Practical implications of these findings

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When reflecting upon the classical design of mixed-method studies (including this dissertation and the conceptual model visualizing its findings), it becomes apparent that a mere combination of methods does not combine the ‘best of both worlds’ because it might still impose a reductionist, positivist mind-set to a qualitative set of methods. This could be mitigated in different ways: (i) A first option is to not only combine the pure methods (e.g. interviews and questionnaires) but rather blend together some of the guiding principles underlying both strands of research (see Table 6 above and Ren, 2014). One way to do this is to apply the critical self-reflective process to survey or other quantitative methods to critically examine the researcher’s positioning, as done by Lyons et al. (2015). A second way is to include aspects of reflectivity within the survey design and allow participants to critically engage with their own previous answers. A third way is to apply the critical realist concept of retroduction within the data analysis and critically examine the answers provided by survey respondents and possibly address them again to delve into the structure and mechanisms leading to their specific understanding of reality (see McAvoy & Butler, 2018). (ii) A second option is to aim for ‘true’ interdisciplinarity (not as an empty claim) in research projects as a way to integrate different perspectives and overcome divide between strongly interpretative and strongly reductionist mind-sets and resulting biases. Ideally, this requires people from all involved fields as well as people who can effectively translate between them.

Chapter 6 - Discussing findings and implications

51 cooperation between stakeholders across disciplinary, spatial and administrative boundaries. This could be done by means of an integration of PT and tourism offers, including combined bike and rail/bus offers, safe and attractive bike routes, or transport offers (e.g. kayaks drop-offs, hiking buses) allowing for independent, non-circular trips. Besides PT and active mobility options, electric vehicles (EV) are another possible sustainability pathway within tourism systems.

Especially in very car-dependent tourism settings (such as NZ, see Hopkins & Stephenson, 2016), EV can be an attractive and ‘fun’ element among others of a transition to environmental sustainability (see Paper VI). As all tourist services, respective services should be tailored to different traveller groups, which requires an in-depth understanding of a destination’s tourist portfolio, related target groups and actual structure of the pool of visitors.

Make alternatives attractive: Both this and previous works have highlighted the importance of emotional and symbolic motives of car use for tourism/leisure (Anable & Gatersleben, 2005;

Hannam et al., 2014), suggesting that destinations should emphasize the intrinsic values and enjoyment of slow or sustainable transport forms (e.g. walking, cycling, kayaks). In doing so, the objective is to switch the role of transport from a mere necessity into an appreciated element of the tourism experience, for both the arrival and in-situ mobility. Such efforts may be facilitated by using social marketing and nudging techniques (Hall, 2016) and a range of communication channels to address travellers both before and during their travels. Content-wise, the following aspects may be highlighted (see Paper V and VI): For active transport modes, the feelings of physical achievement and adventure, the flexibility to make non-circular trips, the enjoyment of sceneries and surrounding nature, the palpability of the road/path, the privacy within the travel party, as well as possible access to remote car-restricted sights are possible starting points. For PT modes, time use possibilities during the trip are worth highlighting. EV trips also have the potential for enhancing the travel experience since they are perceived as more fun and 'cool' than conventional petrol cars (see paper VI). Respondents also highlight that EV can enhance the touristic discovery of formerly 'driven-past' communities since they still require more frequent charging stops. As such, local PT and EV charging infrastructure can act as a 'gatekeeper to (…) host-tourist interactions’ (Hall, 1999, 53), also in Austria.

Make transitioning easy: Both previous research and the papers of this thesis emphasize the importance of risk aversion and uncertainty prevention in tourism decisions (Quintal et al., 2010;

Karl, 2018) or transport choices (see Paper III and VI). Therefore, the transition to sustainable travel modes should ideally be 'the easy choice', with a focus on the ease of planning and performing the trip. Clearly, this requires comprehensive yet well-arranged and up-to-date information – available upfront and online as well as in person at the destination - on transport options within the destination in relation to relevant tourist attractions. When aiming to increase the ease of in-destination planning and visibility of information, enhanced cooperation between various tourism and transport stakeholders within spatially close destinations and across regional boundaries is critical (as emphasized within the regional future workshops, see Paper II).

Furthermore, the findings on the perceived complexity of PT trip planning (see Paper III, IV, VI) suggests that destination and transport planners shall consider the entire trip chain (at home, along the route and within the destination) as well as the complexity of family decision-processes and involved needs and preferences when developing and communicating sustainable mobility offers.

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