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Summary of this study

Tourism, as an important driver of economic activity in many countries, is associated with a number of negative externalities. In a rapidly warming climate, particular attention is being paid to tourism-related CO2 emissions, which largely result from travel to and within destinations. Rail travel has significantly lower emissions than other modes of transport, but the factors that can increase the share of rail in vacation travel vary between different population groups, as does the ability of different actors to influence these factors.

The results of this study show that travel costs are important across all clusters, but their control depends on government intervention. Improved mobility services at the destination, on the other hand, are easier to implement and show great potential to increase the share of sustainable transport use both for travel to and within a destination.

The study leads to three clusters of travelers: Service-oriented,car-bound and budget travelers. The three segments can be significantly differentiated in terms of their preferences when choosing a means of long-distance transportation.

Findings from this study

• Identification of three different traveler clusters:The segmentation analysis divides the respondents into three groups that differ significantly in their preferences for the choice of long-distance transportation:
  • Service-oriented: this cluster places the highest value on local mobility services at the destination. Travel costs and travel time follow closely behind. They are generally in favor of rail travel.
  • Car-bound: This is the largest cluster, whose preferences are primarily dominated by the mode of transport itself. This group has the strongest preference for the car, which makes it difficult to balance this preference with other attributes alone.
  • Budget travelers: This cluster is the most balanced, with travel costs and baggage delivery service costs being the most important attributes. They place the highest value on low prices and are also biased in favor of rail.
• High potential through improved local mobility services:The quality of mobility services at the destination has the strongest influence on the choice of sustainable means of transport. Improved mobility services at the destination are easier to implement (compared to government interventions) and show great potential to increase the share of sustainable modes of transport both for travel to and within the destination. Even among the car-dependent, local mobility shows potential, as this group, although difficult to persuade to travel by train, is still interested in public transport for local trips.
• Travel costs are central, but price sensitivity is cluster-dependent: Travel costs are important across all clusters. However, the study shows considerable differences in the price response between the clusters:
  • Budget travelers react most strongly to price changes. For example, an increase in car travel costs from €70 to €100 leads to a doubling of the rail share for budget travelers.
  • Cartravelers hardly react at all to realistic price changes, which demonstrates their price inelasticity. Significant shifts in this cluster can only be observed with an extreme price increase of €200 for car travel.
  • While a reduction in rail prices results in relatively inelastic demand, an increase in the cost of car travel (e.g. through taxation) can make a relevant contribution to increasing the rail market share, particularly among service-oriented and budget travelers.
• The affiliation to the clusters cannot be predicted in advance:No statistically significant evidence could be found that the cluster affiliation can be assigned ex-ante. Neither socio-economic variables (such as age, gender, education or household size) nor attitudinal data contributed significantly to the prediction of cluster membership. This difficulty in prediction complicates the efficient application of targeted policy measures and marketing strategies.