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Rethinking car-dependent rural tourism mobility
Dalarna University, School of Culture and Society, Tourism Studies. Department of Economics, Geography, Law and Tourism (EJT), Mid-Sweden University, Östersund.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7194-1751
2025 (English)In: Applied Mobilities, ISSN 2380-0127, E-ISSN 2380-0135Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Automobile dependence and its externalities pose significant sustainability issues in both urban and rural areas. However, the existing literature mainly focuses on cities, with limited evidence from cases in the countryside. Travelling in rural areas requires attention, as most tourists rely on private cars to travel to and within these places. Also, cars are still widely accepted as "the rural transport solution", which hinders the transition to more sustainable transport systems. In this paper I present empirical evidence on the extent to which domestic tourists depend on their cars for travel to and within Sälen, a rural destination in Sweden. According to a Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) survey conducted among tourists in Sälen, 89% of visitors travelled to the destination by car, while none of them used collective transport. Moreover, interviews conducted with stakeholders involved in transport planning and management in Sälen have revealed challenges in providing alternative mobility options, such as public transport, to the destination. Furthermore, even though the destination offers a ski bus transport system for trips within the destination, the survey results indicate that most tourists still prefer to travel by private car within Sälen. The use of private cars for tourist travel has resulted in externalities, particularly congestion during peak times. This view is shared by stakeholders and supported by the results of the tourist survey. These findings have implications for rural (tourism) policy, as they show that developing alternative mobility infrastructure is not enough to shift tourists' automobile dependency in rural areas.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025.
Keywords [en]
Automobility, car dependence, tourist mobility, rural areas, Sälen
National Category
Human Geography
Research subject
Research Centres, Centre for Tourism and Leisure Research (CeTLeR)
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:du-50393DOI: 10.1080/23800127.2025.2477937ISI: 001446487900001OAI: oai:DiVA.org:du-50393DiVA, id: diva2:1948105
Available from: 2025-03-27 Created: 2025-03-27 Last updated: 2025-12-01Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. From peripheral challenges to core solutions: Exploring sustainable mobility in rural tourism
Open this publication in new window or tab >>From peripheral challenges to core solutions: Exploring sustainable mobility in rural tourism
2025 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

This thesis is concerned with the study of sustainable mobility in rural tourism areas. In particular, it aims to: i) contribute to a better understanding of the transport challenges faced by rural tourism areas; and ii) explore how to plan for sustainable mobility in such places. The overarching research question that has guided this investigation is as follows: How can rural tourism regions promote sustainable mobility? To achieve the aim of this thesis, two main aspects of sustainable mobility are addressed. Firstly, by incorporating perspectives from various stakeholder groups, including tourists, residents, second-home owners and practitioners involved in transport planning, the study seeks to gain a comprehensive understanding of transportation challenges and the travel practices of the various groups. Secondly, the thesis explores how Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) – a rarely-used participatory land use planning method in tourism studies - can aid in sustainable mobility planning. The thesis draws from several concepts and a theory. The concepts include monomodalism, car dependency, wicked problems, (un)desirable transport futures, automobility and public participation in planning processes. The theory is that of social representation. The thesis is based on a case study approach, focusing on four selected locations in Sweden: Sälen; Malung-Sälen; Älvdalen; and Åre. These locations are prominent rural tourism regions that face significant transport-related challenges for which they seek to implement sustainable solutions. A mixed-methods approach is employed, integrating both qualitative and quantitative techniques to address the objectives outlined in the five papers that make up the thesis. The findings of the thesis collectively show that the main challenge to sustainable mobility in rural tourism regions is one that can be termed a crisis of uncontested poly-challenges. In other words, these regions simultaneously face a conundrum of transport challenges, including the hegemony of the private car coupled with poor public transport services as well as a shortage of policy frameworks for developing sustainable mobility. In addition, the regions included in this study have historically been marginalised when it comes to transport planning research and policy, a situation which further exacerbates their peripheral position with regard to promoting sustainable mobility. This thesis makes a theoretical contribution to the fields of tourism and transport research. It does so by applying contemporary concepts in sustainability discussions and social representation theory to inform our understanding of transport challenges. Furthermore, by investigating the potential of the PPGIS method as a tool for sustainable rural mobility planning and how to design effective PPGIS studies for such planning, this thesis makes a methodological and practical contribution to the fields.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sundsvall: Mid Sweden University, 2025. p. 125
Series
Mid Sweden University doctoral thesis, ISSN 1652-893X ; 426
Keywords
Sustainable mobility, Tourism-transport, Participatory planning, GIS, Rural areas
National Category
Other Geographic Studies
Research subject
Research Centres, Centre for Tourism and Leisure Research (CeTLeR)
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:du-50539 (URN)978-91-90017-16-6 (ISBN)
Public defence
2025-05-16, F234, Kunskapens väg 8, Östersund, 09:30 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Note

Vid tidpunkten för disputationen var följande delarbete opublicerat: delarbete 5 manuskript.

At the time of the doctoral defence the following paper was unpublished: paper 5 manuscript.

Available from: 2025-04-28 Created: 2025-04-28 Last updated: 2025-11-24Bibliographically approved

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Waleghwa, Beatrice

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