Sustainable mobility at the interface of transport and tourism

Abstract

The domains of transport and tourism exist and operate together and apart from one another. They have complex, interesting but also largely unsustainable relationships. Despite this, research into sustainable tourism has often focused on that which is stationary, without due consideration of the wide-ranging implications of tourism-mobilities. Conventional conceptualisations of tourism-transport are often limited to the tourist’s travel to, and occasionally around, tourism destinations – neglecting the various ways that actors, objects and policies are all (made) mobile. As an introduction to the special issue on ‘Innovative Approaches to Sustainable Transport, Mobilities and Tourism’, this paper adopts a broad framing of innovation to encourage research in new directions. After thinking through the role of innovation in sustainable tourism-transport, the paper points to some key, inter-related themes in transport and mobilities; dominant mobility systems (auto/aero-mobilities), the sustainable mobility paradigm and mobility justice. Following this, a number of potential research themes are identified which may help to galvanise sustainable tourism-transport scholarship: first, where, why, for whom, and with what implications immobilities occur in tourism-transport; second, tourism-transport beyond anthropocentrism; third, the social embeddedness of technological innovations; and fourth, intersections of work and labour for tourism-transport. These directions – and others besides - may contribute to, and potentially accelerate, transitions towards tourism-transport sustainability.