The steady growth of tourism activity in recent decades has become one of the main drivers for the transformation of European urban areas, especially of their historic centers and waterfronts. Management plans for tourism and its impacts, beyond marketing, have turned to be central for the agenda of established urban destinations, both before COVID-19 and in the current recovery phase of the tourism-related activity. Precisely, visitor mobility is emerging as a key issue, since it is not only constitutive of tourist practices and leisure experiences, but it is also constitutive of the urban reality. Thus, on the one hand, the mobility of tourists, day-trippers, and cruise passengers, generate new dynamics, new patterns and new demands that are not exempt from challenges directly affecting everyday practices of the local population. Among others, the promotion of sustainable visitor mobility, the management of tourist overcrowding in transport and public spaces, or the disruption of mobility practices related to the use of digital platforms, have become issues of interest for geography, as they are at the intersection between tourism, everyday life and urban mobility. On the other hand, studies in the areas of mobility, transportation planning and urban policy have generally underestimated the visitor mobility in tourist cities. We argue that examining such mobility is key to understanding the ecosystem of urban flows – both of people and goods – and should therefore be integrated in local and metropolitan policies aiming towards healthy, sustainable and fair mobility scenarios in European urban areas.This session aims to delve into the issue of visitor mobility, encouraging the presentation of studies that pivot around one or more of the following topics:

The dynamics of visitor mobility before and after COVID-19.
The methodologies for the exploration and knowledge of the mobility of visitors.
The integration of visitor demand in the planning of sustainable mobility and the planning and management of infrastructures and services.
The interaction and friction between visitor mobilities and daily practices and proximity mobilities of local populations.
The impact of visitor mobility on everyday life, both in public space and in the transport system.
Visitor mobility planning and management instruments.
Visitor mobility policies and their governance framework.
This is a Paper Presentation Session. Papers can be presented in English, Spanish and Catalan.This session is coordinated under the umbrella of three research projects led by the Territorial Analysis and Tourism Studies Group (GRATET) of the Rovira i Virgili University (URV):

“Mobility of visitors to the city of Barcelona after COVID-19: analysis and guidelines for the promotion of socially and environmentally sustainable mobility (VISITMOB) » funded by the Barcelona City Council and the « LaCaixa » Foundation, Pla Barcelona Ciència 2020-2023.
“The adaptability of complex tourist destinations in the present era of social, economic and environmental transformations: innovative paths towards destination resilience (ADAPTOUR)” funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation.
“Cities as mobility hubs: tackling social exclusion through ‘smart’ citizen engagement (SMARTDEST)’ funded by the European Commission, H2020 programme.

Aaron Guitérrez (2); Albert Arias-Sans (1)
(1) Geography Department, Universitat de Barcelona, (2) Geography Department, Universitat Rovira i Virgili

 
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