There are already destinations where AVs have been introduced and are undergoing public trials. The Lake District National Park (UK) is planning to introduce AVs on SAE Level 3 as a sustainable transport solution ^[7][8]. Gatwick Airport (London, UK) offers the autonomous solution as a shuttle service for passengers ^[8][9]. In Beijing’s Haidan Park (China), the Apollo minibus is operated on SAE Level 4 automation, where tourists can experience 700 m of autonomous driving, free of charge. Seven passengers are allowed to use the vehicle at a time, on a predetermined route, at a limited speed (15 km/h), and there is a supervisor on board ^[9][10]. In the city of Sion (Switzerland), AVs are being tested on public roads, carrying 11 passengers at 20 km/h. As these are SAE Level 4 vehicles, a safety supervisor is also on board [4]. The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), the local roads and transport authority, is set to become the first taxi operator in the emirate to switch to pure electric and autonomous vehicles. The first vehicles are planned to be on the road in 2023, and the company “Cruise” will have exclusive service rights for autonomous taxis until 2029. Dubai will thus become the first non-US city in the world to operate electric autonomous vehicles. The fleet should reach the target of 4000 vehicles by 2030 ^[10][11].

2.2. Potential Benefits of AVs from the Tourist Perspective

Previous research has shown that AVs will primarily be used for leisure [2] rather than non-leisure activities ^[9][10]. Research on the topic ^[11][12][13][12,13,14] revealed that respondents would use autonomous taxis more as tourists than as residents, which also demonstrates the significant impact of AVs on tourism-related mobility.

While traveling, tourists can also engage in other activities ^{[14][15][16][17][18]}[15,16,17,18,19]: watching TV, relaxing, sleeping, reading, taking photos, eating, playing games, and gathering information. On SAE Level 5, tourists are even able to travel alone ^[19][20][20,21], which will be a major opportunity for people with disabilities ^[21][22]. Importantly, it is also expected that tourists will travel more often and greater distances by AVs ^[20][21]. The proliferation of AVs might help overcome barriers in terms of unfamiliar traffic rules and environments ^[22][23], making car rental easier for international tourists solving the problem of jet lag or the anxiety that comes from unusual traffic rules or conditions ^[8][9]. It also provides freedom of travel for people without a driver’s license ^[23][24], is a more convenient solution for people under stress ^[24][25], and reduces isolation by providing easier access to services ^[14][15].

2.3. Changes in Tourism-Related Mobility

In terms of tourist mobility, there are two main categories of changes expected from AVs: accessing a destination and intra-destination mobility.

2.3.1. Access to a Destination for Tourism Purposes

In infrastructurally developed destinations, AVs can compete primarily with short-distance mobility services (e.g., rail, bus, public transportation) [2] and become alternatives to taxis ^[15][25][16,26] as well. As AVs can be a viable alternative for tourists on short-haul trips, it is expected that low-cost airlines will switch to long-haul trips ^[8][9] to preserve their competition. Due to the rapid and early market growth of AVs ^[26][27], traditional taxis will have to fulfill a new function, i.e., they will have to provide additional services (e.g., tour guiding) to compete with AVs.

2.3.2. Intra-Destination Tourism Mobility

AVs could have both positive and negative impacts on urban traffic in the future. It is important to note that AVs are primarily suited to urban transport and will therefore spread first to urban areas and then to rural areas. Initially, they can only travel along a defined route. Adverse weather conditions can cause problems [4], which will make the service less accessible to areas with low infrastructure ^[25][26].

In urban areas, however, there are several transport benefits that can be gained from the spread of AVs. Through efficient route selection and more efficient use of traffic lanes ^[27][28], congestion can be reduced ^[28][29], leading to improved urban traffic flows ^[29][30]. However, scholars ^[8][9] predict this is for shared vehicle use. Individual vehicle use tends to increase traffic, and as the number of AVs increases, this may cause congestion around the must-see tourist attractions.

In response to this, there might be some car-free destinations where tourists can only park outside the center and access the city by shared AVs [4]. As AVs spread, the design of cities may also change. Research suggests that in urban spaces, fewer parking spaces will be needed ^[2][30][2,31]. By eliminating parking spaces, green spaces can be created ^[31][32], which can increase the livability of cities. Thus, the spread of AVs can also increase the sustainability of tourism, thus having a positive impact on the environment, which is a priority for the sector these days ^[32][33]. The freed-up areas can be used for pedestrian and cycling facilities ^[27][28] or urban parks. The development of check-in points will also transform shopping districts, as they drop shoppers off at the store and pick them up later ^[8][9].

2.4. Expected Changes in Conventional Tourism Services Due to AVs

2.4.1. The New Dimension of Car Use

With the spread of full automation (SAE Level 5), driving as an activity will disappear, transforming it into a unique experience ^[25][26]. Destinations, where AVs appear for the first time, can enhance their image and strengthen their attractiveness [4]. At the same time, the spread of AVs can also promote cooperation between operators and destinations. Due to the seasonality of tourist destinations, it may make sense to share AVs between destinations with different seasons, e.g., ski areas in winter and lakes in summer. This will require flexibility and that these areas are geographically close to each other [4].

2.4.2. Sightseeing and City Tours

AVs can transform many areas of conventional tourism services. One of the most likely changes relates to sightseeing tours. Several studies have discussed pre-planned, AV-based sightseeing tours ^[8][25][9,26] and the resultant expected decline in walking and hop-on-hop-off tours ^[25][26]. However, with the proliferation of AVs currently, conventional bikes, Segways, and walking tours may become niche products in the longer term ^[25][26]. The new types of sightseeing tours will be algorithm-based, favoring those operators who pay more to be included on the itinerary, i.e., multinational operators will be favored over local businesses ^[8][9]. However, the automation of hiking trails can also raise problems such as the possibility that some of the less attractive, but the real face of destinations may remain hidden from tourists.

2.4.3. Hotel Industry, Restaurants, and MICE Tourism

The use of AVs will not only affect tourism during the day. As AVs are also suitable for overnight travel ^[33][34] and can be used for sleeping, the significance of accommodation services might be decreased in the long run. In addition to hotels selling rooms for a couple of hours, AVs can provide a more convenient alternative to the airport’s sleeping pods ^[25][26] and can be applied as mobile motels by both business and leisure travelers ^[8][9].

AVs will also be suitable for holding meetings ^[24][25][25,26], which might result in the displacement of smaller meeting and conference rooms from the market. AVs could function as mobile restaurants in the future, combining sightseeing and restaurant services like dinner cruises ^[8][9]. The creation of mobile restaurants could also boost wine tourism, as the consumer does not have to drive the vehicle.

There are diverging views on what pricing can be expected for AVs. In the airport environment, they have emerged as a free service in the areas tested, but in the near future, it may also represent a price premium for users due to their benefits and novelty.

2.5. Research gap

Our analysis revealed that in previous research, attitudes toward expected changes have usually been examined from the perspective of potential consumers. In contrast, the views of experts working in specific sub-sectors of tourism are an under-explored topic. With this in mind, we have developed our primary research directions.

3.  Methodology

Since the main objective of our research is to identify the attitudes of tourism professionals, we applied the Q methodology. It is a useful method for identifying technological opportunities [41] and is also applicable to the field of transport [42].

4. Results

We performed principal component analysis, followed by varimax rotation, and then designed four factors along with the following criteria: an eigenvalue above 1 [47], minimum of two opinions per factor [49], variance level above 50%, each factor should account for at least 10% of the total variance [52], and low correlation between factors (below 0.5).

4.1. Mobility-Service Oriented Group

The first factor sees the impacts of AVs on tourism primarily in terms of mobility. They see the need for door-to-door mobility coming to the fore as opposed to public transport, but they also see SAE Levels 4–5 vehicles as a substitute for airport transfers and taxis. In sum, AVs can appear as an unconventional mobility service for tourists.

4.2. Accessibility Focused

Factor 2 sees the main impact of AVs on tourism as the change in accessibility. They agree that geographically the opportunities are widening; more distant and less-known destinations can be included in tourism, which can be understood on two levels: tourists prefer to visit a destination farther from their home when traveling to a tourist attraction, and they prefer shorter distances within the destination, giving greater visibility and accessibility to attractions. Their order of preference reflects the fact that traveling to more remote places by AVs would become conventional, but they see it less so within cities, where the emergence of AVs would remain unconventional.

4.3. Skeptics

The opinion of Factor 3 reflects the negative impact of AVs as a safety issue from a transport, privacy, or data point of view. Tourists are reluctant to use shared AVs because they do not want to travel with strangers. As it is not safer for pedestrians to use AVs, they do not agree with the increase in the number of walking tours. This factor is therefore labeled skeptics, as they are less likely to believe that the uptake of AVs can become conventional in tourism due to the threats listed.

4.4. Optimist, Technology-Oriented Group

Factor 4 is optimistic about the emergence of AVs and positive about their impact on tourism. They think that AVs will be a viable alternative to public transport, taxis, and airport transfers. This factor is the most likely to see AVs as meeting rooms or mobile motels but does not feel that this threatens conventional hotel services. Factor 4 agrees that AVs will also have a positive impact on passenger transport and that the transformation of urban spaces will make cities more livable, making them even more attractive to tourists.

6. Conclusions

The research has shown how experts in different areas of tourism perceive the changes that we are facing as a result of the spread of AVs. An important result of our research is that we have explored the role of conventional tourism services from an expert perspective, thus improving the accuracy of previous predictions. Based on the four groups of opinions generated, we can see that the role of AV-based mobility and AV-based sightseeing is likely to increase in the near future, which could greatly improve the tourism experience offered by destinations with well-developed infrastructure. For further research, there is a need to explore opportunities for cooperation between tour companies (e.g., Hop-on Hop-off) and automotive companies to develop the details of an AutoTour service based on self-driving vehicles. It should also be a great contribution to the current findings to conduct a consumer attitude analysis based on real experiences (e.g., participation in living lab surveys) to verify the validity of the variables I have identified that influence the technology acceptance of autonomous vehicles.