engleski

THE ROLE OF BIKE SHARING SYSTEM IN DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE URBAN TOURISM DESTINATION

The aim of this paper is to provoke discussion regarding the sustainable mode of transport as a solution for greener urban tourism destinations, and to point out that this solution lies in cycling, particularly in bike sharing as a relatively new sustainable transportation concept. A case study method was applied on the urban tourism destination Zagreb. Students perception toward 1172 cycling and bike sharing was collected via face- to-face survey. Students perceive cycling, and bike sharing as a good sustainable transport solution. The most important advantages of cycling are improvement of mental and physical health due to physical activity of people, and reduction in traffic congestions, pollution, noise, vibration and financial savings. Specifically, bike sharing impacts on the reduction of greenhouse gases and climate change, increases the quality of life in cities, and encourages people to engage in recreational activities and have more positive attitude towards the environment. The study provides theoretical implications for tourism and sustainability literature to enhance destination management knowledge about the concept of bike sharing underlying students attitude toward it. The implications for practitioners include better understanding of bike sharing as a solution for sustainable transport development. The limitation of the research is the convenience sampling technique, thus findings have limited generalizability. The present study contributes to tourism and sustainability literature in two ways. First, the tourism and sustainability industry must understand people perception toward sustainable mode of transport. People perception is essential for implementing new modes of transport as a solution for sustainable development of urban tourism destinations like Zagreb. Second, the findings provide guidelines for destination management in implementing sustainable transport solutions in urban destinations. Trends in the tourism market indicate that a preserved environment, and thus sustainable development will be even more important in the future. With the help of sustainable transport like bike sharing, and young people who accept the new forms of transportation green future is possible.

city, sustainable development, sustainable city, urban tourism, bike sharing, sustainable transport

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