In the first study of its kind, published in the Annals of Tourism Research, academics from the
University of Surrey and the University of Oxford have examined
how Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) may have a substantial impact on the future
of urban tourism.
When we think of automated vehicles it seems to be a topic that
sits firmly in science fiction, from cars with character in The Love
Bug (1969) and Knight Rider (1982) to more recent
practical representations in Minority Report (2002). However,
according to the new research by Professor
Scott Cohen (University of Surrey) and Dr Debbie
Hopkins(University of Oxford), CAVs may be spotted on our roads as
soon 2025 and could lead to far-reaching impacts on urban tourism.
The conceptual paper entitled Autonomous vehicles and the
future of urban tourism imagined the impact of AVs in future urban
tourism and focuses on the pros and cons of these impacts with regards to the
transformation of urban space, the rise of autonomous taxis, and changes to
city sightseeing and hospitality in the urban night.
Potential benefits include reduced traffic congestion and
emissions, improved foreign car hire processes, reduced parking requirements
and cheaper taxi fares. AVs may impact other industries in radical ways too,
such as Amsterdam’s Red Light District, which could become operated out of
moving AVs, and restaurants and hotels may encounter new competition in the
form of AV dining cars and passengers sleeping in their moving vehicles.
AVs are also the subject of many concerns. More time spent in cars
on longer journeys could facilitate greater urban sprawl and increase car dependency.
AVs may reduce demand for train travel, coach tours, public transport and
driven taxis - all resulting in future job losses. The potential for terrorism
facilitated by AVs also raises genuine security fears.
Professor Cohen, Head of Tourism and Transport at Surrey’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, said:
“This groundbreaking study will benefit urban planners, policy makers and the
tourism and hospitality industries, who will face a range of threats and
opportunities as AVs begin to reach the mass market in the coming decade.
“The visitor economy will be gradually transformed if AVs become
fully automated and mainstream, leading to a future where hordes of small AVs
could congest urban attractions, hop-on hop-off city bus tours may go out of
business altogether, motorways between cities could fill at night with
slow-moving AVs carrying sleeping occupants and commercial sex in moving AVs
becomes a growing phenomenon.”
The paper calls for future work that provides context-specific
analyses that may reveal alternative ways of thinking about AVs for urban
tourism. Its release coincides this week with the World Travel Market and European Tourism Day on 7 November and acts as a
timely reminder of the rising importance and significance of AVs in tourism to
industry and policy makers.
Chuks Egbune/GEE
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2 comments:
I think that when traveling, transport isn't the most important thing at all. Sometimes you can spend your entire vacation in one place, even without going anywhere, and it will be cool.
Well, I think it depends on tastes and preferences, because personally I can’t imagine how you can sit for a couple of weeks in the same house or within the same place. I always rent a car, for example, at Exotic Car Rentals Miami, to be easy and simple to travel even over long distances and not depend on taxis or buses.
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