As there are very marked relationships between tourism and transport, integrated knowledge of these processes is essential if destinations and tourism enterprises are to be developed, an effective tourism policy pursued, and emerging local and global issues and conflicts surrounding tourism resolved. Beyond this, in an era of huge change reflecting the consequences of the COVID-19 viral pandemic, the importance of sustainable transport in tourism’s sustainable development appears to be of critical importance. Adopting this kind of perspective, this paper seeks to achieve a critical overview of conceptual dimensions of sustainability that link up with tourism and transport. To this end, ideas based on the literature and previous discussions are extended to include certain new propositions arising out of a (hopefully) post-COVID-19 world. Proceeding first with a systematic literature review (SLR), this article discusses the importance of transport to the development of tourism, dealing critically with modes of transport and their changing roles in sustainable development under COVID and post-COVID circumstances. The author summarises likely new way(s) of thinking in the aftermath of the pandemic, with the need for this/these to be far more sustainable and responsible, and characterised by a reorientation of behaviour in a “green” direction. It is further concluded that three aspects of transport–tourism relations will prove crucial to more sustainable utilisation—i.e., proximity, slower and less energy-intensive travel, and green transport.

Borders have significant potential as tourist attractions, and there are many aspects of unique border locations capable of attracting people’s attention. One such attraction would be the tripoint, i.e. a place where the borders of three different countries meet physically at a single point. One of the newest such features in Europe – where the borders of Poland, Slovakia and Czechia meet in the Beskid Mountains – provides an example of far-reaching border-related changes in the EU, the creativity of local authorities as supported by EU funds, and the creation of a new transboundary meeting space with a strong integration-related identity. It also exemplifies the concept of a new tourist space beyond traditional tourist destinations. The development of tourism at tripoints is modelled ideographically. Spatio-temporal analysis with scalar dimensions shows the spatial relationships between tripoints and tourism development: the central point, the immediate vicinity, the proximal neighborhood (or local zone) and the regional zone. The tripoint examined here supports a proposal for a spatial planning model at tripoints in Europe.

This case study considers the touristic characteristics of maritime borders on the Baltic Sea coast. A sequential model is proposed to describe cross-border tourism development, tourist flows and tourism partnerships, and takes account of the particularities of transnational tourism development on the Polish Baltic coast. The paper questions whether and how tourism contributes to transboundary integration and the movement of people in the southern Baltic from the perspective of border changes between Poland and its neighbors. The southern Baltic is a newly emerging space for cross-border tourism development that is undergoing various levels of integration, thanks to the abolition of traditional border functions. The article tries to answer a question about tourism’s role in the integration and the movement of people in the southern Baltic from the perspective of changes in border functions in Poland and its neighboring states.