Sustainable mobility initiatives in mountain destinations: observation, mobile

and visual methodologies to monitor traffic management measures in the

Dolomites’ passes (Italy)

Anna Scuttari*, Anja Marcher*, Harald Pechlaner***, Daria Habicher*, Gerhard Vanzi*

*Researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies, Eurac Research, viale Druso 1, Bolzano.

*** Head of Center for Advanced Studies, Eurac Research, viale Druso 1, Bolzano and Chair of Tourism and Director of the Center

for Entrepreneurship, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Eichstätt, Germany.

Thematic area: New technological solutions to measure the objectives of sustainable tourism

Keywords: sustainable mobility; mobile video ethnography; participant observation; destination

management; traffic management

1 Introduction

In ecologically sensitive but tourism-intensive areas, transport policy-makers often acknowledge

the negative impact of tourism traffic, but usually do not take action to change the status quo

(Scuttari, Orsi & Bassani, 2018). However, a few pioneering initiatives of traffic management in

the Alpine area are trying to resolve this contradiction, introducing traffic management measures

to manage visitors’ flows. Among these, the most well-known example regards the Alpine Pearls

(Lund-Durlacher, Hergesell & Mentil, 2013). These initiatives can work as best practices to better

understand the transition management processes towards more sustainable tourism and mobility,

revealing success factors for the effective implementation of policies. Previous research (Scuttari,

Volgger & Pechlaner, 2016; Scuttari & Della Lucia, 2015) has addressed the development

dynamics of pioneering initiatives in sustainable mobility, investigating how innovative ideas are

introduced in destinations, how they are perceived at local level and how they can influence

tourism demand. This paper expands on the analysis of the effects of such pioneering initiatives

on tourism destinations and presents new technological solutions to qualitatively monitor the

effects of traffic management in the area of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site (Italy).

In 2017, the Autonomous Provinces of Bolzano and Trento implemented a mix of traffic

management measures to reduce traffic on the tourism intensive mountain pass Sella, which is

located in the WHS area. The aim of this paper is to understand and qualitatively describe how

traffic management has shaped the destination areas and how far it has influenced tourist behaviour

in space. This knowledge is produced by introducing visual methods as tools to understand

qualitative changes in space and individual changes in attitude related to the introduction of traffic

management measures, as well as by conducting video interviews and participant observation to

investigate users’ perceptions.

2 Literature review

Mobility, together with local attractions, is part of the tourism product at the destination level,

constituting the so-called “travel chains” (Schiefelbusch, Schäfer & Müller, 2007). Travel chains

can be defined as “a product which integrates both the different means of travel as well as the

tourism and transport elements into one single package” (Schiefelbusch, Schäfer & Müller, 2007,

p. 96), e.g. bus rides to access hiking routes, bicycle or car journeys to reach a museum, etc. Based

on this assumption it becomes clear that, when planning sustainable mobility initiatives, an

integrated approach at the interface between tourism and transport is needed, that takes into

account different target groups, different modes and the several attractions of the destination

(Scuttari, Della Lucia & Martini, 2013). Such an integrative approach is necessary in the transition

towards more sustainable practices, because changes in the mobility system might indirectly shape

new travel chains, i.e. they potentially create new tourism products. Notwithstanding this need for

an integrative approach, tourism transport literature is often focussed on the behavioural change

in tourists caused by the introduction of traffic management measures. These measures – classified

into ‘carrots’ or ‘sticks’, i.e. incentives for sustainable mobility or restrictions to unsustainable

behaviour (Cullinane & Cullinane, 1999) - are normally evaluated based on their effectiveness to

stimulate modal shifts (Scuttari, Orsi & Bassani, 2018). The quantification of the effects of traffic

management measures happens traditionally by quantitatively foreseeing or monitoring tourism

flows (e.g. Scuttari, Della Lucia & Martini, 2013; Scuttari, Orsi & Bassani, 2018). Nevertheless,

costs and benefits of traffic management measures affect also different target groups of the

destination area: not only tourists, but also local inhabitants and the tourist economy (Scuttari,

Volgger & Pechlaner, 2016). A balanced policy mix of ‘carrots’ and ‘sticks’ is the desirable result,

but also a hard task to perform in practice (Regnerus, Beunen & Jaarsma, 2007; Stanford & Guiver,

2016), because it has to cope with the transformation of habits and behaviours of all target groups.

Acknowledging this complexity, this paper claims for the need of a more comprehensive approach

both in the planning and in the evaluation phase of sustainable mobility initiatives, as well as a

consideration of wider effects of traffic management measures on destinations and tourism

products. The balance of the different interests – based on a close monitoring of the impacts of

management measures on different target groups – is a core element to design policies. Within this

framework, traditional monitoring methods to monitor modal shifts caused by traffic management

measures, such as stated or revealed preference surveys (Scuttari, Orsi & Bassani, 2018), lack to

grasp some relevant effects of a traffic calming, e.g. the spatial distribution of flows, changes in

mobility patterns of inhabitants, and the possible emergence of new tourism products. The

consideration of the mobilities geography and the support of visual methodologies open up for

innovative and smart approaches to monitor tourist mobility embracing these additional

perspectives, observing not only the traffic quantity, but also the quality of mobility as part of the

tourist experience.

Framing tourist transport studies through mobilities research

Over the last 20 years of research, tourist transport has been widely studied applying approaches

of transport geography. Transport geography refers to “the study of the spatial aspects of

transportation”, including “the location, structure, environment and development of networks as

well as the analysis and explanation of the interaction or movement of goods and people” (Goetz,

Ralston, Stutz et al., 2004, p. 221). These approaches assume a rational behaviour of the traveller,

interpret transport as an opportunity-cost and consider space as a constraint to the development of

transport infrastructures and the movement of flows. Applying this perspective, Page (2008)

conceptualises the tourist transport system: a complex system, where destinations and attractions

represent nodes, whereas linkages represent transport connections to, from and between

destinations. Based on this conceptualisation, over the last decades quantitative approaches to

monitor flows across space prevailed onto qualitative approaches aimed at understanding the

deeper value of mobility across the destination space.

To fill this gap, in recent years, the mobilities geography has been increasingly considered as a

complementary perspective to tourism geography, that allows to investigate displacement not only

in its practical meaning of shifting goods or people from A to B, but rather as a ‘constructive

framework for modern society’ (Shaw & Hesse, 2010). Indeed, mobilities research has its roots in

the socio-spacial theory by Lefevbre (1991), according to which ‘[s]pace is not a static container,

but the network of relations that composes a block of space-time’ (Mommersteeg, 2014, pp.2-3).

Therefore, mobility geographers interpret travel as a way of constructing space and travel time as

a ‘gift’ for passengers (Lyons, Jain, & Holley, 2007). They address bodily sensations, affective

appraisals, emotional states while travelling as part of the experiential dimension of displacement.

Mobilities geography explores also the meanings of multiple forms of mobilities: not only

corporeal travel, but also physical movement of objects, imaginative travel, communicative travel,

and virtual travel (Urry, 2007). Mobility is interpreted ‘on the move’, as well as through its links

to the “spatial fix” (Williams, 2013).

Mobilities geography claims not only for a conceptual paradigm shift, but also for a

methodological innovation, the so-called mobile methods (Buscher & Urry, 2009). Mobile

methods are ‘any attempt to physically or metaphorically follow people/objects/ideas in order to

support analysis of the experience/content/doing of, and interconnections between,

immobility/mobility/flows/networks.’ (Spinney, 2015, p. 232). Among mobile methods, visual

methodologies combined with ethnographic methods represent one of the possible and higly

innovative tools to implement mobilities research. These tools are in turn recognised as valuable

in the tourism field (Rakić & Chambers, 2012), yet their implementation to investigate aspects of

sustainable tourism and mobility is still scarce.

3 Case study

The tourism intensive mountain pass Sella is located in the area of the Dolomites UNESCO World

Heritage Site (WHS) in Italy, situated in the Eastern Italian Alps, that received the UN recognition

in 2009. The Dolomites UNESCO Foundation is in charge of managing the site and is responsible

for a harmonized and sustainable development of the territories of concern (Dolomites UNESCO

Foundation, 2014). Each year, between 1.1 and 1.4 million vehicles access the heritage site for

tourism purposes with a peak in flows during summer time and around some particular mountain

passes (Scuttari, Orsi & Bassani, 2018). One of these tourism intensive passes is the Sella Pass. It

connects at one hand two tourism-intensive valleys belonging to two different provinces, the

Autonomous provinces of Bolzano and Trento, and on the other, it is a highly attractive tourism

destination. Studies revealed and highlighted several impacts that are connected to traffic on this

and the surrounding mountain passes already some years ago (Scuttari, & Bassani, 2015; Pechlaner

et al, 2004). Prior research and the growing number of vehicles accessing the pass led to an

increased awareness of negative traffic side effects and encouraged the implementation of traffic

management measures. The UN recognition of the Dolomites as Natural World Heritage has

worked as a supportive tool to take action to preserve the landscape beauty, that is one of the two

criteria for WHS recognition.

Finally, in 2017 the Autonomous Provinces of Bolzano and Trento decided to implement a mix of

traffic management measures to reduce traffic congestion on the Sella Pass, also known as

‘Dolomitesvives’ initiative. For nine Wednesdays of July and August 2017, traffic was inhibited

from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., on a road where round 4,000 vehicles were normally in daily transit during

summer months. It was the first pilot project of these kind within the Dolomites. It aimed to

promote sustainable mobility by means of a policy mix implementation and in particular, it was

designed to transform and improve the quality of experience on the mountain pass. An intense

public transport service, as well as a series of events were organized to guarantee alternative

mobility and increase the attractivity of the pass. In combination with the traffic closure ("stick"

measure) a series tourism offers have been implemented to increase the use of alternative mobility

("carrot" measures). “Carrot” measures included an exemption of the traffic closure for electric

vehicles - with a lower acoustic impact -, an intensification of the public transport service - offered

with a 15-minute cadence - and the organization of cultural, music and sport events on the

mountain pass. Within this framework, a monitoring tool was required to evaluate the effectiveness

of the policy mix, both in quantitative and qualitative terms.

4 Methodological approach

The mobilities theory advocates methodological innovation, as well as a combination of

quantitative and qualitative research for understanding displacement and its multiple shades

(Delaney, 2016). Prior to the mobilities paradigm introduction, research on sustainable mobility

was focusing mainly on quantitative approaches (e.g. Becken et al., 2003; Peeters & Dubois, 2010;

Peeters et al., 2007; Peeters van Egmond & Visser, 2004), while later on a few qualitative

approaches were used to address niche aspects of tourist transport, e.g. rural and slow travel (e.g.

Dickinson & Lumsdon, 2010; Dickinson & Robbins, 2007, 2008). The use of qualitative research

approaches in mobility and transport research is recently increasing, as the social science

perspective is gaining importance also in this research field.

Acknowledging the importance of both quantitative and qualitative approaches to monitor

sustainable mobility initiatives, and in order to create a full picture of how new traffic management

shaped the destinations areas and of how tourist behavior changed in space, a mixed method

approach has been used on the Sella Pass. Mixed methods research can be defined as “the type of

research in which a researcher or team of researchers combines elements of qualitative and

quantitative research approaches (e.g., use of qualitative and quantitative research viewpoints, data

collection, analysis, inference techniques) for the purposes of breadth and depth of understanding

and corroboration” (Johnson, Onwuegbuzie & Turner, 2007, p. 123). This paper is presenting part

of the overall monitoring procedure, with particular reference to the qualitative aspects. A

comprehensive representation of the monitoring results, including visitor flow estimations and

environmental impacts of the traffic reduction is available in the project report (Scuttari, Marcher,

Vanzi, 2017).

Three qualitative methods were implemented to monitor the traffic management initiative:

participant observation, qualitative video interviews and video ethnographic methods. All of the

methods used are relating to three different analytical dimensions of the area of concern based on

the conceptual framework developed by Pechlaner, Pichler & Herntrei (2013): spaces of mobility,

spaces of attractions, and experiences. The mobility space refers to the tangible part of the pass

area, including transport infrastructure, means of transport, paths and routes, forming the territorial

base for the movement of people. The space of attractions includes the areas where culinary and

cultural events were held, as well as other points of attraction, such as recreational areas on the

pass, refreshment points, etc. Finally, the space of experiences refers to the intangible dimension

generated by the values, the emotions and the atmosphere that is created in the interaction between

individuals (local inhabitants, guests, and tourism businesses), attractions and infrastructure. These

spaces coexist in the same area, but imply different characteristics and geographical locations of

the pilot region: the roadblocks (gates), the road and the pass area, each of them demanding

different approaches. Data collection took place in eight out of nine days of traffic regulation in

total, i.e. eight Wednesdays during the period of special traffic management measures in the

observation area. The survey days were split up in different time periods in order to concentrate

on the different spaces.

Participant observation

Participant observation, as one of the earliest qualitative methods, was used to gather a broad

picture of the research area as well as to get some insight in special features, dynamics, and social

practices of a research field of interest (Lueger, 2010). Participant observation enabled to access

and enter the field (Flick, 2011), where the researchers could take different positions and gather

different impressions of all three spaces. In participant observation, the role of the researcher

within the field is crucial; it influences the interaction with the field actors and how they react on

different situations. A researcher can either act as an alien or as a familiar individual, a choice that

influences dynamics of trust and information exchange in the field (Flick, 2011). Due to the easy

access to the pass and the quantity of people staying in the area of interest, our research team

(mainly consisting of three people) was holding an active and visible role as observer and was

acting as part of the field of research. Each researcher took field notes, which have been reported

immediately after the observation periods, to document contextual information. Additionally,

photographical material and videos (1,886 images and 218 videos) have been taken as an

supportive source. These documents were essential components and tools to reconstruct the

observed situation on the pass. Even though, the reconstruction of an observed situation, i.e. an

observed reality, is always a selective process and therefore the researcher had to be aware of the

difficulty of distinguishing what really happened in the field, what has been observed and what

interpreted. The priority laid in the most accurate description possible (Flick, 2011). The main aim

was to get an overall review of the three spaces: space of mobility, space of attraction, and space

of experience, including the behavior of people and dynamics in general. To achieve this goal,

visual mthodologies (Rose, 2012) were combined with the more traditional text-based analysis to

describe these three spaces. As a result, composite images (also called ‘technical’ images) were

built, based on a hierarchical image fusion of the collected and classified photographic material

(Toet, 1990). Participant observation made it possible to get a feeling for the survey area, in order

to better understand the effects of the new traffic management measures.

Video-interviews

During the ‘Dolomitesvives’ initiative 29 video-interviews grasped the attitudes of the three main

target groups towards the traffic management initiative: tourists, local inhabitants and tourist

businesses. The interviews investigated the perceived positive and negative aspects of the project,

as well as the possible suggestions and developments for the future. The qualitative data gathered

was analysed with the software GABEK®-WinRelan (Holistic Processing of Linguistic

Complexity), a computer-assisted method in qualitative research and textual analysis (Zelger,

2000). This qualitative research strategy helped to outline and reduce the complexity of the content

and represents a clear analytical method with a phenomenological orientation. After the

transcription of the video interviews, we followed a multiple coding process of the qualitative data.

First, the data was split into multiple paragraphs reflecting semantic units; then a manually open

coding with keywords was used; finally positive, neutral and negative emotional valence was

assigned to the statements, based both on textual and visual expressions. Therefore, it was possible

to distinguish between positive, negative or neutral attitudes of different target groups. After data

encoding, a keyword-based analysis with the software GABEK transformed the statements into

network graphs of interrelated keywords. The graphs show both related key words and the

associated emotions. Along this process, GABEK®-WinRelan Software and the associated data

analysis allow to extract the core messages from the multiple interviews, as well as to explore

causal and emotional relationships between keywords (Pechlaner & Volgger, 2012).

Mobile video ethnography

In addition to the two analytical methods of participant observation and video interviews, that

aimed at investigating the phenomenon in his broadness and complexity, video ethnography helped

to capture the deepness of individual tourist experiences travelling in the area of concern. Video

ethnographic methods (Spinney, 2011), and particularly drive-along and ride-along techniques

helped to record individual tourist experiences through the handling of action cameras. During the

days of the ‘Dolomitesvives’ initiative, different mountain pass visitors agreed to record their

experiences, thereby offering a video footage of their rich experiential consumption of the

destination space. In more detail, the investigation includes six experiences: two cyclists, one

electric motorcyclist, one electric car driver, one hiker participating in a guided tour, and one bus

user. The videos, analysed with the software Nvivo, served to discover further information and

uncover unknown shades on the visitors’ behaviour and perception, as well as to produce

documentary evidence of their embodied experiences. Five videos refer to the road space, mostly

including the journey before and after the gate, whereas the hiking video includes the pass summit

area only. Including experiences inside and outside the limited traffic zone made it possible to

compare changes in experience spaces along the road, showing different point of views or

interactions between different means of transport.

4 Results

Participant observation

The observation area refers to the whole tourism intensive mountain pass Sella with special focus

on the three spaces mentioned above. The main observation objects within the mobility space were

the transportation, paths and routes infrastructure as well as the gates. Concerning the attraction

space, the areas where culinary and cultural events were held, as well as other points of attraction,

such as recreational areas on the pass, refreshment points, etc. have been observed. Lastly, in terms

of observing and analyzing the change of the space of experience due to special traffic management

measures, the general atmosphere was the main observation object, including both transport

network and recreational areas. The method of participant observation helped to gather important

findings on the research question, i.e. on how the pass experience was changing due to the

introduction of traffic management measures as well as special events. The practice of participant

observation and the analysis of the related field notes, as well as the collection of photographic

material and videos led to different insights which are structured according to the three spaces of

interest: the mobility space, the attraction space, and the experience space. These reflect also the

categories according to which the visual data (videos and pictures) have been analyzed, classified,

and summarized through composite images.

The space of mobility - which includes parts of the pass area, the transporting infrastructure, the

means of transport, paths and routes as well as the movement of people - experienced interesting

development dynamics during the initiative. The main road was used primarily by cyclists during

the whole day. Additionally an increased number of public buses and a few electrical vehicles

passed too. According to the local public transport providers, the use of the bus to access the pass

area almost triplicated (Scuttari, Marcher & Vanzi, 2018).

Observing travel behavior across the space, different access dynamics were noticeable. The

majority of the pass visitors seemed to catch the bus directly from the valleys, in the village of

Selva di Val Gardena (Autonomous Province of Bolzano), as well as in Canazei (Autonomous

Province of Trento), since those buses starting from these villages were mostly crowded. Other

visitors parked their car on parking spaces in the surrounding areas of the gate after their access

was denied. The public buses were running on a 15 minutes schedule during the whole initiative

(from 9 am to 4 pm) and they were generally appropriate in numbers to support existing tourism

flows. Nevertheless, a diverse occupation rate of buses was perceivable, especially if comparing

different hours of the day or different starting points of the line (valleys versus parking spaces near

the gates). Generally, the connection between parking area and buses worked well, but sometimes

a lack of information and of understanding of travel direction caused orientation problems to

tourists. Notwithstanding the frequent bus connections and the adequate capacity of buses, not all

private vehicles were parked to shift mode. Sometimes, travellers decided to turn and change their

route or travel back and reschedule their visit. This decision might have been also partly influenced

by the lack of tourist information both on tourist offers and on traffic alternatives. In fact, observing

the gate areas it has been noted that the forest rangers – in charge of deviating road traffic – very

rarely offered detailed tourist information on alternatives in order to encourage a modal shift.

Moreover, they sometimes had linguistic difficulties in the interaction with foreign tourists, which

made the communication even less effective. Figure 1 illustrates the ambiguous role of gates as

both obstacles to mobility for guests travelling with their cars and entrances to quiet and

sustainable spaces for cyclists and authorized road users.

Figure 1: Composite images of the space of mobility: the role of gates

Along the road to the pass, three issues stand out: the location, visibility and standard of bus stops

and traffic signs and the usage of parking spaces. Concerning bus stops, a lack of homogeneity in

travel information was noticed: timetables along the road had different layouts depending on the

provincial standard and the readability of the timetable was not immediate. This resulted in a

number of tourists not knowing the direction to the pass, the bus number or even the schedule. A

second aspect was the location and information on traffic signs. Confusion was generated by the

necessity – related to traffic rules – to define the pass road as an “open road”, because the restriction

was not applied to all vehicles. A second difficulty was noticed in the explanation of the traffic

management rules on the traffic signs: these explanations were often unclear, too long to be on

signs or even false. This again caused confusion among tourists, that were not feeling the adequate

trust to shift mode. Finally, a positive remark must be quoted in relation to unauthorized parking

along the road to the pass, which was almost completely cancelled through the implementation of

traffic management measures. The landscape was thereby more clear and the pass road more

immersed in the natural landscape. On the top of the Sella Pass the main road has been used also

by hikers and visitors during their excursion. Negatively noticeable was the lack of parking

possibilities for e-vehicles on the pass summit area, both bicycles and cars.

The observation of the space of attractions lead to some remarkable findings, as well. It included

the area of culinary and cultural events as well as other points of attraction such as recreational

areas on the pass, refreshment points etc. Generally, the space of attraction as a whole was

crowded, especially occupied by hikers and cyclists that made use of the proposed initiatives.

Differences in the occupancy of the space were seen according to weather. The collection of

multiple pictures of each of the events helped in defining an average amount of participants per

each event, which is reported in figure 2. The areas of cultural events – located in the open fields

of the pass summit area – offered the possibility to experience a new way of living the pass space,

e.g. listening to concerts, opera, and other entertainment events and were massively welcomed by

the visitors. Other points of attraction used by the visitors were restaurants, who experienced a

different amount of flows according to their relative position in relation to events, bus stops and

trails.

Figure 2: Number of prticipants per event organised on the Sella Pass

The composite images below (fig. 3) illustrate these new attractions and their visual impact on the

area. For those facilities located in the surrounding of the events or the bus stops, the flows changed

significantly in their temporal distribution: from individual and continuous flows to sudden and

massive flows (based on bus capacity or even on the dynamics of public events). This caused a

different distribution of the business across time.

Figure 3: Composite images of the space of attraction on the Sella Pass

It was noticed in observing the area that several visitors, both at the gates as well as on the top of

the pass area, were not aware of the ‘Dolomitesvives’ initiative and were positively or negatively

surprised when they got to know about traffic restrictions. Thereby, it seems that a potential for

improvement lays in the marketing strategy concerning the initiative ‘Dolomitesvives’ as such but

also concerning the single events. The fact that only one info point was installed at the top of the

pass as well as the lack of visible banners in the whole area of the initiative might be some of the

reasons of the low awareness and – accordingly – the difficulties in visitor flow management.

Furthermore, the location of the events also had an influence on the concentration of flows. Public

events were only held in the pass area of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, which caused an

attraction of flows only in the surroundings of some pass areas, disregarding others. A more equal

distribution of events would probably have led to a more fair distribution of visitors in the pass

area, in order to distribute the benefits of the initiative to all economic players of the area.

Finally, regarding the space of experience, the main survey focus was on the intangible dimension

of atmosphere in the pass area with special attention to the people-nature relationship. During the

observation period, the whole pass area was very silent and peaceful. Green and hidden green spots

were used by visitors to hang out, to follow organized events or to hike outside the paths.

Especially during the events, people enjoyed to spend time at the pass by listening to music,

following interesting talks or taste some special culinary specialties. The biggest challenge related

to the experience space was the design of adequate transportation solutions for the relatively huge

amount of people after and before the events. In fact, in some cases there were more than 400

participants to public events, which made the transport by bus on a 15-minute basis almost

ineffective. Finally, another relatively new situation was the silent interaction between e-vehicles,

cyclists and other visitors on the road. The interaction – normally happening with the help of sound

– turned out to be sometimes dangerous, because sometimes the silent e-vehicles were not

perceived, despite their closeness and speed.

From an observative perspective, the overall initiative could be defined as successful, even though

some situations and measurements still have to be improved. In summary, it can be said that the

results of the participant observation work as important elements of a puzzle, to gather an overall

impression of the impact of the traffic regulating measurements at the Sella Pass, to evaluate the

effects of it as well as to establish further measurements relating to a more sustainable mobility in

highly sensitive mountain areas.

Video-interviews to tourists, residents, and local businesses

The following results illustrate attitudes and perceptions of the traffic management measures of

different target groups: local entrepreneurs, tourists, and local inhabitants. Figure 4 shows the most

frequently quoted keywords in the video-interviews related to the tourism traffic management

strategy ‘Dolomitesvives’. The emotional attitudes related to the keywords extrapolated were an

important element to grasp the target groups’ perception of the measures and to identify negative

and/or positive aspects linked to it (see Fig. 4). Results show that the interviewees characterise the

initiative on one hand by the closure of the mountain pass, the reduction of traffic and the extended

offer of buses in the area of concern. On the other hand they make reference to the definition of

the initiative, the information provided and the issue of pollution. In general, it is noted that the

majority of respondents perceived the traffic management strategy in a very positive manner,

including the extended offer of public transport.

Figure 4: Emotional attitudes related to the traffic management strategy ‘Dolomitesvives’

However, some critical and negative aspects emerge. The keyword "pollution", for example, is

negatively evaluated for two reasons. On the one hand, the negative evaluation relates to the fact

that pollution is perceived as a central problem in general terms that should be solved by limiting

the traffic: "I think it's a good initiative to try to reduce pollution and the number of cars [...],

considering that there's only one road, there is also a lot of traffic."1 On the other hand, there are

also some critical positions regarding the real existence of an atmospheric pollution in the region

and its use as an excuse to implement traffic management measures: "I think that as an idea

perhaps, organising events on mountain passes is not entirely wrong, but closing one pass to the

traffic with the excuse for acting on pollution is not right"2 Or "[...] it is said that there is pollution,

but it’s absolutely not there."3 Besides that, the interviewees highlighted also some information

gaps and problems related to the traffic regulation in general. All three targets (tourists, businesses

and local population) emphasised the difficulty in finding information: "The information has been

mishandled, because now I'm here in front of the barrier and I have to go back [...]"4 or “[…] it

was reasonably well organized, but almost nobody was expecting it. And this is ... the way you

organise it ... We need to warn people and keep them informed about all this.”5

Considering the target groups separately, divergent opinions are illustrated in figure 5. The results

show that local entrepreneurs were not satisfied with the traffic management measures, because

they influenced their economic activities negatively. At the same time, they mainly see topic of

pollution as an excuse, rather than a real motivation to regulate the traffic. This target group also

criticized the information management aspect, underlining in some cases that visitors were not

informed at all. In contrast to the business owners, residents responded to the measures favourably,

being aware of the growing traffic problems on the pass. However, they also emphasised the

personal or economic discomfort connected to the restrictions by influencing the daily life of

inhabitants and economic activities between the two valleys and provinces. Finally, the tourists

interviewed had a predominantly positive perception and were in favour of the sustainable and

quiet component on the mountain pass, especially in relation to the traffic limitation and noise

reduction.

1 Interview n°1 tourist (car driver), day n°6 of the traffic reduction measures. 2 Interview n°1 business owner, day n°1 of the traffic reduction measures. 3 Interview n°2 business owner, day n°6 of the traffic reduction measures. 4 Interview n°7 tourist (motorcyclist), day n°8 of the traffic reduction measures. 5 Interview n°3 business owner, day n°9 of the traffic reduction measures.

Figure 5: Target groups ‘emotional attitudes related to ‘Dolomitesvives’

Experience spaces of mountain pass visitors

Different types of mobility influence the perception of time and space and shape different spaces

of experience. Video-ethnography helped to grasp perceptions of different mobility experiences

during the days of ‘Dolomitesvives’ (fig. 6). Five of the recorded experiences started in the valley

and ended within the area restricted to traffic. Only the pedestrians’ experience was exclusively

recorded on the Sella Pass. This made it possible to compare the experiences on the road and

perception changes entering the area with traffic limitations. It gave insights from different points

of view, for example on congestions at the pass gate and interactions between means of transport.

By adopting the visitor's point of view using headcams, we were able to record images and

elements of the experience that go beyond the user’s conscious perception. The rich and dense

research material gathered helped to understand visual changes, interactions, and mechanisms as

well as user’s physical experiences.

Figure 6: Visitors ‘experiences by type of mobility

The type of mobility changes the interaction with others, but also the duration of the experience is

different according to the travel mode chosen, as shown in table 1. This means that the means of

transport used and time-related factors shape different experiences of mobility and impact the

visual engagement with the destinations’ landscape. Results show that time and speed are two

fundamental aspects that define the perception of the users ‘environment. Slower movements

increase the probability to view the landscape. The sensorial perception, i.e. temperature, visual,

auditory and olfactory senses, is additionally determined by the direct immersion in an external

space (e.g. the pedestrian, cyclist or motorcyclist) or by the limitations of a closed cabin (e.g. bus

or car).

Type of mobility Duration of the video

E-car 8 min 8 sec

E-Motorbike 14 min 23 sec

Bus 28 min 5 sec

Bike (n°1) 48 min 4 sec

Hiker 51 min 43 sec

Table 1:Type of mobility and duration of the experience

The analysis and visual representation of the data was made with the qualitative research software

Nvivo. By means of coding the video content we could synthesise and systemise the data. The

cyclist experience (fig. 7) reveals how the traffic management strategy changed the traffic

interactions and actions within the regulated area. The interactions of the cyclist with other means

of transport were more frequent before he was accessing the traffic limitation zone: he was

constantly overtaken by cars - e.g. the yellow line with the label "Being_overtaken_cars". Also the

traffic coming from the oposite direction was an important interaction factor (blue line with the

label "Oncoming_traffic_car"). Further, cars, trucks and motorcycles constituted a high

background noise. All of these aspects of congestion and noise disappeared after the cyclist

exceeded the roadblock (gate), highlighted by the vertical red line in figure 7. In addition to these

visual and auditory elements, other sensory perceptions changed for the cyclist. The transcription

of the cyclists statements and verbal interactions during his way up to the mountain pass shows,

for example, that also olfactory perception can vary. He states: “There is a difference in smell

between Selva [a place outsight the traffic limitation area] and the crossroads!” The crossroad he

was passing corresponds to the gate and describes a moment of transition for the cyclist, he enters

a different type of space, positively connotated by himself.

Figure 7: Experience space – the cyclists’ point of view

The analysis of all experiences showed a change of interactions between the different means of

transport due to a new ‘mix’ of vehicles on the road and a higher incidence of electric vehicles.

This causes also a reduction of noise that can be interpreted as positive side effect reducing noise

impacts, but also a risky effect for the interaction with other means of transport, as for example

cyclists did not hear an approaching electric car. The lower interactions with cars were substituted

by greater incidences of bus encounters within the regulated area. Due to the narrow road and the

broad buses, these interactions turned out to be dangerous sometimes, particularly for cyclists. In

sum, traffic regulation made it at one hand easier for cyclists and electric vehicles users to ride or

drive thanks to a low amount of traffic. On the other hand, the bus encounters led in some cases to

dangerous and rapidly growing traffic jams.

Finally, some remarks stand out also from the single experiences recorded. For instance, the bus

experience showed the difficulties of bus-bus frontal interaction. The electric car and motorcycle

journey revealed the critical aspects of a quiet engine and the need of more vulnerable road users

like cyclists or hikers to be more cautious. During the experience of the motorcyclist, for example,

the horn was frequently used to warn the cyclists, often riding abreast, to minimise the risk of

accidents.

5 Discussion

The analysis explored how the traffic management measures influenced mobility choices and new

mobility experiences, shaping new travel chains and new tourism products. Results show that the

interactions between means of transport and the environment are an important element to consider

when new traffic management strategies are designed. They also reveal that traffic management

measures provoke resistance and anxiety among local entrepreneurs, but also excitement in

tourists’ minds and contrasting attitudes in local inhabitants. Tourists felt excited about the

initiative and some new social practices started that were unusual in the pass area before, e.g.

walking along the main road or massively using the bus to access the hiking trails. Local

inhabitants welcomed the initiative of traffic calming, but at the same time suffered restrictions of

their (utilitarian form of) daily mobility. Local entrepreneurs in the hotel and catering sector had

to manage a different configuration of tourism flows – e.g. waves of tourists reaching the pass area

in one bus instead of groups of 2-3 people travelling individually; masses of tourists leaving music

events in the pass area and accessing mountain huts, etc. The reported changes and the interaction

dynamics revealed through visual methodologies between visitors and space suggested that a sort

of reorganisation of the whole destination system was happening, in order to cope with the

challenges of sustainable mobility.

6 Conclusion

Beyond the quantitative effects on tourism flows, traffic management measures caused changes in

the quality of tourism and in the activities on the pass. They also implied changes for the daily

business of tourism stakeholders and the daily mobility routines of local inhabitants. These

dynamics affect both the destination as a space and its management and marketing. Pioneering

initiatives for sustainable tourism seem thereby to have the power to give impulses for a broader

reorganisation process of the whole tourism system, where new balances of weights are to be found

between environmental benefits of a reduced mobility and socio-economic costs of a transition

process (Scuttari, Volgger, Pechlaner, 2016). These aspects need a deep understanding, because

they can explain dynamics of acceptance or rejection of change.

Mobile and visual methodologies enabled new perspectives of understanding for this system

transition. From a methodological point of view, visual methodologies and visual ethnography

helped to enrich and visually represent the mobility, activity and experience space. They offered

innovative layers of understanding tourist mobility and representing the embodied and sensory

aspects of it. They were also practically useful to estimate ex-post the number of visitors joining

public events in an open space, which would have been hardly traceable otherwise. Further, the

creative use of composite images with visual elements that can describe a phenomenon was adding

new possibilities to represent qualitative results of participant observation, thereby contributing to

the further development of the method. Therefore, the traditional monitoring schemes based on

flow monitoring or revealed preferences are enriched with new representations of the destination

space, including unique insights to understand users’ mobility experiences. Hence, the dimensions

of analysis of behavioural change become more comprehensive, allowing for a deeper monitoring

of visitors’ interactions with the landscape, with the tourism stakeholders and with other visitors.

New technological solutions to measure the objectives of sustainable toruism based on visuals

provide a micro-analytical level to improve the design of susatinable mobility initiatives, with

precise reference to critical issues in spacific places and times. Finally, they help in the

communication of results, making them appear more tangible, although interpreted through the

subjectivity of researchers (Rose, 2012).

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