uploaded the video on its website where more than 50,000 visitors saw it.

Three cycling paths were marked and bike rental schemes were created in the resort areas and Dobrich. By the end of the project, all Albena hotels provided free of charge bicycles for their guests. Electrical propulsion was strongly promoted and the number of e-vehicles available for tourists in the resorts has tripled.

New sustainable parking policies were introduced in Albena and Balchik. The municipality in-tends to build a huge buffer parking near the entrance in the city in the near future. New bus lines were launched in the Dobrich region thus improving service level of public transport. Com-bined tickets for transport and tourist attractions were launched in 2014 in Kavarna. The combi-ned tickets will be continued after the end of the project. The SEEMORE team supported the city of Kavarna to develop a SUMP that was approved by the Municipal Council in April 2015 and is the first SUMP in Bulgaria.

Periodic surveys among the tourists show an increased awareness about available sustainable mobility options (from 44% in 2012 to 55% in 2014), as well as increase in cycling and walking trips.

New public transport services at tourist destinations

Dobrich district, Bulgaria

The Dobrich vision for SEEMORE was to introduce sustainable mobility measures in resort areas and enhance the synergies between the tourism and transport sec-tors. However, before the project started, public transport connections between coastal areas and inland towns were poor and the accessibility was considered as in-adequate for a high quality touristic desti-nation.

Several stakeholders came together to address this problem, including the District government, Municipalities, the Dobrich transport company, Albena Tour Ltd (the transport company of the Albena resort) and several private transport providers from Dobrich.

Two new bus lines were launched in Kavarna. The first one connected the city centre with the beach and its timetable was included in the SEEMORE mobility package. The second was a cir-cular line launched in May 2013 making a round of Kavarna neighborhoods to serve the rural population. Also in the rural area of the target region a new bus line was launched from Balchik to Obrochishte in May 2013, connecting the small villages between the two towns.

To address the high demand for summer transport for the Balchik beaches, a minibus service was established in summer 2013 for visitors wishing to visit the Balchik seaside.

In order to further increase the use of PT in the target region, a new long distance bus connec-tion Sofia-Albena-Balchik-Kavarna was launched in 2013. The measure has proven to be financia-lly viable, as the number of tickets sold increased by 20% in the whole Dobrich region.

The main innovation is the link established between tourism and transport sector, which ha-ppens for the first time in the region. The stakeholders realized that it is not possible to create sustainable tourism strategies without providing visitors with adequate public transport.

New public transport offer at tourist destinations

Albena Resort - Dobrich

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CASE STUDY

Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

Staff from tourism information offices was trained in sustainable mobility and the par-ticipating tourist offices now have access to a specific extranet were they can access updated information on public transport. The SEEMORE mobility guide in Mallorca contains a symbolic map of public trans-port connections as well as timetable infor-mation. During the project, 4,400 printed copies were distributed and about 240,000 electronic versions downloaded. A large version of the map is shown at the arrival halls of the international airport and in the intermodal station of Palma.

The Public Transport website www.tib.org has been completely refreshed and tailored to the needs of tourists. The website is now available in six languages and a specific area “Tourism by Public Transport” was created. In total 50 routes, split into 3 typologies (walking, heritage and beaches) were prepared and can be accessed in combination with an up-to-date travel planner. Other SEEMORE actions, like the Emission Calculation Tool, the SEEMORE promotional video and the travel planner tool are highly visible. During the first year this new section on tourism attracted 200,000 visitors.

A new express bus line was introduced to link an important beach resort in the Southwest to the city centre of Palma. The service level towards the eastern beach resorts was also improved with new lines and higher frequencies. On 6 bus lines it is now allowed to carry bicycles for free, which has resulted in a total of 2,100 bicycles transported annually. Overall, a small increase in public transport tickets sold is observed.

A Sustainable Mobility Plan was implemented for the natural park of Mondragó, where two po-pular beaches are located. The SEEMORE team contributed to a stakeholder workshop for the Palma SUMP on mobility for tourists.

It is estimated that the combined SEEMORE promotion and awareness raising actions reached 3,922,000 visitors. Periodic surveys among tourists show an increased awareness about the avai-lable sustainable mobility options.

Parking regulations at the beach

Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

Before 2014, the parking situation at the Natural park s’Amarador & Cala Mondragó was chaotic with visitors leaving their cars even in sensitive dune regeneration areas. The target area featured high congestion and a continuous flow of cars driving along the road that leads to the beaches. This chaotic situation meant a mayor barrier for effective public transport and emergency services.

The road accesses to the beaches have been reorganized in order to prevent illegal parking and decrease the risk of accidents. Parking has been limited and is now only allowed in tow designated parking areas. Both areas have a total capacity of 400 pla-ces and users have to pay a 5€ fee to park during the whole day. A segregated lane for pedestrians, delimited by timber piles, was created along the road access to Cala Mondragó. The bicycle parking has been enlarged and is located close to the beach. For the loading and unloading of goods the delivery bays were reshaped ensuring an efficient distribution of products to local businesses. New par-king spots for disabled were created close to the beach. Public transport users can now wait for the bus at a more comfortable and peaceful location. The information leaflet combines mobility information with information on the attractions of the Natural Park.

The measure was developed in close cooperation with residents and local authorities to ensure the success and sustainability of the measures on the medium and long term.

Many visitors expressed their satisfaction with the new layout displayed in the area. Evaluation results show that both traffic congestion and traffic conflicts have diminished. Together with the reduction of noise and air pollution, this has lead to an improved attractiveness of the area.

Parking regulations at Cala Mondragó

s’Amarador beach, Natural Park Mondragó. Eduardo Miralles

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CASE STUDY

Limassol, Cyprus

The Limassol Tourism Board, the official tourism authority in the region of Limassol, cooperated with the local partner Strata-gem in the SEEMORE project. They coordi-nated the efforts of in total 120 local stake-holders from the tourism and transport sectors. In total 56 tourism professionals, mainly front office staff, received training on the available sustainable mobility offer. Protocols for data exchange were establis-hed. Updated information was regularly provided, to hotel front personnel and guest-relations officers about bus schedu-les, airport shuttle service, bike sharing and walking tours.

The Limassol Sustainable Mobility Guide combines mobility and tourist information and includes maps on cycling routes, bike sharing stations and the public transport network. 8,000 Mobility guides in English and Russian were distributed to all Limassol hotels, travel agents and other lo-cal stakeholders. A further 1,800 electronic copies were downloaded from the Limassol Website. Seven new info kiosks providing 24-hour information were installed in four different municipali-ties. Mobility information is offered for free and is also downloadable on smart phones. Almost a million clicks were recorded the first year of operation.

A promotional campaign titled: ‘Experience Limassol’ was carried out to promote activities in Limassol such as bus routes to nearby villages, cycling excursions, walking tours. The SEEMORE promotion video is promoted via the Limassol website (3,000 views) and at international tourism fairs.

A new airport shuttle service was successfully introduced. Within Limassol, 7 bus stops were refurbished to make them more attractive and changes in the network made leisure locations more accessible. Public transport users have free access to the Municipal museums on one day per week and free public transport is offered for large events in the region.

New cycling and walking tours were developed and the public bike system was extended with 7 new stations and 50 bicycles.

Overall it is estimated that the communication actions reached 752,000 visitors. The number of public transport tickets sold increased from 4,500,000 in 2013 to 5,000,000 in 2014. In the 2014 tourist survey, all respondents stated that they were aware of the sustainable mobility options in the region (compared to 52% in 2012).

Mobility Management for Large Events

Limassol, Cyprus

Tourist cities like Limassol welcome a growing number of large events that are highly appreciated by the tourists. For events considered of high interest to the vi-sitor, free transfer was offered. The Limas-sol Tourism Board offered two buses per event with English and/or Russian speaking guides.

In 2013 free bus transfer was offered for four major events and in 2014 for five ma-jor events, most of which were held in vi-llages in the Limassol region. For events in the town of Limassol, information about the urban bus service towards the event location was included in the promotion material.

The tourism board advertised the free transport to events with flyers and posters in all hotels and also promoted the service via Internet and at local tourist information offices.

Around 1,000 travellers used this bus ser-vice in 2013 and 2014 to visit the events. Some of them would have visited using private or rented cars. Others would have ignored the opportunity to attend the event if a transfer facility was not in place. The local communities were very pleased to see tourists attending their cultural events and tourists were very excited to see small villages and experience the local culture and traditions.

The local partners will continue offering free or low cost bus transfer with tour guides to large events in the region.

Mobility Management for Large Events, Limassol

Bike sharing system Limassol

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CASE STUDY

Bohuslän, Sweden

Fyrbodal Association of Municipalities con-sists of 14 municipalities in western Swe-den and has around 260 000 inhabitants. The seven coastal municipalities in Fyrbo-dal constitute the SEEMORE region of Bo-huslän. Within SEEMORE, there has been a close cooperation with the public transport planning authority within the Region Väs-tra Götaland, the regional tourism board and the SEEMORE site manager Trivector. A local stakeholder forum was initiated to provide new knowledge, a meeting place and the opportunity to share experiences. The forum has been highly appreciated by the stakeholders and cooperation will con-tinue also after the project.

The SEEMORE mobility guides combine information on mobility and tourist attrac-tions. 572 electronic versions were downloaded from the Fyrbodal website. The SEEMORE photo competition was promoted through social media and encouraged visitors to photograph them-selves while making use of sustainable mobility options.

A new public transport ticket option was developed as a result of the collaboration between tourist attractions and the public transport company. The ticket and the attractions were pro-moted in the wider region. Through the SEEMORE project, the possibility to bring bikes on trains was introduced in the region of Västra Götaland and has gone from being a pilot test to a per-manent service that is well appreciated by the passengers. Furthermore, a bicycle route map was developed covering 12 municipalities. The road network in the region of Bohuslän has been mapped and suitable road for biking have been categorized using several variables such as traffic intensity, road with and sight. The map also contains information about the local area, attrac-tions, bike rentals and much more. The local destination management organizations see great potential for the bike map.

It is estimated that the combined communication actions reached 579,000 visitors. The perio-dic tourist surveys show an increased awareness about the local offer of sustainable mobility options (25% in 2012 versus 78% in 2014). The main achievement for Fyrbodal Association of Municipalities has been the increased cooperation between the sectors of mobility and tourism. Also the increased knowledge in sustainable mobility among public staff has been an important success. The project has led to an increased interest and also interesting initiatives regarding sustainable mobility and sustainable tourism.

Combined tickets for attractions and public transport

Bohuslän, Sweden

Through the SEEMORE project, local actors in the region of Bohuslän have developed a combined offer for public transport and tourist attractions to encourage visitors to travel by public transport. The offer is ba-sed on a cooperation scheme between the public transport company Västtrafik and three popular tourist attractions. Västtrafik developed a major marketing campaign to inform all travellers about the possibility of travelling with public transport to the attractions. The marketing campaign was highly appreciated by the attractions that received a large exposure throughout the wider region. It was also useful for Västtra-fik who got the chance to inform about the option to travel by public transport also to tourist attractions.

The attractions introduced special offers for visitors reaching them by public transport. At the Havets Hus Aquarium and Nordens Ark Zoo, one child does not pay any fee when entering with an adult. At the Nordic Watercolor Museum, visitors travelling by public transport get a reduction of the en-trance fee of 20 SEK (around 2 euros). The attractions themselves also provide information about sustainable travel options.

In addition, Västtrafik introduced a new group/family ticket for two adults and up to three chil-dren. A major marketing campaign used the slogan “Travel with 5, pay for 1” during the summer months. The background of the campaign is that there is generally one person using this type of ticket for the same price that five people can use it.Public transport travelling and visits to popular tourist attractions decreased in 2014 due to the warm and sunny summer, which made people spend more time by the sea instead of moving around. Despite this, it is likely that this measure will bring positive changes in travel attitudes on the medium and long-term.

Cycling in Bohuslän

Combined tickets for Nordens Ark Zoo and public transport

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CASE STUDY

Malta

The Local Council Association (LCA) repre-sents all the 68 local authorities and the 5 regions in Malta. Apart from involving the local authorities in the project, LCA esta-blished a good cooperation with the main stakeholders from the tourism and the mo-bility sectors. LCA organised seminars and training sessions to increase the knowledge about sustainable mobility options among tourism staff.

One of the most successful SEEMORE ac-tions is the elaboration and dissemination of the sustainable mobility information to tourists, as it is the first of its kind booklet/package in Malta. 4,000 printed copies were distributed, while another 19,000 electronic versions were downloaded.

The Travel Smart section on the www.visitmalta.com portal, dedicated to the SEEMORE project, is another of the main achievements. Visit Malta is the official tourism portal that now provides informa-tion on sustainable mobility. Furthermore, SEEMORE materials have been dissemina-ted at all tourist information offices in Malta, airport, cruise port, a number of hotels and even hand to hand during local events. The SEEMORE photo competition was promoted via social media and printed post cards. A large SEEMORE billboard promoted sustainable mobility during the summer seasons of 2013 and 2014.

Air Malta, the national airline carrier, has published SEEMORE articles on its in-flight magazine and Virtu Ferries, the company connecting Malta and Sicily, has disseminated the SEEMORE ma-terials.

The project team produced strategic documents on bicycle sharing system, bicycle in PT and new bicycle lanes. These documents were presented to the national government of Malta that plans to implement a bicycle strategy in the near future.

The estimated number of people reached by the combined promotion and awareness actions is 573,000. The 2014 tourist survey shows that 64% of respondents was aware of the available sus-tainable mobility options. The number of public transport tickets sold increased from 10,310,083 in 2013 to 11,500,000 in 2014.

Inform visitors before their arrival at the destination

Malta

The Local Councils’ Association (LCA) es-tablished good cooperation with Malte-se stakeholders from both transport and tourism sectors, including the national air-line company Air Malta and Virtu Ferries that connect Malta to Sicily. As a result, LCA was able to publish articles about the pro-ject in the Air Malta in-flight magazine and disseminate information material on board of Virtu Ferries.

Often tourists decide about their mobility choices only when arriving at their desti-nation. To influence them in favour of soft mobility options, an article was published in Air Malta flight magazine during the month of August 2013. The Air Malta ma-gazine, Il-Bizilla, is placed at each seat and targets around 150,000-170,000 passengers, which had the opportunity to read the SEEMORE article during this month. A second article, outlining 5 popular destinations and how to reach them by public transport, was published in the same magazine in September 2014.

Virtu Ferries, on the other hand, disseminated about 650 SEEMORE postcards on board of their ferries, as well as 1.000 copies of the sustainable mobility tourist information package. The ma-terials were available during summer 2013 and summer 2014. Furthermore, LCA has dissemina-ted a package consisting of useful information related to cycling in Malta on board of the ferries.

Overall the promotion reached well over 300,000 passengers before their arrival in Malta. Pu-blishing articles on sustainable mobility options in in-flight magazines and disseminating relevant materials has proven to be a win-win concept. The transport company is increasing its service level to its passengers and tourists are pleased to find useful information on board.

Article published in Air Malta in-flight magazine

Distribution of dissemination material, Malta

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CASE STUDY

Madeira, Portugal

The public transport operator Horarios do Funchal (HF) implemented the SEEMO-RE project in close cooperation with local stakeholders from the tourism and trans-port sector. A total of 628 tourism and transport professionals received training about the new tools developed in the SEE-MORE project.

The Madeira mobility guide offers informa-tion about the main tourist attractions and how to access them with public transport. Several sub-products were produced, such as brochures for cruise liner tourists. 400 printed copies were distributed and 3,594 electronic copies of the guide were downloaded. The SEEMORE message is further promoted with a professionally produced video.

Protocols with local stores and museums were signed and a promotional campaign was launched to provide incentives to the use of PT and to make local commerce more vibrant at the same time. A new audio trip App offers tourist information when travelling on a public transport line. A TV system was deployed on 9 strategic spots that welcome daily a lot of citizens and tourists to provide real time information on the bus departure times at nearby stops. A calendar of events in the wider region was produced and HF started to sell urban and interurban destinations at once, with a single product. Whenever there is an important event, the PT operators, Police and local governments design a mobility plan.

Founded on the pillars of the CIVITAS MIMOSA tourist kit, four additional hotels have signed the Tourist Kit protocol and have started to sell PT tickets at their hotels. These hotels sold in total 1,217 tourist kit tickets during the project.

Bicycle transport is now allowed on 3 interurban bus routes.

Overall about 1 million tourists could be reached by the promotion and awareness raising ac-tions. In 2014, 54% of the interviewed tourists were aware of the sustainable mobility options and 48% had bought a public transport ticket.

Audio-guides for public transport routes

Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

In Madeira, there is a new and straightforward way to promote the public transport service with a higher level of information. The public transport company, Horarios do Funchal, has prepared a free audio-guide for smartphones. Passengers of a selected public transport line can now enjoy touristic information via their headset while travelling on a regular bus line on the island. The audio guide for Curral das Freiras, works on a free application, called Audiotrip, for smar-tphones, created by AudioTrip Ltd. The users only have to download the application and the trip, then put the headphones and enjoy. The trip “A journey to the heart of the Island” has 10 mi-lestone points that are combined with interesting stories about the island. The application auto-matically starts describing the specific place when the user is about to reach it. The application also shows the visiting points and the location of the user in the map, giving him a “professional guide as a friend”.

Between April 2014 and December 2014, the audio trip journey was downloaded 273 times. The English version of the trip to Curral das Freiras is ranked with 5 stars. The app supports the so-called “Do It Yourself tourist” that likes his/her autonomy to discover the destination.

Audio-guides for public transport route, Madeira

Coast of Madeira

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A cause-and-effect chain evaluation approach, based on:

● Impact Evaluation: monitoring of outputs● Process Evaluation: rationale be-hind the achievement of results● Context Evaluation: supports the interpretation of the measured im-pacts, considering the economic, po-litical and legal framework

Main project outputs and results:Increased awareness among visitors about sustainable mobility options in tourist re-gions:

● 324,718 mobility guides down-loaded and 22,450 printed and dis-tributed● 95,474 uses of the emission calcu-lation tool● 60% of the targeted visitors to SEE-MORE regions are aware of the sustainable mobility options that are promoted by the project

Increased cooperation between the sectors of tourism and mobility:● More than 60,000 public transport tickets with new mobility options were sold● Regional workshops aiming at increasing knowledge and improved cooperation on data exchange between the tourism and mobility sector: more than 80% of trainees state that their skills have increased

Shift of travel behavior of visitors in tourist regions towards more sustainable transport mo-des:

● Increase of more than 1,500,000 public transport tickets sold within the SEEMORE re-gionsWidely dissemination of the outputs, knowledge and experience gained in SEEMORE:● 107 external transfer regions involved in international and national transfer seminars, informed about the outputs of SEEMORE● 32 transfer regions have already started developing SEEMORE like actions● 1,300 people reached by dissemination activities on project and EU-level● More than 300,000 visits to the regional project websites

Visitors reached by promotion/awareness actions:● More than 7,800,000 visitors could be reached with awareness actions

Impacts of the SEEMORE project.Achievement on IEE common performance indicators.

Achievement of Common Performance IndicatorsSavings in SEEMORE regions until 2015:

● Nearly 8,000,000 km could be saved● Energy savings: 129 toe/year ● Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions: 351 t CO2-equivalent/year

Savings in SEEMORE regions until 2020:● Nearly 55,000,000 km could be saved● Energy savings: 888 toe/year ● Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions: 2,406 t CO2-equivalent/year

Savings in SEEMORE take-up regions until 2020:● 100 take-up regions considered● Energy savings: 8,811 toe/year ● Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions: 24,028 t CO2-equivalent/year

Total savings achieved by SEEMORE until 2020:● Energy savings: 9,699 toe/year ● Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions: 26,434 t CO2-equivalent/year

ConclusionSEEMORE was successful in implementing measures and in organising the process of using the outputs produced in a manner that they lead to the actual achievement of impacts on project level. Viable and new information tools for mobility and tourism were elaborated and often for the very first time in the respective region.

The high level of cross-sectoral cooperation and the awareness on sustainable mobility options achieved, the increased knowledge of tourism staff and planners, the increased exchange of knowledge as well as the introduction of new services and finally the achieved impact of plus 1,500,000 PT ticket sales, lay a good foundation for the future.

The great success of transfer activities and follower regions already taking-up or planning to take-up SEEMORE like actions shows that SEEMORE came at the right time and with the results achieved can feed several new initiatives in tourism and sustainable mobility across Europe.

Es Trenc - Mallorca. Climent Picornell

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Sustainable mobility of tourists is of stra-tegic importance for tourist destinations because:

● Sustainable mobility adds value to the local tourist product, by enhan-cing the holiday experience.● Tourist travel habits can act as example to the local population and support local sustainable mobility policies, especially regarding cycling and public transport.

Setting up the cross-sectorial co-operation between local tourist and mobility stake-holders takes time and effort but is essen-tial for reaching the desired impacts. A regional or local authority is the most sui-table organisation to initiate this process of cooperation. In those regions where a clo-se co-operation could be established, more successful measures were implemented. It is important to focus on concrete measures and quick wins to maintain the momentum of the co-operation framework.

General lessons from the local communication actions are:● Integrated tourism and mobility information is in high demand. The printed versions of the sustainable mobility packages ran out fast. Online versions provide the possibility to include real time updates of public transport timetables.● The front-desk staff of hotels and tourist offices is essential for providing information about sustainable mobility. It is therefore important to continue providing training courses to these professionals and maintain them informed about changes in the mobility offer.● Press articles and collaboration with long distance operators are of strategic importance to reinforce the SEEMORE message. Publishing articles at in-flight magazines and disse-mination relevant materials is a proven win-win. The transport company is providing an additional service to its passengers and tourists will be pleased to find useful information on board.

The mobility needs of visitors have to be included in the local sustainable mobility policy pro-cesses, especially at tourist destinations. The mobility of visitors and leisure transport in general should be an integral part of each Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan.

Lessons and recommendations for local authorities

The public transport operators are the most important mobility providers at ho-liday destinations. However, visitors also use other sustainable mobility services like public bike systems and bicycle rental. The high demand peak of tourists during the summer season can be used to cover (part of) the costs of the less profitable li-nes that serve local population. The trends towards more individualized and sustaina-ble holiday experiences are likely to lead to an even higher public transport demand in the near future.

The SEEMORE partners recommend public transport operators to make the public transport service and information easily accessible to visitors. Already well before their arrival, tourists should be confident that the public transport services meet their mobility requirements and it is not necessary to rent a car. Public transport operators can provide multi-lingual infor-mation through their own web portals and Apps but SEEMORE also recommends including the schedules in Google Transit and making them openly available so third party developers can use it for their apps. Local ticketing rules are often confusing. SEEMORE recommends developing specific tickets that are easily understandable for tourists.

Public transport should be marketed as an integral part of the holiday experience. The SEE-MORE local videos transmit the positive feeling connected to using public transport during your holidays. The SEEMORE sustainable mobility guides combine tourist information with the public transport routes to reach them and have proven to be highly popular among the visitors. An audio application for smartphones can turn a public transport trip into a guided visit. Mallorca offers 50 attractive thematic routes that can be enjoyed using public transport.

Cooperation with the tourism sector can lead to win-win situations. The SEEMORE regions have trained front desk staff from the tourism sector to increase their knowledge about the local sustainable mobility offer. Public transport operators reached agreements with hotels to sell bus tickets to their guests. Combined offers for public transport and tourist attractions were develo-ped. In Limassol, the local tourism board decided to fund the refurbishment of bus stops in the hotel area to increase the overall attractiveness of the destination.

Lessons and recommendations for mobility providers

Mallorca map

Mobility guides in Madeira

Training Calvià tourist information staff on sustainable mobility

Travelling on the ferry by bike

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Lessons and recommendations for the tourism sector

The number of tourists looking for a sustai-nable holiday destination is growing. There is no sustainable destination without sus-tainable mobility. Congestion and air po-llution caused by road traffic severely da-mage the holiday experience and image of a destination. At the same time, the trend towards more individualized and unique holiday experiences leads to an increased interest in cycling and public transport. The SEEMORE project shows that a close cooperation between local actors from the mobility and tourism sectors can create more attractive destinations.

In the SEEMORE regions, hotel and tourism information staff was trained to increa-se their knowledge about the local pu-blic transport offer and other available sustainable mobility options. Hotels and accommodations have several ways to in-crease the service level to their guests and promote sustainable mobility at the same time:

● Provide information about public transport and cycling routes at the hotel reception.● Sell public transport tickets at the hotel reception.● Include information on the hotel website on how the reach the hotel with public trans-port and on a bicycle.● Offer services for cycling, including rental, parking and maintenance. ● Use certification schemes, like “Bike & Bed” in Pomerania, to communicate the efforts to potential guests.

Within SEEMORE, public transport operators and tourist attractions jointly developed new tourist products such as “public transport + reduced entry fee” packages. Changes in the public transport service can also make local shops more accessible to a wider target groups.

A close cooperation between public transport operators and the organizers of large events can make the transport to these events more efficient, avoid congestion and attract new target groups.

The example of the Limassol Tourism Board shows that an integral approach for sustainable mo-bility, promoting public transport, cycling and walking can increase the attractiveness and quality of the destination. Events like Bike Fridays can be used to promote cycling among tourists and residents alike.

During the SEEMORE project, the partners have shared their experiences in small-sca-le interactive seminars with other tourist regions. After a presentation of the SEE-MORE actions, the participants discussed the possibilities of transferring the expe-rience to other regions. Representatives from in total 107 regions participated in SEEMORE transfer seminars. Most of the seminars were held on a national level to group practitioners that share a similar lo-cal context as well as the same language. Two Central European Transfer Seminars provided the opportunity to open up the exchange to a wider group of countries.

As part of the SEEMORE evaluation, the participants were contacted several months after the seminars to find out whether they had considered replicating SEEMORE type actions in their own regions. 50 regions responded that they had already started implementing these types of measures. Out of the 66 respondents, 62 regions indicated that they would take up further SEE-MORE type measures until 2020.

The top five of already implemented measures in other regions:● Sustainable Mobility Info Package for tourists● Mutual links between transport and destination websites● Promotional awareness campaigns for sustainable mobility among tourists● Bike rental at hotels● Training on sustainable mobility/public transport for tourism staff

The five most popular measures for replication until 2020 are:● Sustainable Mobility Info package for tourists● Training on sustainable mobility/public transport for tourism staff● New bus routes/lines● Mutual links between transport and destination websites● Promotional videos: sustainable mobility is part of the holiday experience

The overall conclusion is that the SEEMORE measures are of high interest to other tourist regions and it is relatively easy to adapt the concepts to the local context of other destinations.

SEEMORE actions replicated in other tourism regions

Bike Friday in Limassol

Tourist fair EESTUR in Mallorca

1st Central European Transfer Seminar - Trieste

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Find out more about sustainable mobility for tourists

SEEMORE websiteThis report presents a summary of the experiences of a three-year project of 14 partners, implemen-ted at 8 tourist destinations. A lot of more detailed information can be found in a range of reports. If you want to find out more about SEEMORE we welcome you to visit our project website: www.seemore-project.eu

SEEMORE Thematic reportsThe SEEMORE thematic reports group the experiences of the local implementations and can serve as a first entry point into the topic of sustainable mobility at tourist destinations from different pers-pectives.

First key steps towards sustainable mobility in tourist areas describes the SEEMORE approach for baseline data collection and establishing local working groups with professionals from the tourism and transport sectors.

Promoting cycling in tourist areas describes local measures to promote cycling including low-cost bicycle rental at hotels, public-bike schemes, guided cycling tours and bicycle transport on public buses and trains.

Public transport promotion among tourists presents the SEEMORE sustainable mobility guides, the travel planning and audio guide Apps as well as the combined transport and leisure offers.

Hotels and tourist attractions promoting sustainable transport provides examples of the role of the tourism sector in promoting sustainable mobility options.

Tourists, a new target group for digital travel planners?, explores the ITS tools for tourism and mobility.

Parking management in tourist areas: Describes the experiences of the SEEMORE regions with developing and implementing parking regulations at tourist resorts and fragile beach areas.

SEEMORE Synthesis ReportsThe SEEMORE synthesis reports present the experiences with implementation and evaluation of the SEEMORE actions in an integrated manner. We recommend:

The SEEMORE measure catalogue provides a selection of 16 detailed case studies that explain the implementation process including the barriers encountered and information on the costs of the actions.

The SEEMORE strategy handbook is the result of a strategic discussion among the project part-ners about the process of setting up the local cooperation frameworks and implementing the measures.

The SEEMORE evaluation report is an extensive document that describes the evaluation appro-ach and presents the results from the impact and process evaluation of the SEEMORE project. Separate analysis were done for the implementation process on the one hand and the transfer of knowledge process on the other.

The STARTER projectIn parallel to the SEEMORE project, the Intelligent Energy Europe programme also co-financed the STARTER project on tourism mobility. The projects have cooperated closely during the last three years. STARTER implemented Travel Plan Networks (LTPNs) of local stakeholders in mobility and tourism as the basis to develop sustainable mobility actions. The tourist destinations, invol-ved in STARTER were the Balaton region, Hungary; Fuerteventura, Spain; Kos, Greece; Noordwi-jk, The Netherlands and Werfenweng, Austria.

Find out more about STARTER at: www.starter-project.eu

Contact usIf you want to find out more about the SEEMORE project, please contact the coordinator:

Maarten van BemmelenCINESI Transport Consultantsmvanbemmelen@cinesi.estel. +34 971 775 296

SEEMORE project website.