Impacts and potential of autonomous vehicles in tourism

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are developing rapidly, but the deeper understanding of tourists’ attitudes towards AVs is still little explored in social sciences. Bearing this in mind, this study aims to identify the expected changes in tourism arising from the technology, and the openness towards AV-based tourism services. For this, an online data collection (n = 671) has been completed among Hungarian tourists. Prior to the data collection, a literature review was conducted to identify and categorise the changes expected from the spread of AVs. Based on the empirical results, tourists would be willing to give up control to the AVs in a foreign environment, and so to pay more attention to the surroundings. The majority of respondents would be also open to participating in AI-based city tours, especially those with the “Extraversion” and “Openness to Experiences” personality types, based on the Big Five Theory. The findings can serve as a basis for practitioners in preparing for the technology and for the further analysis of attitudes towards tourism-based AV services (e.g., modeling of technology acceptance).