SEEMORE MEASURES CATALOGUE. Project Coordinator: CINESI Transport Consultants, Spain Mr. Lluis da Victoria Phone.

Transcription

1 SEEMORE MEASURES CATALOGUE Deliverable no. 3.6 of the SEEMORE project Date of preparation of this document: Project Coordinator: CINESI Transport Consultants, Spain Mr. Lluis da Victoria Phone Author of this document: Company: Horários do Funchal, Transportes Públicos S.A. Author s name(s): Claudio Mantero, André Freitas, Andreia Quintal gep@horariosdofunchal.pt Phone: Project website:

2 Legal disclaimer: The sole responsibility for the content of this document lies with the authors. It does not represent the opinion of the European Communities. 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 runs from April 2012 until April 2015.

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. ABOUT THE SEEMORE PROJECT Project Summary The SEEMORE consortium INTRODUCTION REVISION AND PEER REVIEW HISTORY GLOSSARY OVERVIEW OF ACTION FIELDS AND CASE STUDIES SEEMORE MEASURES CASE STUDIES CONCLUSIONS LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES...44 D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 3 / 44

4 1. ABOUT THE SEEMORE PROJECT 1.1. Project Summary SEEMORE shows that regional actors in 8 European coastal tourist regions are able to change the travel behaviour of visitors within their regions towards more sustainable transport modes. The main objectives of the project are to: - Increase visitors awareness of sustainable mobility; - Strengthen the co-operation between the mobility and tourism sectors; - Shift travel behaviour of tourists to sustainable transport modes; and - Communicate and transfer experiences to other tourist regions. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 4 / 44

5 1.2. The SEEMORE consortium Project Partner Country Contact person CINESI Transport Consultancy (Coordinator) Spain Maarten van Bemmelen Mallorca Transports Consortium Spain Antoni Bosch Trivector Traffic AB Sweden Caroline Mattsson Association of Local Authorities Fyrbodal Sweden Louise Robertsson FGM-AMOR Austrian Mobility Research Austria Doris Wiederwald Common Europe Pomeranian Association Poland Andrzej B. Piotrowicz Municipality of Choczewo Poland Andrzej B. Piotrowicz Sustainable Development of Civil Society Club Bulgaria Lucia Ilieva Province of Forlì-Cesena Italy Elisa Cangini Central European Initiative Italy Sara Baronio Limassol Tourist Development and Promotion Co Ltd Cyprus Maria Stylianou Stratagem Energy Ltd Cyprus Panos Antoniades Horários do Funchal Public Transport Portugal Claudio Mantero Local Councils Association Malta Lili Vasileva Table 1: SEEMORE consortium D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 5 / 44

6 2. INTRODUCTION The goal of the SEEMORE Measures Catalogue, previously thought as an implementation handbook, is to show a collection of successful local measures and thus to inspire other tourist areas to work on promoting sustainable mobility among tourists. The SEEMORE partners have selected the measures of this catalogue based on their potential of being replicated at other tourist destinations. The catalogue thus provides a comprehensive insight into 16 region case studies, showcasing how mobility management measures for tourists can work in practice. Looking specifically to the gist of this deliverable, the examples presented in this document report each region experience with a particular measure or thematic area and represent a wide range of action fields the project has covered. The measure implementation strategies are explained in depth, including operational insights, recommendations, barriers that project teams have encountered and drivers that facilitated measure implementation. In order for the work on sustainable mobility at tourist destinations to be efficient, it requires a close co-operation between the local mobility and local tourist actors. By reading this deliverable, all the major stakeholders including local and regional authorities, mobility providers, hotels and leisure attractions would agree that SEEMORE approach is based on establishing local co-operation frameworks that then serve as working groups for the implementation of practical measures. Recommendations on how to set up and maintain this co-operation by aligning strategic objectives from the tourism and mobility sectors, are described in a separate deliverable called the SEEMORE Strategic Handbook. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 6 / 44

7 3. REVISION AND PEER REVIEW HISTORY Version Number Date Comments Peer reviewed by (Name, Organisation) First draft sent for peer review LCA Second draft HF Table 2: Document revision and peer review history D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 7 / 44

8 4. GLOSSARY Abbreviations provided in this report Abbreviation Full name HF CSDCS LCA CTM CSDCS PT IMIP LWG MRATT Apps. EU CTO EAL ltd IEE SUMP CINESI PSWE ECF ADFC Horários do Funchal Sustainable Development of Civil Society Local Councils' Association of Malta Consorci de Transports de Mallorca Sustainable Development of Civil Society Public Transport Mobility Information Package Local Working Group Madeira Regional Authority of Tourism and Transport Mobile applications European Union Cyprus Tourism Organisation Limassol Airport Express Intelligent Energy Europe Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan Consultoria de Transport Pomeranian Association Common Europe European Cyclists Federation EuroVelo German Cyclists Association Table 3: Abbreviations used D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 8 / 44

9 5. OVERVIEW OF ACTION FIELDS AND CASE STUDIES Action fields Case studies Training of front desk staff Malta, Training for tourism professionals about PT service Reaching tourists before they arrive Integrating mobility and tourism information into tourist mobility package Street Information Services and events for cyclists Cross selling/information strategies Mobility management Mallorca, Improved PT website Malta, promotion with airline companies and travel agencies Dobrich, Integration of mobility information in hotels Forlì: regional visitors guide Madeira, sustainable touristic guides - Mobility touristic guide Madeira, audiotrip app Pomerania, map dispensers Forlì: Promote bike rental service in all hotels / Cycling maps Pomerania, environmental label for hotels and other bodies /Bike & Bed certification scheme Bohuslän, combined tickets PT and entrance fees Limassol, integrate tourist attractions and annual events in the sustainable information package Limassol, sustainable mobility options during big events Bohuslän, better biking and walking infrastructure Dobrich, new PT services in leisure/tourist destinations Mallorca, Park Mondragó parking regulation action plan Table 4: Overview of action fields and case studies D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 9 / 44

10 6. SEEMORE MEASURES CASE STUDIES MALTA Training for tourism and mobility professionals about PT service The Local Councils' Association (LCA) has conducted several training modules, addressing both local mobility and tourism staff and planners. The measure was warmly welcomed by the Ministry of Tourism and other stakeholders. The measure Figure 1: First training about PT As a result of SEEMORE project, stakeholders from the mobility and transport had the possibility to meet and discuss important aspects of both sectors. It was clear for both sides, that cooperation was needed. The LCA had organized two training as part of SEEMORE seminars. In addition, a representative of LCA went to a number of hotels and provided a short training, through one to one meetings with the management. The first training was organized as an afternoon session of the National Transfer seminar organized on 15 th October 2013 targeting local councils and stakeholders from both sectors. 16 participants attended. The topics covered addressed sustainable mobility information for tourists and the need of bike infrastructure. The second training was organized on 11 th of November 2014, once again as part of the National Transfer seminar, and was addressed by representatives of Transport Malta and the Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure who spoke about sustainable mobility and encouraged the audience to benefit from the grants provided by the government for using green mobility. The one to one sessions took place during summer 2014 at 3 different hotels. During the meetings, the LCA team encouraged the hotels staff to provide more sustainable mobility information to their clients and guide them to opt for public transport, instead of taxi and rent a car. The one to one meetings were organized in this format after coming across with the low turnout of hotels staff during the first training organized. The hotels were not willing to dedicate a person to attend the training, therefore, LCA s team decided to make few visits instead. The above measure has been implemented on a low cost basis. The trainings that took place on 15 th of October 2013 and 11 th of November 2014 have been organized as part of the National Transfer Seminar, therefore no additional funds for venue and catering were needed. The costs involved were those related with staff costs, amounting to around 50 staff hours, involving planning, coordination and preparation. Measure progress The measure has evolved in several different phases, as follows: D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 10 / 44

11 15th of October First training session, addressing 16 trainees. The training was organized as an afternoon session, following the National Transfer Seminar. It was organized at Corinthia St. George hotel in St Julians on 15 th October 2013 and attended by stakeholders from the transport and tourism sectors, as well as representatives of local councils. Summer A number of one to one meetings was organized with hotels where public transport services were introduced and the hotels staff has been encouraged to provide more information to tourists about public transport in Malta and sustainable mobility. A total of 6 staff members, belonging to 3 different hotels, received information. 11 th of November The training on 11 th of November 2014 was organized as part of the 2 nd National Transfer seminar, as it was useful to take advantage of the stakeholders invited for the seminar. New information on sustainable mobility was introduced to the audience. The event took place at The Palace hotel in Sliema and was attended by 28 people, representing transport and tourism sector, as well as Local Councils. During process implementation, LCA has encountered several barriers. The most meaningful setbacks were that not many hotels were willing to send their staff to the training sessions. The reason might be that Malta is small and most of the people are aware of the public transport services. Another reason might be the insufficient number of staff members available at hotels, because they are busy with check-in and checkout regular procedures. To overcome this barrier, LCA tried to find other people willing to raise their awareness towards sustainable modes of transport. Therefore, other stakeholders from the field of tourism were invited for training, in particular representatives of the Ministry for Tourism, Malta Tourism Authority and the tourist information offices. Moreover, to cope with the overload of hotel professionals, the staff from LCA themselves visited hotels and carried out short training discussions to receptionists and hotel managers, so as to persuade them to provide sustainable mobility information to their customers. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned During the 2013 evaluation campaign, 15 trainees stated that their knowledge increased to a "good/excellent" level, whilst 1 trainee stated that his knowledge increased "enough". The data was collected through a questionnaire distributed during the event. Positive feedback was received during the one-to-one meetings organized during summer 2014, as well as after the event organized in November To summarize the main findings of this measure, it is important to mention that although many Maltese might state that they are well aware of the public transport system in Malta, one can always learn more about sustainable transport options available on the island. Furthermore, the main outcome of the trainings was that is allowed to encourage stakeholders to provide more and better sustainable mobility information to tourists. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 11 / 44

12 MALLORCA Creation of an electronic package for tourists Mallorca Public Transport website has been completely refreshed and tailored to tourist specific needs. Never before public transport of Mallorca was so visible than today as a result of this measure. The website has turned out from being a resident-focused website, towards a touristic welcome point both for Majorcan and tourists. The measure The Mallorca Interurban Transport Authority, Consorci de Transports de Mallorca (CTM), has sought to rearrange website. Tasks carried out included: The translation of the website into two additional languages (French and Russian), which enable more tourists to check information about timetables, and other PT Figure 2: Tourist routes by public transport information in their mother language. The creation of a specific area in the website called Tourism by Public Transport. This is the core measure of the website arrangement, because it puts value on Public Transport by promoting locations of tourist interest. These locations can be reached by 50 routes, split into 3 typologies (walking, heritage and beaches). They are available online at: Inclusion of a specific area explaining how to get from the airport to final destination. Network maps available at the website and in specific selling points. Other SEEMORE actions, like the Emission Calculation Tool, the SEEMORE promotional video and the travel planner tool are highly visible in the new website, which now offers a mix of tourism, transport, and environment through an easy-going and appealing way. All these actions focus on a changing tourist demand which in the last ten years turned from a package tour model and hotel customers, towards a more independent tourist who stays at rented houses or apartments and prefers to arrange his own trip. This fact explains the importance to offer tourists a valuable tool of information not only at destination, but also at origin, when they take decisions about the trip they are going to perform (Mallorca or other destinations). Final goal of this measure is no other than improving the quality of public transport information and, at the same time, the quality of Mallorca as a tourist destination. Measure implementation consisted in the definition of the routes to be shown in the website, designing the «Mallorca by Public Transport area», and translation of the website into 2 additional languages. All of this has had an overall cost of 20,000 (mostly to cover subcontracting activities). Measure progress The measure started in May 2013 and included a meeting with the Hotel Federation on November After this initial phase, the measure evolved as follow: February 2014 Translation of website into two additional languages: French and Russian. Selection of these additional foreign languages based on the increasing trend of both nationalities among tourists visiting Mallorca. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 12 / 44

13 July 2014 Launching of Tourism by Public Transport section in tib. website. 38 routes were included and classified into 3 groups: walking, heritage and beaches. July 2014 Launching of 3,370 interurban transport network maps available in the Multimodal Station info. point and in 4 tourist info. points in the city of Palma. July 2014 Training course to tourist information points staff located in main hotel areas. This action aimed to show information points the new website, as well as the Tourism by Public Transport area. Thanks to this, complete information on tourism and public transport is provided to the target group at destination. February additional tourist routes to the pre-existing 38 have been added to the section Tourism by Public Transport. Few barriers were encountered when applying the measure, and were all related with CTM human resources availability, which explains some delays in the elaboration of the 50 routes (12 of them have been released on a late stage of measure implementation). The lack of meaningful problems in the deployment of this action has had a strong relationship with the high operational capacity of CTM, which have full competences on PT information, and therefore on all actions related with website. To conclude, an external driver is related with the previous need of improving PT information provided at tourist information points. The main innovative aspects of this measure include: Integration of tourist routes to make the site more appealing The electronic package for tourists is perceived by CTM as an investment for the future of their business strategy. The improvement of online services has the potential to attract tourists that otherwise would not take the bus to discover the Island. Moreover, the tourist routes shown in the website were selected to get a representative insight onto the whole Island, rather than focusing on more tourist well-know spots. Cross links with the hotel industry A major breakthrough was the inclusion of the PT Operator link in a very important hotel chain website called Hipotels. Liaison with the training tourism professional s action As it is necessary to nurture hotel staff to use the improved features of the Consorci website so than they can correctly inform tourists, training courses were conducted to staff working in 11 Information Points throughout the Island. Google transit application Google Transit application also allows tourists to plan their journey by public transport in Mallorca. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned The development of the measures described has represented the first step for Mallorca Interurban PT Authority to establish a long lasting cooperation channel with the tourism sector. This can foster long-term effects not only related with improvement of information provision among tourists, but also with the improvement of the service as a whole. For instance, setting up a direct channel between CTM and the tourist information points staff represents not only improving the quality of information provided, but also knowing the quality of PT service from a tourist point of view. This information will be useful when planning new PT services. Regarding the website, it has become the reference site for tourists when checking information about interurban PT in Mallorca. The increasing number of logs into the website proves this assumption. In fact, the number of visits increased by 10.7% between 2013 and This steady increase is launching as a reference website, which makes it more interesting for private tourism business as an advertisement platform. This will enable future collaborations with the private sector in relationship with tourism. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 13 / 44

14 MALTA Promotion with airline companies and travel agencies Malta has been at the forefront of the SEEMORE regions to what the contact with international players is concerned. The Local Councils' Association (LCA) established good cooperation with stakeholders from both transport and tourism sector, including Air Malta (the national air company) and Virtu Ferries (connecting Malta and Sicily). As a result, LCA was able to publish articles about the project in the Air Malta in-flight magazine and disseminate materials on board of Virtu Ferries. The measure LCA does not have executive powers over the mobility and transport sectors and therefore it was necessary to foster multiple partnerships to target international big players. The promotion with airline companies is a sound example of an action which required strong liaison with supportive partners, such as the Ministry for Tourism. Long distance transport companies, such as Air Malta and Virtu Ferries, are the main gate for tourists who decide to spend their holidays in Malta. Every year more than 1.3mln tourists visit Malta and the number tends to increase every year. Tourist often make decision about their mobility plans once arriving on the Island and if they are not approached with the correct information, they might opt for taxi or rental car, thus increasing road traffic. Therefore, it is a smart move to influence their travel behaviour before their arrival by providing them with information on sustainable mobility. In 2014, 2.8% of the tourist arrived in Malta using the ferry service connecting Malta and Sicily. LCA team made a contact with the company operating the service (Virtu Ferries) and proposed to provide them with dissemination materials. Virtu Ferries welcomed our proposal and agreed to place the sustainable mobility materials on board of the ferries and at the ticket selling office. From the other hand, the national air operator, Air Malta, carries more than 1,7 mln passengers yearly. It reported that 1.76 mln passengers used their services during Air Malta agreed to publish a number of SEEMORE articles which are placed in the in-flight magazine il-bizzilla. By implementing the above soft measures, LCA managed to reach not only tourists, as main target group, but also locals who also make use of Air Malta flights and Virtu Ferries service. The above measures were implemented free of charge. LCA has not paid to Air Malta to publish the articles, neither to Virtu ferries for placing the materials on board and at their ticket selling office. The costs that are relevant to be mentioned for the above actions are: Figure 3: Air Malta s in-flight magazine Costs for printing of the materials placed at the ferries; Staff costs for a person who will be the contact point with the long distance providers, delivering the materials and drafting the articles. Measure progress Envisaging the importance of establishing enduring connections with key international players, the Local Councils' Association of Malta (LCA) established contacts with Air Malta and with Virtu Ferries. Often tourists decide about their mobility choices only when arriving at their destination. To influence them in favour of soft mobility options, an article has been published in Air Malta flight magazine during the whole month of August The Air Malta magazine, Il-Bizilla, is placed at D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 14 / 44

15 each seat and targets around 150, ,000 passengers, which had the opportunity to read the SEEMORE article. Another article, outlining 5 popular destinations and how those destinations can be reached by PT, was published and available to the general public during the whole month of September 2014, again in the Bizilla in-flight Air Malta magazine. Virtu Ferries, on the other hand, disseminated a large amount of postcards on board of their ferries, as well as copies of the sustainable mobility tourist information package. The materials were available during summer 2013 and summer Furthermore, LCA has disseminated a package consisting of useful information related to cycling in Malta on board of the ferries. The measure has progressed as follows: January May 2013: establishment of contacts with the long distance transport providers: Air Malta and Virtu Ferries; May June 2013: drafting of article for il-bizzilla and preparation of promotional materials-elaboration and print. July September 2013: dissemination of material on board of Virtu Ferries and at their ticket selling office August 2013: article published at the Air Malta magazine May - June 2014: contacts were re-established with the long distance operators, preparations of materials, drafting of article July September 2014: dissemination of material on board of Virtu Ferries and at their ticket selling office September 2014: article published at the Air Malta magazine During preparation and implementation phases, the measure did not phase any particular barriers except for the fact that some of the materials had to be updated during In particular the sustainable mobility tourist information package had to be updated due to change of the public transport operator. In terms of drivers, LCA s team gladly cooperate with colleagues from Air Malta and Virtu Ferries who were very open to environment - friendly initiatives and supported the ideas. The dissemination of materials at Virtu Ferries measure is also linked to another SEEMORE measure implemented by LCA s team in Malta namely the elaboration and dissemination of sustainable mobility tourist information package and dissemination of posters and postcards for photo competition. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned During summer 2013 and summer 2014, 1,000 sustainable mobility information packages were disseminated on board of Virtu Ferries, together with additional 6,500 postcards and 10 posters, promoting the photo competitions organized during both summers. At the same time, the articles published during the peak season of the Air Malta reached more than 300,000 passengers. As a conclusion, LCA team would like to encourage all relevant stakeholders in Europe to give it a try and establish contact and cooperation with long distance providers operating in their regions/ countries, as it might be not as difficult as it seems. Publishing articles at in-flight magazines and dissemination relevant materials is a proven win-win situation - the transport company is increasing its efficiency by providing broader services to its passengers and, on the other hand, tourists will be pleased to find useful information on board. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 15 / 44

16 DOBRICH Integration of mobility information in hotels Facing scarce information about sustainable mobility options, the Club Sustainable Development of Civil Society (CSDCS) took forward an integrative measure, aimed to distribute mobility information at hotels to ease the work of receptionists and to boost the use of sustainable modes of transport among tourists. The package is also available on the websites of the Municipality and District offices and it was the first ever to display information about the points of interest and how to reach them by PT, bike or foot. The measure Before SEEMORE has been implemented, a major problem felt by the tourism and mobility industry was that hardly any material was available in Dobrich as in whole country of Bulgaria. So the CSDCS took forward a bold proposal to collide and disseminate information that can be useful for tourists to travel around the Region in a sustainable manner. Indicatively, costs of implementation and operation were of nearly 5,000 and can be breakdown as follow: the Figure 4: Dissemination of packages at Albena Hotels mobility packages cost 2,000 ; whereas the two training events for transport and tourism experts cost 1,200 (2 x600) and the experts fees were of approximately 1,800. Measure progress As of summer 2013, tourists visiting the region of Dobrich have the possibility to plan their trips in a sustainable way using the Integrated Mobility Information Package (IMIP). It was elaborated by the SEEMORE team in cooperation with the local authorities and transport operators. The IMIP was distributed to the 50 biggest hotels in the target area and can also be downloaded from the official district site and local municipal sites. The IMIP comprises two materials: a leaflet and a brochure. The leaflet contains a detailed description of local leisure sites with many pictures and information about how to reach them by sustainable modes of transport. The brochure represents a Regional visitors mobility guide including complete and integrated information and timetables of public transport and coaches. The contents are presented in Bulgarian, Russian, English and Romanian. As the budget for paper materials was limited by the project budget (2,000 units were produced), the District Governor and mayors agreed to publish on their official sites a printable version of the IMIP. The measure benefited from strong cooperation with local stakeholders (municipalities, hotels, restaurants, tour-operators) which were eager to put their hands on communication material that could promote the region and help tourists to make the shift towards more sustainable modes of transport. This measure is part of a comprehensive regional strategy to cope with information gaps in the district. Therefore the mobility information measure has benefited from the translation action, in which all the mobility information contents were professionally translated into 4 languages, thus enabling to achieve a wider number of tourists in their own language. This task has had strong impact on tourist s satisfaction, as they enjoy reading information in their own national language. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 16 / 44

17 The measure has also liaison with the training activities measure: to get the most out of the mobility package, to hotel staff was offered free trainings on sustainable mobility and how to better promote it among tourists. It was found that in Dobrich the very concept of sustainability was still unknown and was brought into the tourism industry for the first time. Before SEEMORE, sustainability for hotel responsible equaled to reutilization of used towels or implementation of led lights, so this new mindset can be regarded as a major achievement of the project and a legacy for the future. Training activities at hotels to promote the IMIP were implemented as follow: The first workshop for 20 tourism professionals working in direct contact with visitors was held in Hotel Mistral **** in Balchik on 7th of March The main training topic was: Sustainable mobility introduction and European best practices. During the workshop, the Project manager explained the role of the IMIP and to the importance to distribute it among visitors. All participants agreed on the necessity to introduce sustainable mobility in resort areas and shared some ideas for mobility measures. During the beginning of the 2014 season, CSDCS staff working with Albena resort disseminated the rest of the promotional materials (leaflets, brochures and posters. Some materials were disseminated in 5 hotels in Balchik and in 3 hotels in Kavarna. The quantity was insufficient but CSDCS counted on the possibility for tourists to download the mobility package from the Internet. Moreover, to strengthen the target audience of IMIP, the CSDCS team published an advertising in the Bulgaria Air board journal. The IMIT played a vital role in Dobrich. Among the innovative highlights, one can mention: The mobility package plays an instrumental role for daily use of receptionists Frontofficers in hotels reported that the mobility packages facilitate their work. They don't need any more to phone to the auto-stations asking for further information, as now they just give tourists the package with information. The mobility package was very appreciated by tourists. A guide of a Romanian group coming by coach shared with the local steering project team that they had included some original printed materials in the library of their city, allowing that every potential visitor of Bulgaria could previously plan his vacation trips. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned In sum, the measure can be regarded as very cost effective because by carrying forward a lowbudget measure of about 5,000, one was able to achieve sound results. To track down the effects of this action, CSDCS have conducted periodic interviews among visitors and 100% of them said they are fully informed about existent mobility options in the region. Among other meaningful results sorted out from the seasonal surveys the last of which was carried out in August 2014 to a sample of 128 respondents one can point out an increase number of PT passengers (raised 9 p.p. from 29 to 38%). Cycling and walking habits have also been improved among tourists, as well as a decrease of using cars twice (from 56% to 26% measured in August 2012 and August 2014 respectively). Decisive for the implementation of this measure was the support of municipalities and transport operators. One has found that local decision-makers (including both municipalities and transport operators) are fairly cooperative unless they are not asked to carry out investments. Lastly, it is important to outline that the mobility information was transferred to all Black sea touristic regions and the measure could be easily replicated in several regions of this wide area. Following the dissemination of this measure at transfer seminars events, the other Balkan countries were also very interested in Dobrich experience. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 17 / 44

18 PROVINCE OF FORLI-CESENA Sustainable Mobility Guide The Italian Province of Forlì-Cesena developed a Sustainable Mobility Guide containing complete and integrated mobility information, with the aim of helping tourists to park their car once arrived in the area and move around in a sustainable way. The guide represents a first result of the future actions that will be implemented in the local sustainable mobility agenda. The measure Figure 5: The mobility guides Province of Forlì-Cesena, being a second level body, carries out a coordinating task among local municipalities and stakeholders in several issues. Within the SEEMORE project a local network was set up of different actors such as municipalities, hotels, tourist and transport operators. The whole area faces chronic car problems during peak tourist seasons, as the great majority of visitors arrive by car (it is estimated that less than 10% of the visitors arrive by train, bus, or airplane). As expected, this situation generates congestion and pollution in seasonal peaks. Furthermore there are several problems related to the lack of structured public transport and information about mobility options different from car to historical and leisure attractions. Local traditional transport policies did not take into serious consideration the tourism aspects and lack of existent data has hindered the design of suitable and attractive mobility solutions. To cope with this situation, Forlì-Cesena decided to invest in promoting a better integration between tourism and sustainable mobility and in improving tourist information about green mobility options. As a result, the project team started to collect sustainable mobility information and put it in two different sustainable mobility guides, one for the coastal area and one for the inland art city Forlì, to allow tourists to choose the easiest way to move around without using car. 4,000 copies of the guides have been printed and distributed at tourist offices, bus ticket counters, hotels, while the digital versions have been uploaded in the main websites used by tourists to plan their visit. The guides are available for downloading at The measure implementation was part of the big local awareness campaign on sustainable mobility that was organised in 2014 and was mostly subcontracted through a public procedure to a communication agency. It is therefore difficult to identify the single costs for the measure. For a total of almost 26,000 the selected agency realised both the mobility guides (layout, printing and digital format), the local video, the organisation and the management of the SEEMORE photo competition, a promotional desk and the participation into an international cycling fair, the promotion of the summer bus line to seaside resorts (layout and printing) and the project gadgets (300 T-shirts, refoldable plastic bottles and pen-drives). Human resources employed for the whole awareness campaign (putting up and managing the public procedure for subcontracting, cooperation with the agency for all the promotional products contents, dissemination of the products) amount to about 300 working hours within six months. Measure progress D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 18 / 44

19 Despite some delays related to the fact that the European Project Office was overwhelmed and dealt with a shortage of human resources necessary to carry out this task by itself, the measure has progressed smoothly. Three phases of implementation can be identified: In the first phase an info mobility package was drafted and used as the basis of the sustainable mobility guide. This included collection of the available mobility options in the SEEMORE target municipalities (Cesenatico, Gatteo, San Mauro and Forlì); revision of the draft by tourist offices of the target municipalities, by PT operator START ROMAGNA and by Forlì Mobilità Integrata. During the second phase the info mobility package draft was delivered to the selected subcontracted communication agency that realised layout, printing and digital format of both the mobility guides, in a trilingual format. The third phase was dedicated to the dissemination of the guides. During measure implementation, several barriers arose and were dealt within the meetings of the SEEMORE Local Working Group. The main identified barriers were: technological because the available data on sustainable mobility options were not uniformly structured, so the data had to be reorganised and homogenised, plus they had to be made more user-friendly; institutional because recent modifications in national rules about public procurement caused severe delay in the identification of the external company responsible for handling the SEEMORE awareness campaign. However the good cooperation established in the LWG allowed making the best use of drivers such as the willingness of the SEEMORE target municipalities and mobility stakeholders: ATR, START Romagna and Forlì Mobilità Integrata to take actively part into the project actions (involvement/communication). In addition, the sustainable mobility guides dissemination had the advantage to be addressed to the typical tourist of the target destinations (cultural) who is already sensible to sustainable mobility: even if they arrive mainly by car, most tourists want to park it and enjoy the holiday on foot, by bicycle, by bus, etc. One of the main innovative aspects of the measure was the opportunity to learn how different countries deal with the same issue. By playing a role in a European cooperation project, Forlì- Cesena stakeholders could benefit from new methodologies and strategies and welcomed this mind-shift as important for their own businesses. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned The mobility guides represent one of the main tools of the local awareness campaign and have been very appreciated by tourists: in fact, according to the data collected during the tourist survey 2014, the percentage of tourists stating to have been informed on sustainable mobility options almost doubled compared to The guides were also presented during the National Transfer Seminars in Forlì where similar tourist municipalities and regions were invited and showed interest in replicating the measure. The most important lesson is represented by the good cooperation between the local stakeholders group, which contributed significantly to improve and update the information put in the guides. The challenge for the future is to maintain this level of cooperation so as to facilitate the constantly need to update the information collected in the guide. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 19 / 44

20 MADEIRA Sustainable mobility touristic guide A comprehensive guide, printed and available online, that shows tourists what sights are available to see by bus, was produced under the SEEMORE umbrella, with the support of the Regional Authority of Tourism and Transport and neighbouring municipalities. Figure 6: Snap-shot of the mobility guide The measure Madeira experience on CIVITAS-MIMOSA, a former European Project where the region outstand as Funchal, its capital, was awarded city of the year in 2013, was of paramount importance to stress the need to bridge the gap between tourism and transport. In Madeira, no integrated information about public transport and tourism was available in 2012 when the SEEMORE project kicked off. Te lack of such a supportive document was essentially noticed by the tourism post offices which had nothing else than schedules or maps to deliver to tourists that requested information about public transport. The touristic guide was prepared on the basis of a strong willingness of Madeira Regional Authority of Tourism and Transport (MRATT) and of all municipalities involved that closely encompassed the entire project from the very scratch. The preparation and implementation of the guide involved mostly human power of the public transport operator Horários do Funchal (HF). A breakdown of resources required for this measure is showed below: Human Resources 320 hours which equalled to 5,400 Printing 1,400 hard copies 6,194 (4.4 per copy) Measure progress The measure was implemented in the following stages: From August 2013 to February Compilation in a single book of 86 pages of all the relevant tourism information, photos that the stakeholders had in their power, and translation of some information into English. This book was subject to several revisions (should be considered as an ongoing working project). March Official launch of the guide in the Lisbon Tourist Fair. May Taking into account the information embedded in the mobility guide, work has been done to prepare smaller brochures to distribute at the Funchal Port for cruise-line passengers to pick them up. These brochures include suggestions of small tours that tourists can easily choose to visit Funchal without the anxiety of getting back to the boat too late. November The guides were printed and the dissemination plan began by distributing the guides in the hotels that sell PT tickets and in all the stakeholders that took part in the project, that is to say: all the sales and information outlets of HF, in the municipalities information spots and on the tourism information desks. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 20 / 44

21 The Madeira touristic guide book offers information about the main tourist attractions and how to access them with the use of public transport (maps with attractions points and the nearest bus stops, number of the buses lines and hyperlink to the schedules, tickets). The guide is available online in HF website (desktop and mobile, see and also can be downloaded or printed. Information collided in this single book of 86 pages can be regarded as a roadmap for tourists wishing to endeavour in getting around Madeira by Bus. Despite some hard copies have been distributed, the main communication channel is electronic due to frequent changes of service. So HF as the project leader has convinced fellow partners (municipalities, tourism board, etc) to disseminate information about the guide using social media like Facebook. These SEEMORE activity suit perfectly the most recent trends of tourism which outline that tourists are increasingly becoming more autonomous when it comes to planning their trip, as information gets more and more accessible. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned As hard copies are usually quite costly, specially taking into consideration that public transport service is constantly changing, the project team only printed an appropriate number of guides (1,400 examples, 1,000 of which in English and 400 in Portuguese). In fact, one has found out during the SEEMORE project that, despite growing use of the Internet has contributed to the importance that this channel is acquiring, tourists still prefer hard copies. The typical tourist that visits Madeira is quite old (52 years old according to a survey conducted within Seemore at the airport in 2014). Nonetheless, 75% of tourists in Madeira have a smarphone and 55% use the Internet in the smarphone for touristic purposes. These results pave the way for further projects related with the deployment of touristic services on the Internet that are able to support the public transport industry. In the process of drafting the guide, the HF has realized that Public Transport can be a sound choice for tourists seeking the most important landmarks of the Island. It also became evident that all the regional stakeholders (tourism and transport related) are grateful for having this guide as a support to cope with tourists transport needs. Next steps of the measure will include the analysis of the feasibility of the guide as a commercial product. While there is a high transferability potential for these kinds of guides in other touristic regions throughout Europe, the high acceptance of this particular guide shows that it can entail a monetary value. To point out some numbers, the guide received 8 visits per day from March 2014 until January In sum, the opportunity of selling this guide in the future (selling hard copies and/or transforming the digital version of the guide into a paid application) will be properly accessed and a business model can be drawn up upon this measure. A success factor for this measure was the political patronage witch leverage the guide. Arguably, both the HF and the MRATT envisages the Mobility Guide as a promotional tool to quality tourism, as the product was very well accepted by all regional stakeholders. Another key driver was that the guide is actually the backing bone of the tourism strategy of HF. Hence, several sub-products were produced, such as brochures for cruise liners tourists, grounded on the information and the experience that HF has collected when preparing the guide. So it is a typical example of a scalable product that is multi-purposed and further up-scaling is therefore expected to take place. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 21 / 44

22 MADEIRA Audio Trip app In Madeira, there is a new and straight-forward way to promote 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 through the island. The measure Listening about historic narrative as the bus winds their way through some of the most stunning touristic spots is a commodity often used in specialized sightseeing tours. Horários do Funchal wished to transfer it to regular PT lines. To do that, a Polish company named AudioTrip Ltd was contacted to develop such a tool for the Region. The audio guide for Curral das Freiras, works on a free application, called Audiotrip, for smartphones, 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 milestone points that gives the opportunity to the users to hear some interesting stories about the island. The application automatically starts describing the specific Figure 7: Audio trip app. displayed on a tablet screen place just in the moment 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. The guide book is available here and the audio guide details can be read here Measure implementation, including human resources involved in this task to plan the measure, iteration with the Polish company and preparation and launch of the first audio trip journey took about 65 hours of human resources which equals to nearly 1,000. This is the overall cost for setting up this action. Communication was also low-cost and comprised mostly posters on the hotels where the PT Operator sells PT tickets and also on bus stops near the main touristic areas. Measure progress An audio guide for Curral das Freiras, a popular tourist destination is currently available for free as a smart-phone app. Stepwise, the measure was implemented in the following stages: November 2012 Horários do Funchal project team travelled to Vitoria Gasteiz where the CIVITAS forum conference was held and meet the AudioTrip Ltd team which was advertising their audio trip product. One has quickly realized the added-value of such product to raise the attractiveness of public transport trips and decided that SEEMORE would be the perfect background framework to test the feasibility and acceptance of a pilot test in Madeira. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 22 / 44

23 March 2013 The contract agreement between AudioTrip Ltd and Horários do Funchal was signed. The contract agreement previews the possibility of including publicity in the application so than the audio trip journeys would not have to be paid. Otherwise, should Horários do Funchal wish to maintain the application free from advertising, it would incur in a fee. Despite these contract specifications, Horários do Funchal as application developer, could beneficiate from free testing during SEEMORE lifespam. May 2013 All the contents for the trip to Curral das Freiras were collided, texts were translated to English, photos were collected and Horários do Funchal started to fine tune the application, namely testing the distance from the milestones upon which an application holder would start listening a designated story. March 2014 The service was launched during the Lisbon Tourist Fair and in time for the start of the high tourist season on Madeira, pushing forward the release of the communication plan on the hotels and on designated bus stops (near the most touristic area). Noteworthy the way this action bundled with other related actions developed in the frame of the SEEMORE project. Firstly, the audio trip was on the spotlight in the SEEMORE regional video, where one can see tourists using the application on a real trip. Secondly, the steering-team empowered several tourism professionals with the necessary skills so as to give assistance and promote the audio trip application to their tourists in the frame of the SEEMORE training sessions. Among the target professionals one can mention two strategic target groups: i) hotel staff, namely receptionists; ii) tourism information points staff. Feedback from these training sessions enable one to conclude that it was important for widespread the use of these innovative tools. On the barriers side, the project ambition of implementing a wide set of actions with a small budget led to an overload of work. Hence it was not possible to develop 3 audio trip journeys during project lifetime, as planned at the beginning of the project. Nevertheless, the audio trip has proved its value for money and is certainly transfer-worthy to a wide number of other activities. Replicable actions that unleash the potential of this powerful tool could include pedestrian tours in the city centre with botanic and history explanations but also extensions of this very same action to other PT routes. It is not clear yet, however, whether this action can entail a potential business model in Madeira or if tourists would pay for this tool. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned Between April 2014 and December 2014, the audio trip journey was downloaded 273 times, 194 of which in its English version. The English version of the trip to Curral das Freiras is ranked with 5 starts by the community of persons who download the application. According to what the main tourism trends and characteristics, which point out that tourists are increasingly interest in planning their own journey and making use of their smarphones to take the most from their stay, one can only regard the audio trip application as another key tool for tourism enhancement. This app. supports the so called Do It Yourself tourist, that is to say, the tourist that arrives to Madeira without being included in organized trips and that likes its autonomy to discover the destination by its own. This leads to a transformation of a business model of PT providers that now have to rely on communication and information services such as the audio trip application. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 23 / 44

24 POMERANIA Map dispensers Map dispensers are a useful support to disseminate relevant tourism-related products on-street. In the region of Pomerania, sustainable touristic guides and maps were available in seven strategic locations for tourists to pick them up and travel more consciously. Figure 8: Example of the map dispenser and the schematic map The measure Even though map dispensers were regarded as effective to advertise all the sustainable mobility options that tourists and residents alike can choose to move around the Region, they were previously nonexistent in Pomerania before SEEMORE. So the Choczewo commune has roll out their sleeves and started working with the hotels to define this measure features, namely the definition of the most effective locations to install the map dispensers and the definition of the sort of information that would ideally fit in this communication channel. Before the SEEMORE project, the layout of existing network of bicycle friendly routes was not available neither in the local tourist publications nor in the fields. Tourists had also a very limited access to information about the layout of public transport routes and timetables. Tourist promotion publications, on the other hand, if published, were only offered to visitors during the office hours of the municipality of Choczewo only. The project allowed to combine the publication of maps with the installation of a signposting system and assured the dissemination of maps round the clock (24/7). In view of the specific character of the Choczewo commune not served by the local railway network the majority of external visitors were coming to the local accommodation facilities with their cars. The map dispensers were considered as an important tool aimed at convincing them not to use their car to satisfy their regular (daily) mobility needs with alternatives to cartrips, in practice short walking and cycling journeys. The local public transport operators could also benefit from the implementation of this task. Thanks to this initiative, public transport operators have also decided to offer the opportunity of carrying bicycles on board their buses. Within the framework of SEEMORE, a total of seven tourist map dispensers were installed in the Choczewo commune as an innovative source of local tourist information for residents and visitors. The total cost of installing map dispensers amounted to 7,749, while the cost of preparation and printing of maps amounted to Measure progress Map dispensers have not been implemented before by any entity in Pomerania. That s why measure implementation phase started by collecting information about similar solutions in Europe, focusing on: technical aspects; protection against destruction; location rules; principles of logistics information materials. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 24 / 44

25 The topic of map dispensers were discussed in over 50 meetings with hotels and in 4 meetings with the PT operators. The SEEMORE project team in Pomerania have also used information from more than 200 personalized surveys of tourists (which were made before summer 2013) to confirm which were the most popular tourist attractions in Choczewo commune so as to decide on whether to include them or not in the maps. At the same time the network of local cycling routes was studied and charted on the maps. The information about the layout of public transport routes and timetables at particular stops has also been included in the maps. Pomerania has completed the research stage for defining the location of map dispensers in May This phase was followed by the launch of a public procurement, which was published in June The selected contractor has installed 7 map dispensers in July Lastly, the activity of installing map dispensers was completed during 2013 summer season. The major barrier encountered during this process was that the research stage was longer than expected, owing to the pioneer status of the action. Fortunately the measure has benefitted from well organized round table discussions arranged between the staff of the Choczewo commune and several hotels which were addressed via tourism boards and hotels associations. This mixing organizational framework was the key ingredient that enabled the delivery of information about local PT schedules and itineraries, bike friendly accommodation facilities, local tourist attractions and many other curiosities about the local heritage. Map dispensers also contained information about local cycling trails and routes, which have been marked or built in the area. In view of the fact, that the quality of information provided strongly affects the likelihood to use sustainable transport modes, such as public transport, walking and cycling, the map dispenser are considered to leverage the local tourism system. Before the installation of map dispensers the local municipality officers were afraid of potential vandalism directed towards these innovative gadgets. In practice, only two isolated cases of abuse of map dispensers were recorded during the first year of their operation. The installation of map dispensers, combined with the installation of a consistent, innovative bicycle route signposting system, was presented as a good practice at the NTS and SEEMORE project training sessions for tourism professionals about PT services and participation sessions with tourists and residents of the Choczewo commune. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned The use of dispenser was regularly monitored by local tourist promotion staff, in particular during the summer months, when the number of visitors exceeds the number of local residents several times. Preliminary results point out that in summer 2013 and in summer 2014 as many as 4,500 maps were taken from the 7 map dispensers installed in the commune. An important supplement to the map dispensing system was the installation of an extensive bike route signposting system, financed by other resources of the commune. 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 collected from the motorized tourists have proven that the signposting system has been very user friendly and has been highly assessed by the visitors, regardless of the transport mode they used. The solutions adapted by the municipality within the framework of the SEEMORE project were so simple to replicate and straightforward that have attracted a lot of attention of other coastal and touristically attractive municipalities of the country. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 25 / 44

26 PROVINCE OF FORLI-CESENA Promotion of bike rental service and production of a patented bike map for tourists and cyclists The concept of bike rental was a previously existent concept in Forlì-Cesena so the aim of SEEMORE was to further encourage cycling by promoting a better integration between tourism and sustainable mobility. This could be achieved by levering complementary measures (such as the bike rental schemes Mi Muovo in Forlì and Pedala la Città in Cesenatico) and creating supportive tools such as patented bike maps to disseminate in the hotels of the area. The gist was to boost car-independent lifestyles among tourists when moving around within the region. To attain this goal, hotels already providing bike-rental services and tourists in general were made aware about the benefits of bike use. The measure Figure 9: Cesenatico bike map Data collected within the SEEMORE project in 2012 showed that a high percentage of hotels (about 75%) in the tourist destinations of Province of Forlì- Cesena (Gatteo, Cesenatico, San Mauro and Forlì) provide free bicycle rental to their guests. The percentage remained stable during the project implementation thanks to the work done by Province of Forlì-Cesena that built a shared awareness on the importance of sustainable mobility. Involving its local actors, namely hotel associations, the challenge was to make the hoteliers aware of the importance to keep the bike service despite emergent obstacles (for example, the cost of bicycles maintenance and the hotel s liability for the user s safety) and also to encourage the remaining hotels to provide similar services. Furthermore, a strict cooperation was also set up with Forlì Mobilità Integrata (Forlì agency for sustainable mobility) and Municipality of Cesenatico to integrate the bike sharing schemes Mi Muovo in Forlì and Pedala la Città in Cesenatico into SEEMORE actions. During the first National Transfer Seminar, Province of Ferrara presented its patented bike map, a tourist map to put in the bike handlebars, to offer cyclists an easy way to visit attractions. In the framework of exchange of best practices, Province of Forlì-Cesena decided to realise two bike maps, one for Forlì and one for Cesenaitco. Measure implementation was partly subcontracted through public procedures. Data collection and surveys realisation, together with many other actions, were assigned to a company specialised in EU projects on mobility issue. Layout and printing of the two bike maps were subcontracted to the communication agency already in charge of the local awareness campaign. It is therefore very difficult to identify the single costs for the measure. The human resources employed for the measure focused mainly on the coordination of the tasks realised by the external subcontractors, the contacts with the stakeholders and the revision of the bike maps and amount to about 150 working hours for the whole project period. Measure progress Forlì-Cesena planned to discourage car use within the region by providing complementary services and infrastructure to support cycling. Forlì-Cesena adopted the measure to further D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 26 / 44

27 promote the bike sharing schemes and the bike rental at hotels in Forlì and Cesenatico. Three phases of measure implementation can be identified: In the first phase data about the number of hotels already providing bicycles free of charge or low cost in Cesenatico, Gatteo, San Mauro and Forlì were collected. On a total of 438 hotels, 331 (75%) offered the service. During LWG meetings, awareness was raised on the importance of maintaining the service despite the doubts expressed by some hoteliers regarding bike maintenance costs and hotel liability for user s safety. In the second phase it was evaluated that during SEEMORE implementation the percentage of hotels providing bicycles to their guests slightly increased. Moreover, the Municipality of Cesenatico distributed 250 bikes to hotels and beach operators for free so than they could be rented to tourists. The bikes were purchased in the frame of the Adria-Mob project, co-financed by the IPA Adriatic. The third phase was dedicated to the realization of two bike maps, one for Forlì and one for Cesenatico. The Forlì bike map shows the historical attractions and explains how to visit them using the bike sharing service Mi Muovo ; the Cesenatico bike map displays the sea resort attractions, the network of cycling lanes and the bike stations of Pedala la Città. The maps were printed and distributed at hotels, tourist offices and Forlì Mobilità Integrata and are downloadable at During measure implementation, some barriers were raised. Hotel owners complained about Italian safety rules (the hotel is responsible for the user s safety and for the cost of maintenance and reparation). Province of Forlì-Cesena had to struggle to convince hoteliers that the benefit of the service was higher than the cost. To compensate the difficulties arising from bike rentals at hotels, it was discussed about the possibility to charge basic tariffs for bike rental at hotel. In this way the hotel could recover some of the resources needed to keep the service operative and users would feel more responsible about the bike they are renting. Some drivers were also evident. The typical tourist of Forlì-Cesena coastal area is already oriented to park the car when arriving at destination and to move around using sustainable means of transport. In addition, Romagna area has been promoting itself as "wellness area" and the land of cyclists. Moreover, this measure perfectly fits the overall SEEMORE strategy as it was reinforced by the sustainable mobility guides for visitors which showcased the existing bikerental schemes as a convenient choice for exploring the area. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned Data collected in 2012 showed that 331 out of 438 hotels (75,6%) provided free of charge bike to their guests. In 2014 the percentage rose slightly but in Cesenatico the number of bikes at disposal increased of 250 units thanks to the distribution of the bikes purchased thanks to another European project Adria-Mob co-financed by the IPA Adriatic. 4,000 copies of bike maps were printed, 2,000 for Forlì and 2,000 for Cesenatico. The copies have been distributed at tourist offices and selected hotels and to Forli Mobilità Integrata that will disseminate them among the Mi Muovo users. The production of bike map was an additional material within the SEEMORE project and is the result of the exchange of best practices held during the first NTS in Province of Ferrara presented this tourist tool that was very appreciated by participants. They patented the bike map so Province of Forlì-Cesena had to require a permission to reproduce bike maps for its tourist destinations. As bike maps were printed at the end of the implementation period, they will be integrated in the summer 2015 promotion of tourist areas and will be also presented in the future sustainable mobility events where Forli Mobilità Integrata participate. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 27 / 44

28 POMERANIA Environmental label for hotels and other bodies/bike&bed certification scheme In Pomerania, a quality label called Bike&Bed was introduced for accommodation facilities equipped for hosting bikers. The success of the initiative laid in the thorough field investigations carried out for designing the label, as well as in the cooperation among stakeholders from different sectors. The measure The Pomeranian Association Common Europe (PSWE), which coordinates the implementation of the SEEMORE project measures in Pomerania in co-operation with the Choczewo municipality is the Polish national coordinator of the trans- European network of long distance cycling routes a flagship project of the European Cyclists Federation (ECF) - known as the EuroVelo. The ECF actively promotes close co-operation and Figure 10: Cyclists friendly accommodation facilities Bike&Bed website collaboration among all the EuroVelo coordinators working in all European countries. This allows to disseminate good practices and helps to overcome various barriers encountered in the process of cycling promotion. One of key measures applied in the process of EuroVelo network development is the promotion of certification schemes for accommodation facilities. The ECF has decided to benchmark and collect information about similar solutions in Europe, such as Bett und Bike developed by the German Cyclists Association (ADFC). It was particularly important in view of the fact, that no environmental label for hotels and other bodies have been implemented so far by any entity in northern Poland. In general, tourist accommodation facilities in Poland have not been accustomed to the use of labels which might make them distinctively different from other such facilities. However, hotel managers do not identify, that both the quality of local environment and promotion of environmentally friendly transport options may exert a meaningful influence on the level of their revenues. They did not consider that promotion of sustainable transport options may help to solve the increasingly painful traffic and environmental pollution challenges experienced in particular in high season. Prior to the implementation of the SEEMORE project measures, the PSWE has decided to develop a Polish certification scheme under the name of Bike&Bed funded from its own resources and disseminate its application among the local tourist accommodation operators. This initiative was addressed not only to hotel operators, but also to visitors, which were then informed about the availability of environment friendly transport options in the area. Hotel operators often decided to start bikes for hire schemes used by their clients after receiving the Bike&Bed labels. This increased the propensity to use bikes for local trips by visitors, who continued to come to local hotels by cars. Within the framework of the SEEMORE project, it was possible to further promote the idea of environmental labelling among hotels and other operators of local tourist accommodation facilities. The SEEMORE related initiatives had to be combined with substantial efforts aimed at the increased awareness of such issues among hotel operators such as the outlays on promotion and information activities. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 28 / 44

29 Measure progress The greatest challenge to be addressed while implementing the measure was to convince the hotel operators that the potential revenue of long distance cycling tourists is greater than they tend to recognize. Research carried out in countries with longer traditions of cycling tourism proved that the long distance cyclists (often the people in the 50+ age group) are usually more educated and represent above-average spending potential than motorized tourists. Setting up this measure required desk research about the quality labels all over Europe. Best practices to match local conditions of hotels in Choczewo were selected. Focus of research and investigation activities relied on: benefits resulting from the adoption of an environmental label, preparation process for obtaining the label, marketing activities to hotels and other bodies that have received the label, Due to the fact that the majority of tourists arrive in Choczewo by their own car, the majority of hotels were not convinced about the benefits in adopting an environmental label. Hence, the label wasn t recognized at first as something distinguishable, that tourists would take into consideration when deciding about which hotel they stay. To overcome this barrier, the topic of the environmental label was discussed during more than 50 meetings with hotels and 4 meetings with the PT operators. Decisive for the implementation of this measure was also the results of the surveys carried out in the region during the summer of Based upon a sample of over 200 tourists, results have confirmed that tourists prefer booking accommodations in hotels which have received an environmental label rather than others that disregard energy and environment friendly measures. Many hotels have expressed interest in Bike and Bed bicycle-friendly accommodations, but are rather reluctant to bear costs connected with the adoption of the environmental label scheme. To convince them about the benefits which exceed costs considerably, meetings were organized to inform accommodation facilities representatives about the size of the cycling tourists market and its growth in the neighboring market: Germany. This label is managed by the PSWE which allows promoting sustainable tourist guide among hotels in Choczewo. Hotels who expressed interest have received information about environmental labels. A total of more than 110 hotels and accommodation were involved. A final meeting with the hotels was held in May 2014 just before summer The meeting was used as the opportunity to inform about all the above issues. In view of the fact that the Choczewo municipality is characterized with very low population density, the daily traffic jam problem is not considered as an important daily challenge. Much more attention was then paid to the issue of car-parking demand management issues near popular tourist destinations (such as beach fronts) in summer and long spring weekends. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned The outcomes of the measures applied were evaluated within the framework of discussions among stakeholders: tourist accommodation and PT operators as well as visitors and survey questionnaires distributed among the participants of local meetings and debates. The principal lesson learnt from the process of implementation of the measure is that the market is still in the pioneer stage and a lot of effort needs to be made to promote the environmental friendly attitudes of accommodation operators and their clients. Pomerania SEEMORE partners will continue to apply for further funding of projects aimed at making the local tourist and PT operators better aware of the importance of sustainable tourist market, the need to collect data and to promote hotels with appropriate labels. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 29 / 44

30 LIMASSOL Integrate tourist attractions and annual events in the sustainable information package Limassol had a popular tourism-driven guide but only domestic mobility information was included. Thanks to SEEMORE, the new mobility guide/package has consolidated information available and moved forward as it was updated and translated into English and Russian. The guide now features tourist attractions, nearby villages, beaches, shopping areas and annual events along with the relevant sustainable mobility options to get there, including walking tours, nature trails, cycling routes, wine routes, airport shuttle services, taxi sharing services and transportation for disabled. The measure Figure 11: Limassol Tourist Guide Limassol vision in SEEMORE was to undertake steps towards a complete information package and integrated services. However, tourism professionals noted from the frequently asked questions of Limassol visitors, a gap with respect to the need to integrate tourist attractions and annual events with directions on how to get to each destination using sustainable mobility options. With this in mind, Limassol Tourist Development and Promotion Co Ltd decided to take the opportunity of SEEMORE to improve the existing guide and to contribute to a more accessible, inclusive and liveable region. The Limassol Mobility Guide targets visitors of the area either on a long holiday or just for the day. The majority of visitors are English or Russian speaking, therefore the publication is in both languages. The publication includes information on urban and rural PT, airport shuttle, taxi sharing services, cycling options and routes as well as walking tours available. Among the stakeholders are the Limassol Bus Company, Airport Shuttle, Nextbike (bike sharing), bike rental companies, Bikin Adventures that offers bike excursions, Travel and Express taxi sharing service, Municipalities, Cyprus Tourism Organisation, hotels that encourage their guests to use the guide, travel agencies, tourist information offices and the local Chamber. The guides have been distributed to hotels, travel agencies, tourist information offices, Municipalities, Limassol Bus Company and the Limassol Chamber and they, in turn, notify the project team when they are close to running out their stock. The cost of the content, images, design, printing and distribution of the guide amounts to 8,709 for 8,000 guides. Check Measure progress The promotion of sustainable modes required a variety of instruments to make it competitive compared to the private or rented car. So, to trigger behavioural change in Limassol, one of these instruments was to include tourists attractions in the sustainable information package and to present it to tourists. This way, a visitor could make travel planning arrangements easier, make combinations and be encouraged to try sustainable mobility modes and make the best use of it. Even for tourists that have already rented a car, the mobility guide makes it easier to use a bus to get to the old town or an important landmark for example avoiding parking issues, uncertainty of driving in a foreign country on the left side of the road and even drinking and D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 30 / 44

31 driving for evening entertainment. The fact that visitors become aware of frequent bus connections and bike possibilities just meters away from their hotel increases their interest. The measure has evolved as follows: Phase 1:October 2013 Idea - During the first local SEEMORE Framework Workshop, all participants agreed that the available information regarding travelling around Limassol and Cyprus was not adequate. Phase 2: November Research stage- Information was collected and updated from all transport service providers: urban, rural and intercity buses, airport shuttle, bike sharing, bike rentals, taxi sharing. In early 2014, meetings were held with the Limassol bus company and the Cyprus Tourism Organisation to determine the best connections between the tourist area and places of interest. Phase 3: June 2014 Content completion, translation, printing and distribution- In spring time the information regarding the tours was completed, including photographic material for the guide and the necessary maps which were also updated. In June, the Mobility guide content was ready, translated, printed and distributed. The electronic version (e-book) also became available and was sent to all hotels, travel agents, municipalities for them to include a link in their electronic media supports. The project has beneficiated from a cultural driver, as information is a very important element for providing a memorable holiday experience to visitors. This will also improve the chances that tourists will return to the region in the future. Enriching the holiday experience can be achieved with very low cost bus travelling (cost per route for urban and rural buses is only 1.50 and daily ticket is 5 ) while travelling by bicycle brings the visitor in direct contact with the environment and nature. On the other hand, project managers had to deal with a shortage of financial resources and strategic plans due to Cyprus financial situation. To overcome this barrier, and considering that information is always changing, one has focused on promoting the mobility package mostly on the Internet, which is easy and less expensive to update on a regular basis. To articulate with other SEEMORE measures, the mobility package was available in all the information kiosks which were installed in central and strategic spots throughout the city of Limassol. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned The Mobility guide has been well received by hoteliers, tourist info offices, travel agents, etc. The comments from locals and visitors have been very positive as well. Some of which stressed that, although in Cyprus distances are generally short, tourists often prefer not to venture through the outskirts due to poor information about mobility. With the improved guide, they had a valuable tool to assist them when exploring villages and sights outside Limassol. This is evident in the numbers collected showing that in the first six months of the guide s existence, 6,000 guides were distributed and many visitors have accessed the guide in its electronic form. From this measure, Limassol Tourist Development and Promotion Co Ltd have realized that visitors are willing to use sustainable mobility modes but making them available is not enough. Information needs to be provided in a user friendly manner as to provide suggestions to travellers on how to enrich their holiday, at low cost, using sustainable mobility modes. According to the records of the tourist information offices and the quantities required by hotels, one can assume that the mobility guide is currently the most popular tourist publication among visitors. The local project team intends to update and print this publication on an annual basis, making it available for free. Other Cyprus regions were encouraged to do a similar guide for their areas during the National Seminar held in November D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 31 / 44

32 LIMASSOL Sustainable mobility options during big events Within SEEMORE, Limassol planned to develop a wide number of measures to promote sustainable transport among tourists so to enhance their touristic experience and allow them to take home good memories from Cyprus and from its regional mobility policies. One of the flagship measures of the Limassol Tourism Board was to enlarge sustainable mobility options during big events, by offering free shuttle bus service for major events. The measure Touristic cities such as Limassol welcome a growing number of large events that are largely anticipated by tourists that travel there. Accordingly, special planning is needed for the organization of these events and so the local actors envisaged in SEEMORE an opportunity to improve the performance of transport services made available to attend major events in the area. To take this measure forward, it was necessary to involve the local Municipalities and Community Figure 12: Buses offering a guided transfer for tourists to the Almond Festival Boards that organize big events as well as private event organizers. For events considered of high interest to the visitor, i.e. events related to Cyprus traditions in the nearby villages, free transfer was offered to tourists. Reservations were made with the assistance of the local tourist information offices that coordinated the effort. Two buses per event were offered by the Limassol Tourism Board (sometimes sponsored by the Limassol Bus Company) and each bus had an English or Russian speaking guide depending on demand. Before the implementation of this measure, only travellers with rented cars could attend events outside the city and the number of foreign visitors was very low. The provision of easy and free transportation encouraged visitors to travel outside the city, come in touch with the locals and the local traditions, visit picturesque villages and explore the area. These kinds of memories make a destination special and different from others. As of 2013, free bus transfer was offered to four major events and in 2014 to five major events, most of which were held in Limassol villages. For events in the Limassol town, information is provided on the promotional material about the urban bus that connects the tourist area with the event location. This was requested and applied by a lot of private event organizers as well as by local authorities. The cost per bus was up to 300 (including bus and tour guide). Two 55 seat buses were used for each event. Sometimes the Limassol Bus Company sponsored the second bus. The total cost was around 5,000 sponsored by the Limassol Tourism Board and the Cyprus Tourism Organisation plus the contribution of the Limassol Bus Company of around 400. This cost was not claimed in the project budget. Measure progress The main initial objective was to provide sustainable mobility options for two major annual events. Operationally-wise, the shuttle buses make six stops in the tourist area. Each one of D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 32 / 44

33 them can be seen on the promotional material prepared and distributed to all hotels and CTO information offices. The service was very popular as it was offered free of charge for tourists. Alternatively, when the events are on weekends and there is considerable traffic in the sea side road, the bus is scheduled to leave from the Dasoudi tourist information office (connected to the tourist area with bus nr. 30), which also handles the bookings. The measure has evolved though the following stages: Phase 1: Februay Two free shuttle buses with tour guides were offered to and from the Almond Festival in Lymnati village around 30 minutes from Limassol. Arrival of the buses was at the exact time the dance program started (in coordination with the local community board that organized the event). The buses were fully booked. Phase 2: June December Free shuttle buses with tour guides were arranged and offered for three more events. Phase 3:January December Free bus transfer and tour guide were offered for five events throughout the year. On the 27th of September, EAL ltd sponsored this service for the 2013 edition of the World Tourism Day events, while the Cyprus Tourism Organization, in the same spirit, organizes buses from all towns towards and from the Limassol Wine Festival, which is a very famous 10-day event taking place at the end of August beginning of September every year. Also the Troodos Tourism Board tried this action to increase visitor numbers from Limassol and arranged four buses at very low cost to start from the Dasoudi tourist information office in Limassol to take tourists to and from major events in their region. The free transportation to all these events were advertised with flyers and posters in all hotels and were also promoted via the internet and the local tourist information offices. From the process evaluation, the main driver encountered that smoothed implementation of this measure was that it fits into the political framework of the region, which is interested in giving tourists an opportunity to travel smart and experience the local culture, see places they might have missed and receive useful historical and other information from guides where available. Arguably, thanks to this political support, it is likely that this measure can be sustained in time and even expanded in the future. From the tourist point of view, this measure enables visitors to attend events without worrying about making special travel plans at the same time that by increasing visits of tourists to villages, this action enriches contribute to the villages' economies. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned This measure goals were overachieved. The project team was able to arrange sustainable mobility options for tourists to attend 9 major events in total, one of which was carried out during 10 days. Around 1,000 travellers had a chance to attend local events using this bus service in 2013 and 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 Limassol Tourism Board intends to continue offering free or low cost bus transfer with tour guide to a number of events in the region every year. The Cyprus Tourism Organisation and the Troodos Tourism Board intend to do the same, since they have realized the success of this action. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 33 / 44

34 BOHUSLÄN Combined tickets PT and entrance fees As to encourage sustainable travelling, in Bohuslän, a cooperation scheme between the public transport company Västtrafik and a few very popular tourist attractions has been developed, in which the PT company have marketed attractions that, in turn, have made special offers for visitors reaching them by PT. The PT Company also developed special seasonal tickets for tourists. Figure 13: Marketing campaign to encourage tourists to The measure travel by PT to attractions using a seasonal ticket In Bohuslän, many actors joined to work on the definition of the SEEMORE strategy. They worked together on a voluntary basis and with no formal commitment other than the will to boost tourism in the region by encouraging sustainable and responsible travelling. Regional actors included tourism professionals, PT operators and infrastructure planners. The stakeholder group was strong and motivated and was considered to be the most involved stakeholder group of all SEEMORE regions. Before SEEMORE, local actors within tourism and transport of the region of Bohuslän did not interact nor cooperate to a great extent on important matters that concerned the both sectors. No major opportunities for interactions and forums to exchange ideas were found. However, with the project, this has changed. This measure aimed at encouraging visitors to travel by public transport to major attractions by marketing a combination of public transport and tourist attractions and offering special prices to visitors travelling by public transport. A special, seasonal ticket was also developed for this cause. The costs for the SEEMORE project included time spent by project manager to coordinate the offer. The remaining hours spent has been financed by Fyrbodal Association of Authorities, the public transport planning authority, Västtrafik and the attractions. Measure progress A selection of the six largest and most important attractions in Bohuslän was contacted by the Fyrbodal Association of Local Authorities with the offer to embark on a joint marketing campaign with the regional pt company. Three of the attractions decided to join and provide their visitors travelling by public transport with special offers. At the Havets Hus aquarium and Nordens Ark zoo, one child did not pay any fee when entering with an adult; whereas at the Nordic Watercolor Museum, where there is no fee for children, visitors travelling by public transport get a reduction of the entrance fee by 20 SEK (around 2 euros), paying 60 SEK instead of 80 SEK. The attractions also provide information about sustainable travelling which hopefully will increase the number of visitors travelling by bike, bus or train. Information about the attractions can be seen here: Havets Hus: Nordens Ark: Nordic Watercolor Museum: D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 34 / 44

35 Västtrafik developed a major marketing campaign as to inform all travelers about the possibility to travel by pt to these attractions. The marketing campaign was very appreciated by the attractions who valued this cooperation very highly. The campaign was planned to take place between June and August, but the attraction Havets Hus decided to keep their special offer even after the end of the formal cooperation with Västtrafik. Furthermore, the PT company developed a seasonal ticket adjusted to meet tourists need. There were already a ticket providing unlimited travels within the region of Västra Götaland for one or three days. This ticket was valid for one adult and up to three children. During the summer of 2014, it was adapted to include two adults and three children. Generally, the ticket is meant to meet the needs of commuters, but was extended as to meet the needs of tourist, both couples and families travelling together. Västtrafik carried out a major marketing campaign using the slogan Travel 5, pay for 1 during the summer months. Other enforcement measures that complement this one were the deployment of real-time information which is being installed at attractions. This task is managed by the regional council and is another key driver that contributed to make public transport journeys towards the attractions more convenient and easy. One has realized that this measure has triggered a positive publicity for the attractions; on the other hand, for Västtrafik it was also good to market attractions as a means to increase PT travelling activity during summer. Another catalyst for the successful implementation of the measure and that led this to be nurtured by the local stakeholder was that at least one of the establishments, Havets Hus, had problems with few parking spaces in close proximity to the establishment (in Bohuslän, the high season is short and concentrates on the month of July where visitors flock to the region, roads get crowded and there is a lack of parking spaces). So they warmly welcomed this campaign and were considered by the project team as a local champion, for pushing the other establishments to adhere as well. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned 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 to the same extent. Despite this, it is likely that this measure can bring positive change in attitudes in the long-term. The cooperation between Västtrafik and the attractions was one of the aims of the SEEMORE project, bringing the sectors of transport and tourism together. Since there were no history of cooperation between the PT company and the attractions, they needed help to carry out joint projects and the SEEMORE project linked them together. The cooperation with special tickets in the summer of 2014 was the start of a collaboration that will hopefully continue and develop over the coming years. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 35 / 44

36 BOHUSLÄN Better biking and walking infrastructure To counteract urban traffic problems, regions, especially those who depend the most from tourists, need to support non-motorized transport modes such as cycling and walking. In Bohuslän, these modes offer a world of opportunities to explore the countryside. Therefore, one of the main priorities of the SEEMORE project in the region of Bohuslän lied in the enhancement of biking and walking infrastructures. Figure 14: A bike map The measure The region of Bohuslän is visited by 300,000 visitors per annum who mainly arrive by car and private boats. There is an extensive car use among tourists within the region and a lack of biking and walking infrastructure. Therefore the region of Bohuslän joined the SEEMORE project with the objective to make it easier for visitors to choose a more energy efficient way to travel in and to the region. One of the main priori partners involved in this measure includes the Swedish Transport Administration, Region Västra Götaland, a number of municipalities and the County Administrative Board. Problems diagnosed at the beginning of the project were that bike lanes, as well as pedestrian infrastructure, displayed different shapes and standards. Another related problem was that there was no coherent bike lane net through the area. As for the costs incurred in this measure, it is important to notice that the inventory was financed by the regional authorities of Västra Götaland and the Swedish Transport Administration. Measure progress To favor cycling in the area, it was first important to make an inventory of needs and gaps of the bike lanes. Trivector, the leader of work package 2, carried out a GIS-inventory of bicycle lanes, paths and routes. The inventory which included gathering data from all 49 municipalities of the region Västra Götaland began in the autumn of 2013 and was finished in February The inventory was financed by the regional authorities of Västra Götaland and the Swedish Transport Administration. During the inventory, all the bicycle paths in the region of Västra Götaland were mapped and a report written. The detailed report of the GIS inventory has been sent out to all partners by Trivector. The report includes all bike paths in the region including descriptive data regarding bike trips. The inventory of walking paths have though not been included in the SEEMORE activities as it was not considered as a political priority for decision-makers. Furthermore, a bicycle map is being developed within the SEEMORE project and will be printed and distributed starting March The bike paths will also be included on the digital tourism map of the regional tourism board. Fyrbodal is cooperating with the regional tourism board, 12 municipalities and a number of tourism organizations in order to develop the map. Currently, in the majority of the SEEMORE municipalities, there are no bike maps. The tourists do not know D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 36 / 44

37 where it is safe to bike, and the staff at the tourist offices is advising their guest not to travel by bike. Also, it is difficult to travel between the different municipalities in the region. Therefore, the decision was made that a bike map covering 12 municipalities, covering all coastal regions from Gothenburg in the south to the Norwegian border in the north, should be developed. The SEEMORE region includes seven municipalities so another five municipalities are included in this activity. To develop the map, it was firstly important to take into consideration that the bike paths were already mapped in the inventory carried out by Trivector, but there are few bike paths in these regions. Instead, other roads interested for bicyclists were mapped. The roads were categorized in several groups depending on road safety. Regarding safety, the traffic intensity, speed limit, size of the verge, visibility etcetera were taken into account. The aim of the map was to facilitate for tourists to go around, visiting interesting attractions and sights, but also to travel across the region, from north to south or vice versa. Second, apart from the roads, an inventory of points of interest was carried out. These points included important sights, tourist offices, bike rentals, bike repair shops, public transport stops, police stations, hospitals, care centers etcetera. The map, divided into 12 map sheets, also include written information about the different parts of Bohuslän and important information about biking in the region. All sheets are collected in a plastic case. The roads that are suitable for biking and are included in the printed bike map are also added to the regional tourism board s digital and interactive tourism map. Visitors can see information about attractions, sights, hotels and restaurants in the region of Västra Götaland and using that map, they will see the bike paths and all service surrounding these. The development of the bike map is an important step for further decreasing car travel until An important expectation of the bike map is that it will facilitate further development within the area of bike tourism in the region. Hopefully, the bike map will be regarded as point of departure and packages will be created, luggage transport developed and other projects can be developed from here. Currently, the regional tourism board has hired one person working half time developing bike tourism in the region. This is a very positive development. Furthermore, the inventory carried out by Trivector and the bike map inventory will hopefully be a useful tool in the decision-making regarding future bike infrastructure. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned On a political and strategic point of view, favoring cycling activities is regarded as a priority for the regional government which suffered from lack of data about this issue and seen in the project a perfect opportunity to track down some data and figures and to launch a georerefenciation of the paths. Therefore, this action ought to be considered as a positive starting point towards a cyclingfriendly touristic region. In addition to this, all this work is leading to a regional bicycle plan presented during the spring of 2015 which is a major achievement of the project on the longterm. Further potential future developments could include bike packages, luggage transport, and adaption of road infrastructure towards better bicycle conditions such as putting up signs, building bike paths, among other cycle-friendly policies that can foster new healthy habits among tourists to discover the region of Bohuslän. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 37 / 44

38 DOBRICH New PT Services in leisure/tourist destinations With the financial and strategic support of SEEMORE, the Club Sustainable Development of Civil Society (CSDCS) has secured the patronage of local stakeholders and was able to test new public transport connections in the district of Dobrich, guaranteeing that tourists and residents, especially those related with the tourism industry, have high levels of accessibility in the area. The new PT connections are deemed to become a legacy for the future, operating in the high touristic seasons, where congestion and pollution are higher due to increase transport needs. As a result, and at the end of the implementation period, a rise in public transport passenger figures could be measured. The measure Figure 15: New bus line to the Kavarna beach Dobrich vision for SEEMORE was to introduce new mobility measures in resort areas to enhance synergies between tourism and transport sectors. However, before the project has started, public transport connections between maritime areas and towns were poor and accessibility inadequate for a high quality touristic destination. Some public transport connections were served with old and polluting buses and there was no public transport from the nearest airport (Varna, about 100 km from Dobrich District) to Dobrich, and therefore tourists had to use taxis or travel to Varna main bus-station to use the (usually overcrowded) inter-city buses. Several stakeholders gave hands to address this problem, including the District government, Municipalities, the Dobrich transport company, Albena Tour Ltd (the transport company of Albena resort) and some private transport providers from Dobrich. One can calculate the costs for setting up this measure, as follows: Experts fees for the implementation of the action (meetings with stakeholders, discussions in the municipalities, survey and expert evaluations of potential passengers in Balchik-Tuzlata and Kavarna (made in summer 2013), three SEEMORE general summer surveys: 6,000 Training of transport experts 600 Press-conference 250 In total, the measure has had an investment of 6,850 (the costs of the transport companies are not available). Measure progress The measure was implemented during the 3 years of the project duration. In the midst of the project lifecycle, 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 Mobility package. The second was a circular line launched in May 2013 making a round of Kavarna neighborhoods to serve the rural population. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 38 / 44

39 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 organized in summer 2013 for visitors wishing to visit the Balchik seaside (Tuzlata beach). The SEEMORE team presented to the municipalities some results from local surveys and interviews among visitors of the beaches and proposed the opening of summer temporary bus shuttle lines. After a series of discussions and the positive opinion of some Italian experts working in the IEE project the local government agreed to leverage. The tickets cost was fixed at 3 and the line was functioning 3 times per day served by private transport companies. In Sofia some meetings were held with the management of the biggest and most important long distance transport provider, Etapp-Group. They were fascinated by the project and therefore the project team provided them with SEEMORE brochures and posters that they have disseminated in their buses and in the ticket office at the Sofia Central Bus Station. In order to increase the use of PT in the target region, a supplementary bus connection Sofia-Albena- Balchik-Kavarna was launched in 2013, which was the second one departing from Sofia at 21:00 h. every day (before there was only one at 11:30 h). During the implementation of these measures, some financial barriers were raised: private PTproviders were more opened to new sustainable initiatives, but the municipalities should always guarantee regular PT-service during peak touristic periods. This measure has had contributions from other supportive actions in terms of service improvements. For example, it benefited from the installation of new selling points. The new selling points are also a SEEMORE initiative which was regarded at first as an expensive investment by the stakeholders but after the introduction of the new lines and the increased number of passengers, their mind-set has shifted and now they envisage that the existence of the new selling points is appropriate and necessary for the roll-out of the overall public transport infrastructure program, which is a central part of the mobility management strategy for the district. In fact, new PT oriented services such as the new PT lines or the supportive actions like the new selling points are the backbone of one of the most important municipalities within Dobrich district, Kavarna, which prepared their first SUMP that included both residents and tourists as target groups. This measure has proved to be financially viable, as the number of tickets sold increased by 20% in the whole Dobrich region. In Kavarna municipality, in 2012, there were 32,889 tickets sold and in 2014 this number raised to 40,800. In terms of advertising campaigns, a press-conference and awareness raising event was organized in Dobrich in June Moreover, a set of of radio and TV announcements were carried out in Dobrich, Balchik and Kavarna, as well as several publications in the regional press. The main innovation is the link established between tourism and transport sector, which happens for the first time in the region. The stakeholders realized it is not possible to create tourism strategies and to develop a sustainable tourism attractive for visitors without providing them with adequate mobility. Main outcomes of the measure and lessons learned The main benefit of the project for Dobrich has been the increased awareness on the importance of public transport for regional development and especially for tourism sector. The main future development will be the implementation of the SUMP in Kavarna, which will demonstrate the benefits of mobility measures and will serve as an example and best practice for other resort municipalities and regions. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 39 / 44

40 MALLORCA Parking regulation action plan Road accesses to two important beaches in Mallorca located in a Natural Park (s'amarador & Cala Mondragó) have been reorganized in order to prevent illegal parking and hence to decrease the risk of accidents in a protected surrounding. A new pedestrian lane has also been created in a place where cars used to park before. The measure The local SEEMORE team in Mallorca has worked on the design and deployment of a set of parking policies to change the mobility system. Until 2014, visitors tended to park their car with neither restrictions nor regulations, leaving their cars even on sensitive dune regeneration areas. The target area features high congestion and a continuous flow of along the road that leads to Figure 16: Road access to Cala Mondragó after the implementation works the beaches. This chaotic situation was a strong barrier to both public transport services (as they faced important problems to circulate inside the area) and emergency services (parking congestion could difficult the access of ambulances in case of accident or fire). Main target groups and stakeholders involved during the whole project lifecycle were: - Associació Estel de Llevant, a non-profit organisation focused on people with mental diseases. This organisation is the parking management operator in both beaches. - Regional Ministry for Agriculture, Environment and Territory (Government of the Balearic Islands), with competences on environmental protection and regulations. - Mondragó Natural Park Management Board. - Local Council of Santanyí, as the Natural Park of Mondragó belongs to this municipality. - Resident s associations of Mondragó. - Local business owners (namely one hotel, one hostel and two beach bars). - Local Police, as they are responsible for traffic and parking control. - CINESI, as technical partner in charge of measure design and implementation. Implementation of the measure has cost about , whereas the operational costs (related with parking management, maintenance, etc) are estimated in per year. Measure progress During summer 2014, the Sustainable Mobility Plan for the Natural Park of Mondragó was launched. This plan was prepared by CINESI and aimed to manage mobility flows in road accesses to the beaches of Cala Mondragó and s'amarador (both within the limits of the Natural Park). Specifically, the implemented measures concerned the following actions: Traffic control in the final stretch of beach accesses. Surface parking is limited and is now only allowed in designated areas (two parking areas). Both areas have a total capacity of 400 places and users have to pay a 5 fee to park during the whole day. Creation of a segregated platform (delimited by timber piles) in the road access to Cala Mondragó. This new track can only be used by pedestrians. Traffic and parking management measures for the following mobility modes: o Bicycle. More space to park bicycles, at water s edge. D3.6 SEEMORE measures catalogue page 40 / 44