The disruptive potential of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on future low-carbon tourism mobility

Abundant cheap non-renewable fossil fuels have underpinned rapid growth in the global tourism industry. In the future, the need to combat climate change and to move the global economy into a low-carbon production model will force the transport system to switch to low or no-carbon motive power and to adopt new forms of mobility organisation. This paper comments on the potential impact of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the global tourism system. The discussion is framed against the broader questions of how global society will respond to the impact of climate change and how this response will affect future tourism mobility.