The Impact of Car-Sharing Services on Tourism: Enhancing Accessibility and Visitor Flow to Local Attractions

The sharing economy has transformed traditional industries, particularly in mobility and hospitality. Among sharing economy services, car-sharing emerged as a flexible and convenient transportation mode, enabling individuals to access the areas that were difficult to visit previously due to poor public transportation infrastructure. This study examines the role of car-sharing usage in enhancing local tourism with vehicle travel data from the largest car-sharing provider in South Korea. Using 37,104 vehicle travel data across 3,104 locations in Korea, the study analyzes the impact of car-sharing use on the number of visitors to local tourist attractions. Our findings show that car-sharing service plays a significant role in increasing the number of tourists to local attractions. This study contributes to the existing literature on sharing economy and tourism and offers practical insights to destination marketers, car-sharing service providers, urban policymakers, and tourism businesses.