Does Health-Oriented Tourism Contribute to Sustainable Mobility?

Philipp Schlemmer, Cornelia Blank, Bartosz Bursa, Markus Mailer and Martin Schnitzer
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Philipp Schlemmer: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck 6020, Austria
Cornelia Blank: Institute for Sports Medicine, Alpine Medicine and Health Tourism, UMIT, Hall 6060, Austria
Bartosz Bursa: Department of Infrastructure, Unit of Intelligent Transport Systems, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck 6020, Austria
Markus Mailer: Department of Infrastructure, Unit of Intelligent Transport Systems, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck 6020, Austria
Martin Schnitzer: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck 6020, Austria

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: Previous research has concentrated on traffic and health-related effects in relation to arrival patterns (e.g., stress in connection with means of transport, travel distance, and time). However, tourist mobility behavior during a vacation and potential health-related associations as well as its correlation with physical activity habits and mobility patterns at home seems to have barely been examined. To address this research gap, the study at hand applied a mixed-method approach in three tourism destinations in Tyrol, Austria. The study examined tourists’ mobility as well as their physical activity at home and at the holiday destination. Results show that the preferred transport mode (arrival and on-site) is the private car, due to its flexibility and comfort. Hotel front desks, as the main information source, determine tourists’ behavioral aspects during a vacation. General mobility routines show differences between everyday life and holiday situations, and physical activity is important for the overall satisfaction of tourists, which proves to be more intense and frequent during a vacation than in everyday life. Seven percent of the tourists participating in the research stated that they had changed their daily mobility behavior after their return, with most of them walking or cycling more often. This study contributes to research in the field of sustainable tourist mobility and physical activity behavior and highlights the necessity for further specific analyses.

Keywords: health-oriented tourism; active mobility; physical activity; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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