Mobility and Protected Areas in the Alps

Abstract

Of the 95 million annual tourists estimated in the Alps (confirmed by the Working Group Transport of the Alpine Convention, October 2008), around 80-85% use their private car to reach the desired destination, thus deepening the impact of traffic on man and nature in the Alpine Space. Public transport could be a solution for decreasing the negative effects of traffic in line with the goals of the Alpine Convention, but public transport is in direct competition with the advantages of using a private car. The Alpine Convention aims at reducing the negative effects and risks of transport. It is considering all possible modes of transport and how best to combine them, working on the principles of precaution and identifying the causer and proposes a coordinated transport policy of the parties to the Convention. In recent years there has been a paradigm change for access to protected areas, when these areas invested in planning and management, not only in the parks and protected areas themselves but also in means of transport for the visitors right from the start of the journey to their destinations. The development of special packages and offers for visiting protected areas by public transport is one of the most effective instruments for motivating visitors to change their attitude towards the use of private transport. In line with its basic orientation towards protection, transport and management in parks and protected areas is an important issue for the sustainable use and development of parks and protected areas as well for controlling the flow of visitors through the park. In addition to this basic interest of parks and protected areas in sustainable development, public transport management allows the park administrations to involve the local population in the park management and creates ownership as well as deeper understanding for the basic principles of sustainable development of a region. Local people can provide transport services to the visitors with small buses, collective taxis or alternative means of transport such as horse-drawn carriages. If the packages are to succeed in motivating visitors to travel by public transport, they have to be affordable, attractive and widely advertised. Partners in projects involving long-distance travel are often the railway companies, tourist organizations, communities and regions who are called upon to offer a mobility to the clients for the entire length of their journey. This guarantee includes travel from the starting point to the destination as well as once they have arrived. Increasingly such a two-stage guarantee is seen not only as an exceptional offer to visitors but is also becoming a crucial marketing element for destinations, parks and protected areas.