Bridging the gap: How coaches are expanding sustainable tourism

One of the greatest strengths of coach tourism is its ability to connect travellers with places that other transport modes often cannot reach. While rail and aviation naturally concentrate passengers around major hubs, coaches provide the flexibility to reach smaller towns, rural communities and cultural routes, spreading the benefits of tourism more evenly.

IRU member FlixBus demonstrates how this can work in practice. Through partnerships with the European Association of the Via Francigena Ways and Europe's Famous Hostels, FlixBus is using its extensive European long-distance coach network to make sustainable travel more accessible while encouraging visitors to discover destinations beyond traditional tourism hotspots.

Many of Europe's cultural routes, nature destinations and rural communities are difficult to reach without a private car. Limited rail services and long distances between transport hubs often make these destinations less accessible, despite their tourism potential.

Coaches bridge the gap

FlixBus's partnership with the Via Francigena connects more than 40 points along one of Europe's best-known pilgrimage routes with its European coach network. Travellers can reach destinations across four countries at reduced fares, including many small towns and rural communities that are otherwise hard to access.

Combining coach travel with walking and cycling also supports a more balanced tourism model. Better access encourages visitors to explore communities along the route rather than concentrating on a handful of destinations. Local businesses benefit from increased footfall while travellers complete longer journeys without relying on a private car.

FlixBus applies the same principle through its partnership with Europe's Famous Hostels. Travellers arriving by coach receive discounts on their accommodation and on a future FlixBus journey, encouraging collective transport while making it easier to explore Europe's cities affordably. Hostels also connect guests with the local community and bring together visitors from all around the world, driving a more socially conscious approach to travel

The initiative is already changing travel patterns. Between 2024 and 2026, the number of hostel guests travelling with FlixBus doubled, while participation in Europe's Famous Hostels' campaign, which rewards coach passengers with accommodation and travel discounts, increased by 18%.

Greener tourism

Coaches offer an affordable alternative to private cars and short-haul flights that can reduce CO₂ emissions.

Based on Flix's 2025 Avoided Emissions Methodology, a FlixBus journey from Berlin to Rome is expected to generate 84% less CO₂ than travelling by private car and up to ten times less CO₂ per passenger kilometre than a domestic flight.

"Travel shouldn't be a privilege," said Marco Zucchetti, Senior Manager PR & ESG Communications at Flix. "Our coach network reaches the places where trains and planes stop short - the smaller towns, the pilgrimage trails, the regions off the beaten track - at a price that makes leaving the car at home the easy choice."

FlixBus's experience shows how coach networks can help address some of the biggest challenges facing European tourism: improving access to lesser-known destinations, reducing dependence on private cars, and spreading the benefits of tourism more evenly across regions.

As the EU develops its Sustainable Tourism Strategy, such examples show why coaches deserve a stronger place in tourism planning. Better integration of coach services with cultural routes, destinations and accommodation providers would enhance accessibility, strengthen regional economies, and help more communities benefit from sustainable tourism.