ACCESSIBILITY AND SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY OF TOURISTIC SITES

Academic Year 2026/2027 - Teacher: GIUSEPPE INTURRI

Expected Learning Outcomes

1) Knowledge and Understanding

Students will acquire knowledge of the principles of territorial accessibility, sustainable mobility, and accessible tourism, understanding the relationships between transport systems, tourist sites and territorial context. They will also gain an understanding of the social, economic, and environmental impacts of tourism-related mobility.

2) Applying Knowledge and Understanding

Students will be able to analyze the accessibility conditions of a tourist site, identify critical issues and opportunities, assess the sustainability and inclusiveness of access modes, and formulate basic improvement proposals.

3) Making Judgements

Students will develop the ability to critically evaluate data and information related to tourism mobility, formulating independent judgments on the effects of different accessibility solutions in terms of equity and sustainability, while balancing tourists' right to mobility with residents' quality of life and territorial context.

4) Communication Skills

Students will be able to use the technical terminology of the field appropriately and communicate, both orally and in writing, the results of analyses and proposals concerning the accessibility of tourist sites to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.

5) Learning Skills

Students will be able to independently identify and use sources, data, and documents related to mobility and tourism, continuously updating their knowledge and further exploring issues related to accessibility and the sustainability of tourist destinations.

Course Structure

The course is delivered through a series of lectures and, where applicable, supplementary in-depth seminars.

Required Prerequisites

No prerequisites required

Attendance of Lessons

Attendance is not compulsory

Detailed Course Content

Definitions (Basic Glossary)

Transport, mobility and accessibility

Sustainable development and sustainable mobility

Modes of transport

Different performance characteristics of transport vehicles/systems: potential modal integration for passenger transport

Tourism Mobility

                     Tourist flows

                     Types of tourism mobility (mass tourism, individual tourism, ecotourism, etc.)

                     Tourism mobility in different destinations (historic cities, inland areas, coastal areas, small islands, etc.)

                     Tourism carrying capacity (carrying capacity, overcrowding, overtourism) and transport capacity across different transport modes

Impacts of tourism mobility:

                     Environmental impacts (carbon footprint, pollution, etc.)

                     Social impacts (protection of local communities, preservation of historical and cultural heritage)

                     Economic impacts (costs associated with transport service provision)

Strategies for Sustainable Tourism Mobility

                     Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs)

                     Soft and active mobility: cycling tourism networks, historical trails, and greenways as resources for both tourism and mobility.

                     Innovative and flexible services: Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) for villages and inland areas; tourist-oriented car-sharing and bike-sharing services.

                     Digitalization: Mobility as a Service (MaaS) systems applied to tourism and the use of real-time information for visitor flow management (Smart Cities/Smart Destinations solutions).

Case Studies

                     Analysis of best practices

                     Continuity of access and use between urban areas and natural sites

                     Accessibility to Ortigia

                     Accessibility of protected areas and archaeological/artistic sites

                     Tourism mobility in port cities (overview of the port-city relationship and the role of railway stations as intermodal interchange hubs)

                     Mobility in small tourist islands.

Textbook Information

Lecture Notes


Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).

The teachers undertake, within the limits of the financial resources, to ensure as far as possible that a copy of the adopted texts is available in the departmental library or (in the case of hard-to-find texts, articles and essays) to make them available on Studium, in accordance with the applicable copyright laws.

VERSIONE IN ITALIANO