Accessibility of Major Central and Eastern European Cities in Danube Cruise Tourism

Abstract

This article aims to provide an insight into the largely under-researched issue of river cruise tourism on the Danube through an explorative analysis. The focus is on attraction accessibility in the context of the three major cities of pan-European Corridor VII. (Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade), based on the adaptation of the accessibility model by Geurs & van Wee (2004). Expert and stakeholder interviews have been carried out and analyzed to understand the general problems and suggested solutions of port and attraction accessibility of these cities. Results indicate that accessibility is influenced not only by transport components: rethinking temporal and individual components as well as developing land-use and transport components may be relevant to overcoming key issues like low water level, overtourism, reliability of services, urban traffic congestion and parking problems on roads. Our research results can serve as a source for urban and transport development strategies and summarizes product development proposals of the members of the tourism sector for cruise tourism on the Danube to ensure accessibility.